AnyDesk is an application that allows you to connect and manipulate your computer from another device remotely. To do this, you need to install the base application on your computer and the client on another device such as another computer or a mobile phone.
It is one of the best remote desktop applications you can find. Especially useful in these times where a lot of work is done remotely, with AnyDesk you will have a powerful ally.
Its main functions are control and remote access, through a secure connection and a simple interface that you can all take advantage of.
Some features of AnyDesk are the following:
- Multiplatform support. There are applications for Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS. This makes it hassle-free for you to use it.
- It allows you to work from anywhere because you can remotely connect to your computer.
- Light and easy to download: because the clients do not weigh too much and there are the official stores of their operating systems. In the chaos of Ubuntu, we only have to add a repository to the system.
And many more features that make AnyDesk an ideal solution for remote connections.
You can easily add Anydesk to your Ubuntu OS using the .deb package.
1. Install AnyDesk on Ubuntu (GUI)
The developers in charge of AnyDesk support very efficiently to Linux. This makes precompiled versions available for Ubuntu.
This method is quite secure and if you would rather not use the terminal, then it is the one that suits you best.
First, access the project’s website.
The website itself will recognize the system from which you are accessing it. However, you can scroll down, and you will see all the versions and packages available.
For Ubuntu, you have to choose the Debian/Ubuntu/Mint (64-bit) link.
As soon as you click on it, it will start downloading the package. It is really light and shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.
When the installation is finished, you can open your file browser and go to the folder where it has been downloaded (probably Downloads folder).
Right-click on the package and from the menu that pops up, select Open with Software Install. Or simply double-click on the package.
You will see a screen like this
On that screen, you will see information about the package and the application itself. Click the Install button and the process will start.
Now it only remains, to execute it from the main menu.
Although this method is simple and safe, it only has a small problem, and it is that we will not have automatic updates of AnyDesk.
To get the latest stable version and at the same time keep updating it, you can use the following method.
2. Install AnyDesk on Ubuntu using Terminal (Commands)
The first thing you have to do is open a terminal from the main menu or by pressing the keys CTRL + ALT + T.
Then make sure that Ubuntu is fully updated so that you have the system with the latest security patches.
sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade
Next, add the AnyDesk repository key to the system.
wget -qO - https://keys.anydesk.com/repos/DEB-GPG-KEY | sudo apt-key add - OK
Now you can add the repository to the system. This repository is compatible with Ubuntu 22.04,20.04 and 18.04 so the installation works on both systems and derivatives like Linux Mint.
echo "deb http://deb.anydesk.com/ all main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/anydesk-stable.list
Refresh APT to make packages from the new repository available.
sudo apt update
Now, install AnyDesk by running
sudo apt install anydesk
When finished, you can run it from the main menu or with the command
anydesk
The AnyDesk interface
The operation of the program is very simple, when you run it, it assigns us an identifier number that you have to give to the client.
Another thing you can check is the options of the application where you can modify everything: image quality, security, and other preferences.
Possible error when running AnyDesk
Although in Ubuntu 22.04 there should be no problems with AnyDesk, it is true that some users report that when running it, it causes a library error.
In short, the error is this
anydesk: error while loading shared libraries: libpangox-1.0.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
To fix it, you can simply run this command
sudo apt install libpangox-1.0-0
Then, when you start AnyDesk again, the error will disappear.
Uninstall AnyDesk on Ubuntu
If you no longer want to use AnyDesk, you can uninstall it using the terminal.
To do so, just run
sudo apt autoremove anydesk
And also, you can remove the repository that you have added.
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/anydesk-stable.list
Next, refresh APT
sudo apt update
Now you won’t have any problems and AnyDesk has been removed from the system along with its repository.
Conclusion
AnyDesk is essential in many situations where we have to manage a computer that we are not physically close to. It is therefore useful in a lot of current situations such as technical support or working from home.
As you have been able to notice, the installation process is simple and within everyone’s reach and this is a merit of the AnyDesk development team.