Creating and using a Wine prefix on an Ubuntu Linux system

A Wine prefix is a directory that acts like a separate Windows installation. Each prefix has its own registry, installed programs, libraries, and configuration, providing a way to isolate applications and configure Wine in a way that is optimal for a particular Windows application or set of applications without affecting other Windows applications that you need to run on the system. To create a new Wine prefix, take the following steps:

Create a new Wine prefix

1. Choose a location for the new prefix. For example, $HOME/.wine-myapp.

2. Initialize the prefix:

   WINEPREFIX="$HOME/.wine-myapp" wineboot

   Wine will create the directory and initialize a fresh Windows environment. Note: Do not put quotes around ~ (e.g. "~/.wine-myapp"), as Bash will not expand the tilde when quoted. Using $HOME avoids this issue.

Create a 32-bit prefix (optional)

If you need a 32-bit environment (for older applications), create it before the prefix is initialized:

WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX="$HOME/.wine-32" wineboot

Note: Once a prefix has been created, you cannot change its architecture from 32-bit to 64-bit or vice versa. You would need to create a new prefix.

Configure the prefix

Launch the Wine configuration tool, winecfg:

WINEPREFIX="$HOME/.wine-myapp" winecfg

From the tool, you can:

• Set the Windows version, e.g. Windows 10.
• Configure graphics and audio settings.
• Add Dynamic-link library (DLL) overrides if needed.

Install an application into the prefix

E.g.:

WINEPREFIX="$HOME/.wine-myapp" wine setup.exe

Or, if the application is installed with a Windows Installer, i.e., a .msi file:

WINEPREFIX="$HOME/.wine-myapp" wine msiexec /i installer.msi

Verify the prefix

You can confirm the prefix exists:

ls "$HOME/.wine-myapp"

You should see directories such as:

drive_c
dosdevices
system.reg
user.reg

Tips

• Keep one prefix per application if different apps require different Wine versions or Dynamic Link Library (DLL) overrides.

• If you use a Wine manager such as Lutris, Bottles, or Heroic, it typically creates and manages prefixes automatically.

• Exporting for the current terminal session - if you plan to run multiple commands in the same prefix, you can export the variable once using the export command so you don't need to type it before every command. E.g.:

  export WINEPREFIX="$HOME/.wine-myapp"
  winecfg
  winetricks corefonts
  wine program.exe

• To remove a prefix completely, simply delete its directory: rm -rf "$HOME/.wine-myapp". This only removes that specific Wine environment and does not affect other prefixes.

When you are creating the Wine prefix, you may see output like the following:

alice@Wonderland:~$ export WINEPREFIX="$HOME/.wine-publisher"
alice@Wonderland:~$ WINEPREFIX="$HOME/.wine-publisher" wineboot
wine: created the configuration directory '/home/lisa@ad.moonwillowwoods.com/.wine-publisher'
002c:fixme:actctx:parse_depend_manifests Could not find dependent assembly L"Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls" (6.0.0.0)
004c:fixme:actctx:parse_depend_manifests Could not find dependent assembly L"Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls" (6.0.0.0)
0054:fixme:actctx:parse_depend_manifests Could not find dependent assembly L"Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls" (6.0.0.0)
004c:err:ole:StdMarshalImpl_MarshalInterface Failed to create ifstub, hr 0x80004002
004c:err:ole:CoMarshalInterface Failed to marshal the interface {6d5140c1-7436-11ce-8034-00aa006009fa}, hr 0x80004002
004c:err:ole:apartment_get_local_server_stream Failed: 0x80004002
0054:err:ole:StdMarshalImpl_MarshalInterface Failed to create ifstub, hr 0x80004002
0054:err:ole:CoMarshalInterface Failed to marshal the interface {6d5140c1-7436-11ce-8034-00aa006009fa}, hr 0x80004002
0054:err:ole:apartment_get_local_server_stream Failed: 0x80004002
0054:err:ole:start_rpcss Failed to open RpcSs service
009c:fixme:file:NtLockFile I/O completion on lock not implemented yet
009c:fixme:ntdll:NtQuerySystemInformation info_class SYSTEM_PERFORMANCE_INFORMATION
00a4:fixme:file:NtLockFile I/O completion on lock not implemented yet
00a4:fixme:ntdll:NtQuerySystemInformation info_class SYSTEM_PERFORMANCE_INFORMATION
00a4:fixme:msi:internal_ui_handler internal UI not implemented for message 0x0b000000 (UI level = 5)
00a4:fixme:msi:internal_ui_handler internal UI not implemented for message 0x0b000000 (UI level = 5)
009c:fixme:msi:internal_ui_handler internal UI not implemented for message 0x0b000000 (UI level = 1)
009c:fixme:msi:internal_ui_handler internal UI not implemented for message 0x0b000000 (UI level = 1)
0108:fixme:msg:pack_message msg 14 (WM_ERASEBKGND) not supported yet
002c:err:setupapi:do_file_copyW Unsupported style(s) 0x10
002c:err:setupapi:do_file_copyW Unsupported style(s) 0x10
012c:err:setupapi:do_file_copyW Unsupported style(s) 0x10
002c:err:setupapi:do_file_copyW Unsupported style(s) 0x10
012c:err:setupapi:do_file_copyW Unsupported style(s) 0x10
alice@Wonderland:~$

Here's what the various messages generally mean: