How to install, setup and use Google Desktop Search in Ubuntu
June 28th, 2007 by Ross McKillop |
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This brief tutorial/overview will walk you step-by-step through installing, setting up and using Google Desktop Search for Linux - specifically in Ubuntu.
- Visit http://desktop.google.com/linux/ and download Google Desktop for Linux (the .deb file). Once the download has finished, double-click the file.
- The Package Installer will open. Click the Install Package button.
- Enter your administrative password to continue.
- Once the installation has completed, click the Close button.
- Make sure the Status: is Same version is already installed and then close the Package Installer.
- On your keyboard, hold down the alt key and hit F2. Enter gdlinux and click Run.
- Here you’ll need to decide if you want to enable the Advanced Features or not. It doesn’t really matter what you choose - you can always change your mind later. I enabled them.
- After you’ve made your choice, the Google Desktop Search icon will appear in the main panel (the upper right corner of your screen).
- Right-click the Google Desktop Search icon, select Index and then Index Status …
- From here you’ll see the status of Google Desktop Search’s first indexing. Click the Desktop Preferences link from the upper-right corner.
- On the Local Indexing tab you can choose the types of files that you want Google Desktop Search to make available in your searches. You can also add specific folders to search if they aren’t included by default. Or, remove the default search folders if you don’t want their contents indexed. Click the Gmail tab if you wish to include your Gmail messages in Google Desktop Search.
- Place a check in the box labeled Index and search email in my Gmail account, then enter your Gmail Username and Password in the spaces provided. Click Save Preferences once you’re done. Select the Display tab.
- From here you can customize the various display options (Number of Quick Find results, Number of results per page, etc). Click Other when you’re done.
- The Other tab is really just a place to enable or disable the Advanced features. When you’re done (if you’ve made any changes) click Save Preferences and close out Firefox/your browser.
- Tap the control (ctrl) key on your keyboard twice to bring up the Google Desktop Search window. Enter in something.. (keep in mind, your index is probably still building, which means not all of your files will be searchable yet). You’ll get a list of files and more options to search. If you select See all results in a browser …
- … your browser will launch, and the files will be displayed.
25 Responses to “How to install, setup and use Google Desktop Search in Ubuntu”
By Adrian on Jun 28, 2007 | Reply
64 bit?
By Ross on Jun 28, 2007 | Reply
Adrian,
Not yet, but we all hope it’s soon.
By ragebeing on Jun 29, 2007 | Reply
is uses old gtk!
Isn’t google updated?
Gosh
By eBooksBay on Jun 29, 2007 | Reply
Thank you for a great tutorial, i LOVE Ubuntu & Google too.
http://www.ebooksbay.org
http://www.ebooksdb.net
By Hans on Jun 29, 2007 | Reply
For ubuntu amd64, I just forced the installation of the 32 bit package. I had previously installed all the 32 bit libraries (I needed them for skype too) and everything works great!
By josh on Jun 29, 2007 | Reply
For 64 bit ubuntu you need to install:
ia32-libs ia32-libs-gtk
This lets you use 32 bit google earth on your 64 bit system.
By el escocés on Jun 29, 2007 | Reply
for 64 bit users…
sudo dpkg –install –force-all google-desktop-linux_1.0.1.0060_i386.deb
works fine for me!!
By guest on Jun 29, 2007 | Reply
I like your tutorial. I’ve got one thing to mention: you need at least 1GB os free space for google desktop to start indexing, otherwise it will be running but nothing will be indexed
By Rakesh on Jun 29, 2007 | Reply
That’s a great tip for a new Linux lover like me. I liked your post. Keep the great work going on.
By Dell on Jun 29, 2007 | Reply
Nice tutorial, thanks for sharing this, especially with pictures.
By Jonathan on Jun 29, 2007 | Reply
been running since I saw the first digg about it yesterday. Still at only 0.1% indexed. Running for 20 hours and it still says it will take 5.8 idle hours… the same as when it was first installed. I think they still have some bugs to address in this.
By Memphis on Aug 22, 2007 | Reply
Hi, thank you for this tutorial