How To Install the Latest Version of Blender on Ubuntu Manually

In this article, we will walk you through the process of manually installing the latest version of Blender on Ubuntu. Blender is a powerful open-source tool for 3D modeling, animation, and rendering. While Ubuntu’s repositories include Blender, they may not always have the latest version. Therefore, manually installing Blender from the official website ensures you have the most recent features and updates.

Preparing for Installation

Before we begin, you’ll need to uninstall any existing version of Blender that was installed from the Ubuntu repository. Open a terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T. In the terminal, type the following command:

sudo apt-get remove blender

This command uses the sudo prefix to run the command as an administrator. apt-get remove is used to remove or uninstall a software package. In this case, blender is the package we want to uninstall.

Downloading Blender

Next, navigate to the official Blender download page. Download the appropriate version for your system (32-bit or 64-bit).

Extracting the Downloaded File

Once the download is complete, navigate to the location of the downloaded file in your file manager. Extract the file by right-clicking on it and selecting “Extract Here”. After extraction, you’ll have a folder containing the Blender files. Rename this folder to “blender” for ease of use in the next steps.

Installing Blender

Now, it’s time to install Blender. In your terminal, type the following command:

sudo cp -r ~/Downloads/blender /opt/

This command uses sudo to run the command as an administrator. cp is the copy command. The -r flag is used to copy directories recursively, meaning it copies the directory and its contents. Replace ~/Downloads/blender with the path to your extracted Blender folder if it’s different.

Creating a Symbolic Link

To make Blender accessible from the command line, we need to create a symbolic link. In your terminal, type the following command:

sudo ln -s /opt/blender/blender /usr/local/bin/blender

This command creates a symbolic link (shortcut) to the Blender executable in the /usr/local/bin directory, which is included in the system’s PATH variable. This allows you to run Blender from any location in the terminal by simply typing blender.

Adding Blender to the Unity Launcher

To add Blender to the Unity Launcher, we need to create a desktop entry file. In your terminal, type the following command:

sudo nano /usr/share/applications/blender.desktop

This command opens the nano text editor as an administrator to create a new file named blender.desktop in the /usr/share/applications/ directory.

In the nano text editor, paste the following content:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=2.9
Name=Blender
Comment=3D modeling, animation, and rendering software
Exec=/opt/blender/blender
Icon=/opt/blender/icons/scalable/apps/blender.svg
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Graphics;3DGraphics;

Press Ctrl+O to save the file, then Ctrl+X to exit nano.

Conclusion

You have now manually installed the latest version of Blender on Ubuntu. You can access Blender from the Unity Launcher or by typing blender in the terminal. By following these steps, you can always have the latest version of Blender, complete with the most recent features and updates. Happy modeling!