How to create a desktop launcher on Ubuntu

howto ubuntu launcher desktop dock
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When you download a new application from the web, you don't have a launcher automaticaly. For instance, you want download the last version of Cura for 3D printing. The downloaded file is a AppImage.

You can directly run this file if you're setting his rights:

chmod a+x Ultimaker_Cura-4.6.1.AppImage

But you can't find yet this executable directly in ubuntu's dock.

To do that, create a .desktop file in /usr/share/applications lile cura.desktop:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=3.4.1
Name=Cura
Comment=Ultimaker Cura 3.4 High-Performance 3D printing software
Exec=/usr/local/bin/cura/Ultimaker_Cura-4.6.1.AppImage
Icon=/usr/local/bin/cura/cura.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Utility;Application;Development;

Don't forget to change the path of the executable and the path of the icon

Now, you can call your application by the Ubuntu's dock.

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