WINE can be installed via the pkg tool, or by compiling the port(s).
Before installing WINE itself, it is useful to have the following pre-requisites installed.
A GUI
Most Windows® programs are expecting to have a graphical user interface available. If WINE is installed without one present, its dependencies will include the Wayland compositor, and so a GUI will be installed along with WINE. But it is useful to have the GUI of choice installed, configured, and working correctly before installing WINE.
wine-gecko
The Windows® operating system has for some time had a default web browser pre-installed: Internet Explorer. As a result, some applications work under the assumption that there will always be something capable of displaying web pages. In order to provide this functionality, the WINE layer includes a web browser component using the Mozilla project's Gecko engine. When WINE is first launched it will offer to download and install this, and there are reasons users might want it do so (these will be covered in a later chapter). But they can also install it prior to installing WINE, or alongside the install of WINE proper.
Install this package with the following:
#pkg install wine-gecko
Alternately, compile the port with the following:
#cd /usr/ports/emulator/wine-gecko#make install
wine-mono
This port installs the MONO framework, an open source implementation of Microsoft's .NET. Including this with the WINE installation will make it that much more likely that any applications written in .NET will install and run on the system.
To install the package:
#pkg install wine-mono
To compile from the ports collection:
#cd /usr/ports/emulator/wine-mono#make install
With the pre-requisites in place, install WINE via package with the following command:
#pkg install wine
Alternately compile the WINE sub-system from source with the following:
#cd /usr/ports/emulator/wine#make install
Like most software, Windows® applications made the upgrade from the older 32-bit architecture to 64 bits. And most recent software is written for 64-bit operating systems, although modern OSes can sometimes continue to run older 32-bit programs as well. FreeBSD is no different, having had support for 64-bit since the 5.x series.
However, using old software no longer supported by default is a common use for emulators, and users commonly turn to WINE to play games and use other programs that do not run properly on modern hardware. Fortunately, FreeBSD can support all three scenarios:
On modern, 64-bit machine and want to run 64-bit Windows® software, simply install the ports mentioned in the above sections. The ports system will automatically install the 64-bit version.
Alternately, users might have an older 32-bit machine that they do not want to run with its original, now non-supported software. They can install the 32-bit (i386) version of FreeBSD, then install the ports in the above sections. Again, on a 32-bit machine the ports system will install the corresponding 32-bit version of WINE by default.
However, given a 64-bit version of FreeBSD and need to run 32-bit Windows® applications, installing a different port is required to enable 32-bit compatibility. To install the pre-compiled package, use the following:
#pkg install i386-wine
Or compile the port with the following:
#cd /usr/ports/emulator/i386-wine#make install
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