Linux Support
Linux support in Flashpoint is currently experimental due to a lack of maintainers. This page describes the current state of our Linux support. If you need assistance with installing or playing, visit us at flashpoint-help.
As it stands, the Docker version of Flashpoint for Linux supports Flash, HTML5, Shockwave, Unity and Java. The exceptions are content that uses the Chromium browser, and Shockwave content that plays in-browser. If you want support for the other platforms that are Windows-exclusive, there are a few options to get the Windows version of Flashpoint running on Linux:
- Download the Windows version of Flashpoint and run it in a Windows virtual machine. This is the recommended non-native option.
- Run the Windows version of Flashpoint with Wine. This works well on some computers, but does not work consistently.
Otherwise, download the latest Docker Flashpoint package and install it.
Manual Installation
Dependencies
First, install Flashpoint's dependencies.
| Dependency package names on various distros | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Library/command name | Docker | PulseAudio* | X11** | XHost | NSS | PHP | bash | |
| Debian-likea | (see this page) | pulseaudio | xserver-xorg-core | x11-xserver-utils | libnss3 | php | bash | |
| Ubuntu-likeb | (see this page) | pulseaudio | xserver-xorg-core | x11-xserver-utils | libnss3 | php | bash | |
| Fedora-like | (see this page) | pulseaudio | xorg-x11-server-Xorg | xhost | nss | php | bash | |
| Arch-likec | docker | pulseaudio | xorg-server | xorg-xhost | nss | php | bash | |
a : E.g. ChromeOS Terminal, MX Linux | b : E.g. Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, Zorin OS | c : E.g. Manjaro, SteamOS >=3.0
Note: Chances are that Docker and PHP will be the only packages that you'll need to install, as most distributions come with the rest of the packages already pre-installed.
* : PipeWire can also be used in place of PulseAudio by installing the pipewire-pulse package on Ubuntu-like and Arch-like distros, or pipewire-pulseaudio on Fedora-like distros. For Debian-like distros, see this link.
** : X11 can also be used within Wayland by installing the xwayland package on Debian-like and Ubuntu-like distros, xorg-x11-server-Xwayland on Fedora-like distros, or xorg-xwayland on Arch-like distros.
To install them, use your distro's package manager:
| Distro | Package manager install command |
|---|---|
| Debian-like | sudo apt-get install {PACKAGE}
|
| Ubuntu-like | sudo apt-get install {PACKAGE}
|
| Fedora-like | sudo dnf install {PACKAGE}
|
| Fedora-like (old) | sudo yum install {PACKAGE}
|
| Arch-like | sudo pacman -S {PACKAGE}
|
Setup
Before you start, you need to configure Docker to be managed by a non-root user. Once finished, you may have to relog if the permissions aren't applied properly when trying to run Docker commands as a non-root user.
If you don't want to add your user to the docker group as above (e.g., for security: doing this allows all programs on your computer to have unrestricted administrator access to everything at all times) then there is an alternative, it just takes a bit more work.
Optional: Configuring non-root Flashpoint
Start by creating a wrapper script for Docker that will automatically use sudo when you are not invoking Docker as root. Name it docker, make it executable and place it on your $PATH:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
export PATH="${PATH/$(dirname "$0"):/}"
askpass=()
if [[ -n "${SUDO_ASKPASS:-}" ]]; then
askpass+=("-A")
fi
if [[ "$OSTYPE" != darwin* ]] && [[ "$EUID" != 0 ]]; then
exec sudo "${askpass[@]}" -E -- "$0" "$@"
fi
exec docker "$@"
Then you need to create an askpass script for sudo. Create a script that will print your sudo password to stdout. For example, your script could retrieve the password from a password manager like pass, which will force authentication through a graphical dialog before retrieving it. Technically you could just hardcode your password in the script, but this would defeat the point of trying to be more secure in the first place.
Now, you can simply export the SUDO_ASKPASS environment variable to the path of your askpass script (make sure it is executable), make sure that your docker wrapper is on $PATH, and invoke ./flashpoint as normal once you get to that step below.
Nvidia GPUs
If you have an Nvidia GPU and use a distro that isn't Arch-like, you will need to add Nvidia's repository and install the nvidia-docker2 package. Follow the "Setting up NVIDIA Container Toolkit" instructions under the heading corresponding to your distro here.
If you use an Arch-like distro, install either nvidia-container-toolkit or nvidia-docker from the AUR if you did or didn't already install Docker respectively.
In both cases, you may have to restart the Docker service or reboot your computer to apply the toolkit.
Installation
Download the latest Docker Flashpoint package if you haven't already and extract it somewhere.
Go to the place where you extracted it, and pull the docker images by running ./pull.sh. They'll take ~3.5 GB.
Finally, run the ./flashpoint executable script to start the launcher.
Config files can be found in ./LinuxConf/ and ./FPSoftware/FSPConfigs/.
Save data is stored in ./SaveData. Java save data isn't persistent, because there's no standardized location for it.
Troubleshooting
proxy.sh: "Permission denied" error
Depending on your system's permissions, the proxy.sh script may throw a "permission denied" error in the launcher logs when launching a game, causing it to fail to start. To fix this, follow these steps:
- Close the Flashpoint launcher.
- Open
./LinuxConf/proxy.shin a text editor. - Change
/var/lock/flashpoint-networking.lockto/tmp/flashpoint-networking.lockand save the file. - Relaunch Flashpoint.
cgroup subsystem devices not found: unknown
This error occurs most frequently on Pop!_OS 22.04, due to an outdated version of the Nvidia container runtime being packaged in the default repositories. If this applies to you, follow these steps:
- Close the Flashpoint launcher and stop the Docker service.
- Remove your current
nvidia-docker2package, then remove its dependencies and configuration files by typingsudo apt-get autoremove --purgein the terminal. - Create a text file in
/etc/apt/preferences.dwith the following contents:
Package: * Pin: origin nvidia.github.io Pin-Priority: 1002
Then save the file, update the package index using sudo apt-get update, reinstall the package, start the Docker service again, and relaunch Flashpoint.
Docker Fix for Firewalld Users
Users of Firewalld may run into issues with Docker when launching games. In this case, follow these steps:
-
Run
sudo systemctl status dockerand look for the location of Docker's service file in the output. It is usually/usr/lib/systemd/system/docker.service. -
Open the file in a text editor with root privileges and change the following line from:
ExecStart=/usr/bin/dockerd -H fd://
to:
ExecStart=/usr/bin/dockerd -H fd:// --ip-tables=false
-
Restart the Docker service by running
sudo systemctl restart docker. - Run Flashpoint and install the content of your choosing, then close the launcher when finished.
- Open the Docker service file again and revert the previous change to the line, then restart the Docker service again.
- Relaunch Flashpoint and run the installed content again. It should now work.
Optional Enhancements
Wayland Support
The Flashpoint launcher is based on a version of Electron that has experimental support for running through Wayland instead of X11/Xwayland. If you use a Wayland compositor, like Mutter or Kwin, then you can enable this feature by opening the flashpoint script in a text editor and changing the following line from:
"${FP_LOC}/Launcher/flashpoint-launcher"
to:
"${FP_LOC}/Launcher/flashpoint-launcher" --ozone-platform-hint=auto
After making this change, the launcher should now open through Wayland when running the script. This only affects the launcher; content that runs in X11/Xwayland will continue to do so.
Using Wine
Alternatively, you can attempt to run the Windows version of Flashpoint using Wine, which is a Windows compatibility layer. There are several advantages to doing this, like being able to run more up-to-date versions of Flashpoint that have only been made for Windows.
However, it is not guaranteed that Wine will work properly, as the experience varies greatly depending on the hardware and choice of distribution. For example, as of the time of writing, distros that use older versions of Wine for stability purposes like Linux Mint and old stable versions of Debian will likely work with the most recent version of Flashpoint. Newer versions like from Arch-based or other rolling-release distros will not work due to an unknown regression causing the launcher to not load correctly.
If you are having issues running Flashpoint with Wine, you can instead try using various other "flavors" such as Wine GE, which has extra patches applied that aren't in mainline Wine. Users of Arch-based distros can install Wine GE as a package from the AUR, however no binary is provided, so the package must be compiled.
Additionally, as of the time of writing, you will also have to install Wine Mono and the 32-bit (x86) version of the 2015 Visual C++ runtime into your Wine prefix. Wine Mono can be installed upon creating a new prefix or by installing the corresponding package for your distro, while the Visual C++ runtime will have to be manually installed. The easiest method is to use winetricks, which can be installed as a package on most distros. Once installed, you can run the application from your program manager, select the prefix that you want to use with Flashpoint, and then select "Install a Windows DLL or component." In the list that pops up, scroll until you see vcrun2015 and select it for installation. You may get a few popups before being greeted with the installer; this is normal behavior.
You can also install the runtime directly from the terminal by entering the following:
$ winetricks vcrun2015
Once it's finished installing the runtime, you can close Winetricks and attempt to run Flashpoint through Wine using the prefix you installed everything to.
Technologies
Flashpoint Infinity, like its Windows counterpart, uses router.php as a proxy server. But unlike Windows, Linux provides native ways to set per-application proxy settings, so no equivalent to the Flashpoint Proxy library is used. On Linux, each application is simply told via environment variables to use localhost:22500 as a proxy server. For example, before Flashpoint Launcher opens the Flash projector, it sets the http_proxy environment variable to http://localhost:22500/ in the docker container.
The Flashpoint FAQ contains a list of all web game technologies ("Platforms") supported in the Windows version of Flashpoint. The Linux version currently supports a subset of these platforms. This is explained in detail below.
Supported Platforms
- Flash: Supported through Wine by default. Although a Linux Flash Projector exists, it suffers from graphical glitches on many systems. If you'd like to try your luck with the native projector, then tick it as a 'Native Platform' on the Config page.
- Shockwave: Supported through Wine.
- HTML5: Supported natively through the Basilisk browser.
- Java Applets: Supported natively using the Oracle JDK.
- Unity Web Player: Supported through Pipelight.
Using the standalone projector
If you would like to run your own .swf file that is not packaged for Flashpoint, you can use the built-in Flash projector that is shipped with Flashpoint. Locate the Windows executable FPSoftware/Flash/flashplayer_32_sa.exe in the Flashpoint distribution you installed, and execute it with wine (you will have to install it separately, since Flashpoint on Linux invokes Wine through Docker). Make sure you have a 32-bit Wine installation. Pass the .swf file as a second argument to wine, after the .exe.
It's probably possible to use the native projector through the Docker setup, to avoid two separate Wine installations, but I haven't worked out how to do that quite yet.
Obviously, this only works for games that are using the Flash technology, and are single-file and not site-locked. Flashpoint exists because many games are not like this, and require extra work.
As an alternative to the standalone projector bundled with Flashpoint, you can use the Linux native projector, which can be downloaded from a previous version of the Adobe website here.