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11/30/2013

Installing several versions of LibreOffice in parallel - The Document Foundation Wiki

InstallingseveralversionsofLibreOfficein parallel
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Contents
1Introduction 2Linux 2.1Step1:DetectingYourSystemArchitecture 2.2Step2:DownloadingandUnpackingtheInstallationFiles 2.3Step3:TweakingtheInstallDestination 2.4Step4Optional,butRecommendedwhenTesting:ChangingtheUserProfile location 2.5Step5Optional:ApplyingaLanguagePack 2.6Step6Optional:ApplyingaLocalHelpPack 2.7Step7:StartingtheApplication 3Windows 3.1AdministrativeInstallation: 3.2InstallationFolder: 3.3Version3.4.xorolder: 3.4Version3.5.xandnewer: 3.5UserConfiguration 3.6Uninstall 3.7MinGWVersion 4Mac
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Installing several versions of LibreOffice in parallel - The Document Foundation Wiki

Introduction
LibreOfficepackagesare"selfcontained"withfewexternaldependencies.Thismakesitpossibleto unpackthemtoputthecontentintoanyfolderthattheuserselects. Thismeansthatitispossibleto"install"LibreOfficeonsystemswheretheuserdoesnothavesufficient privilegesforacentralizedinstallationand,mostimportantly,tohaveseveralversionsrunninginparallel. Thustheusercanperformtestsonadevelopmentversionwithouttouchingthestableinstallation,helping toreportbugsonthebetaversionwithoutaffectinguserswhoarewritingdocumentsonastableversion. Inthisarticle,theprocedureforperforminga"userinstallation"willbepresented. Note:Theprocedureisdifferentfordifferentoperativesystems(OSes),and,withineachOS,foreachof thedifferentpackagingsystemsusedonthoseOSes.

Linux
ifyouofteninstallLibreOfficeinparallel,youmightwanttousethissimplescript.

Step1:DetectingYourSystemArchitecture
LibreOfficepackagesareofferedforthetwomaintypesofpackagesystemsonLinux:RPMandDEB, andforthetwodifferentarchitectures,32bitand64bit. RPMpackagesareusedonLinuxdistrosbasedonFedora,openSUSE,Mandriva,etc. DEBpackagesareusedonLinuxdistrosbasedonDebian,ubuntu,etc. IfyouarenotsurewhicharchitectureisusedbyyourCPU,openaterminal(konsoleonKDE,gnome terminalongnome...)andtype
u n a m em

iftheoutputis"x86_64"youarerunninga64bitsystem.Iftheoutputissomethinglike"i386"or"i586" yourCPUis32bits. Ifthecommand"unamei"answers"unknown",try


u n a m ea

.Youshouldfind"x86_64"intheanswerfora64bitCPUorsomethinglike"i386"or"i586"ifyouhave a32bitCPU. DetectingtherightCPUarchitectureisimportantasthepackagesaredifferentfortheCPUtypes.


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11/30/2013

Installing several versions of LibreOffice in parallel - The Document Foundation Wiki

Step2:DownloadingandUnpackingtheInstallationFiles
Afteryoudownloadtherightpackage(http://www.libreoffice.org/download/)(resp.fromhereforpre releases(http://www.libreoffice.org/download/prereleases/)),unpackthepackage,eithergraphicallywith thetoolsfromyourdesktopenvironment(forexample,onKDE:rightclick>Extractpackagehere)or usingthefollowingcommandonaterminal:
t a rv x z ff i l e n a m e

afolderwithanamesimilartoLibO_3.3.0rc2_Linux_x8664_installrpm_enUSwillbecreated.Inside thatfolder,anddependingontheversiondownloaded,youwillfindafoldercalledRPMSorDEBS. Insidethatfolderyouwillfindsomeotherfoldersandroughly50orsofiles.

Step3:TweakingtheInstallDestination
Frominsidethe(RPMSorDEBS)folder,createnowanewfolderwithasimplename,somethinglike "install"withyourfilemanagerorfromtheshellbyexecutingm k d i ri n s t a l l .Startavirtualterminalin thatfolder(or,ifinashellalready,justissuec di n s t a l l tochangeintothatfolder).Fromthere,issueas normaluser: ForRPMpackages:
f o rii n. . / * . r p m ;d or p m 2 c p i o$ i|c p i oi d ;d o n e

ForDEBpackages
f o rii n. . / * . d e b ;d od p k g d e bx$ i.;d o n e

Entertheappropriatecommandexactlyasshownabove!Donotomitevenasingledot! Youwillseeanewfoldernamed"opt"hasbeencreatedtherewithseveralotherfoldersandfilesthat containtheentireLibreOfficeinstallation.

Step4Optional,butRecommendedwhenTesting:ChangingtheUserProfile location
NOTE:youcanfindacompletearticleabouttheuserprofilehere. Bydefault,theuserprofileisstoredin~/.libreoffice/3/user Youcanchangetheuserdirectorythatwillbeusedbythenewinstallationbyeditingthefilebootstraprc youfindin
p a t h t o i n s t a l l f o l d e r / i n s t a l l / o p t / l i b r e o f f i c e / p r o g r a m / b o o t s t r a p r c

Todoso,youneedaddwritepermissionforthatfilesothatyoucanmodifyit.Youcanmodifythefile permissionbyusingeitherthetoolsfromyourdesktopenvironment(forexample,onKDE:rightclick> Properties>PermissionsandchangethevalueforOwnerto"Readandwritepossible")orbyusingthe


https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Installing_in_parallel 3/8

11/30/2013

Installing several versions of LibreOffice in parallel - The Document Foundation Wiki

chmodcommandonashellcommandline:
c h m o d+ wb o o t s t r a p r c

Byeditingthisfile,youcanchangethevalueforthe"UserInstallation"variablefrom $SYSUSERCONFIG/.libreoffice/3toanyotherdirectoryofyourchoice.Forexample
U s e r I n s t a l l a t i o n = $ O R I G I N / . .

(Don'tomitanyofthedots!)willuseasuserfolderthe"install"folder,whichisonelevelupinthefile hierarchyfrom$ORIGIN.

Step5Optional:ApplyingaLanguagePack
Afterunpackingthelanguagepack,inthesamewaydescribedtounpacktheinstallationpackages,you willobtainan"opt"folderwithallthelocalizedfiles.Openingaterminalinthefolderthatcontainsthis newoptfolder,youcannowproceedtodoa"recursivecopy"ofthatfolderovertheother"opt"that containsthefullLibreOfficesuite:
c pR*p a t h t o i n s t a l l f o l d e r / i n s t a l l /

Step6Optional:ApplyingaLocalHelpPack
Afterunpackingthehelppack,inthesamewaydescribedtounpacktheinstallationpackages,youwill obtainan"opt"folderwithallthelocalizedhelpfiles.Openingaterminalinthefolderthatcontainsthis newoptfolder,youcannowproceedtodoa"recursivecopy"ofthatfolderovertheother"opt"that containsthefullLibreOfficesuite:
c pR*p a t h t o i n s t a l l f o l d e r / i n s t a l l /

Step7:StartingtheApplication
On
p a t h t o i n s t a l l f o l d e r / i n s t a l l / o p t / l i b r e o f f i c e / p r o g r a m

youwillfinddifferentscriptstostartthedifferentLibreOfficeapps:soffice,swriter,scalc,sdraw,simpress. NOTE:withthiskindof"userinstallation"youcannotusethedesktopintegrationpackage,youwillneed toassociatefilesandcreatesystemmenuentries"byhand"ifyouwish(butthere'snoneedtodoany desktopintegration,itiseasytostartanyoftheLibreOfficeappsbyopeningashell,changingtothe "program"folderbeneaththeabovecreatedinstallationfolder(called"install")[thewholepathmightlook likei n s t a l l / o p t / l i b r e o f f i c e 3 . 4 / p r o g r a m ]andstartingthedesiredapplication:Youcanissuee.g.,


. / s o f f i c e
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Installing several versions of LibreOffice in parallel - The Document Foundation Wiki

tostarttheLibreOfficeapplicationor
. / s w r i t e r

tostartLibreofficeWriter(or. / s c a l c forCalc,. / s i m p r e s s forimpress,andsoon. Ofcourse,youcanstartanyoftheaboveLibreOfficeappsbyjustclickingitsfilename(soffice,swriter, scalc,sdraw,simpress,smathorsbase)inyourfilemanager.Butstartingthemfromashellgivesyou someadditionalinfoaboutprogramexecutionwhichmightbehelpfulfortesting/debuggingpurposes.

Windows
TheServerInstallGUIisapowerfultoolthatwillhelpyoumanage multipleinstallationsofLibreOfficeonWindows. SeealsothedescriptionforOOohere

InstallationGUI

(http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Run_OOo_versions_parallel#Windows).

AdministrativeInstallation:
OnWindowsyouhavetoperformasocalledadministrativeinstall.TheinstallationfileneedstobeaMSI packagerealsimplywiththe.msiextension.UptoLibreOfficeversion3.4.xtheMSIpackageisincluded inthe.exefileyoudownloadandhastobeextractedfromthere.Sinceversion3.5.xthedownloadedfileis alreadytheMSIPaket.Ifyoudon'twanttousethecommandlineordonotunderstandtheinstructionson thispage,itmightbeworthtotakeacloserlooktothisprogramLink (https://extensions.libreoffice.org/extensioncenter/libreofficeserverinstallationgui).

InstallationFolder:
TheadministrativeinstallasksyoutoselectanInstallationFolder.Youdon'thavetocreateoneupfront.A goodpracticeistoinstallallprogramsinasubfolderof<C:\ProgramFiles>(for32bitWindows)or <C:\ProgramFiles(x86)>(for64bitWindows).InWin7youwillneedadministrativerightstorunthe installation.Todothisyouhavetostartthecommandpromptinthefollowingway:Start>Accessories> rightclickonCommandPrompt,selectRunasAdministrator.TheDOSWindowopensandshouldshow ontop"Administrator:CommandPrompt"andinsideC:\Windows\System32>. ForXPandVistajuststartthecommandpromptwithaleftclick.

Version3.4.xorolder:
Youdownloadedoneortwo.exefiles: onefortheprogramitself(L i b O _ < v e r s i o n > _ W i n _ x 8 6 _ m u l t i . e x e )and (optional)oneforthebuiltinHelp(L i b O _ < v e r s i o n > _ W i n _ x 8 6 _ h e l p p a c k e n . e x e ).
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Installing several versions of LibreOffice in parallel - The Document Foundation Wiki

Forbothfilesyouhavetoexecutethefollowingsteps: 1. Firstextractthe.exefilesintoafolder,usedifferentnamesforeachfile.Thiscanbedonewithan unzipprogramlike7Zip. Alternativelyyoucanjustdoubleclickthe.exefilesbutyouhavetocanceltheinstallationwhen askedtoinstalltheprogram. 2. NowyouhavetoopentheCommandPromptasdescribedabove.Navigatetothefolderwiththe extractedfiles. 3. Onceinthefolderyouenter


d i r* . m s i

togetthecorrectname,weassumethenameisLibreOffice34.msi.Nowyouenterthefollowingline intothecommandprompt:
m s i e x e c/ al i b r e o f f i c e 3 4 . m s i

andtheinstallationprogramshouldstart. Theinstallationprogramasksfortheinstallfolder(ATTENTION:Thiscannotbetheunzipfolder).You havetousethesamefolderforbothfiles.

Version3.5.xandnewer:
Youdownloadedoneormore.msifiles: onefortheprogram(L i b O _ < v e r s i o n > _ W i n _ x 8 6 _ m u l t i . m s i ), optionaloneormoreforyourHelpsystemlanguages(L i b O _ < v e r s i o n > _ W i n _ x 8 6 _ h e l p p a c k e n . m s i ) optionalfortheSDK(L i b O S D K _ < v e r s i o n > _ W i n _ x 8 6 _ i n s t a l l _ m u l t i . m s i ). Nowyouhavetoperformthefollowingstepsforprogram,helpandSDK: 1. YouhavetoopentheCommandPromptasdescribedabove. 2. Onceinthedownloadfolderyouenter
d i r* . m s i

togetthecorrectnames. 3. Youstarttheinstallationwiththecommand
m s i e x e c/ aL i b O _ < v e r s i o n > _ W i n _ x 8 6 _ m u l t i . m s i

Youcanalsospecifythetargetdirectoryinthecommandline,forexample:
m s i e x e c/ aL i b O _ < v e r s i o n > _ W i n _ x 8 6 _ m u l t i . m s iT A R G E T D I R = " L : \ 3 . 6 . 0 "

(The<version>hastobereplacedbytheactualone.) 4. FortheHelpfilesenterthecommand:
m s i e x e c/ aL i b O _ < v e r s i o n > _ W i n _ x 8 6 _ h e l p p a c k e n . m s i
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Installing several versions of LibreOffice in parallel - The Document Foundation Wiki

andfortheSDK
m s i e x e c/ aL i b O S D K _ < v e r s i o n > _ W i n _ x 8 6 _ i n s t a l l _ m u l t i . m s i

Theinstallationprogramasksfortheinstallfolder(ATTENTION:Thiscannotbethedownloadfolder). Youhavetousethesamefolderforallfiles.Itcannotbethesamefolderlikethedownloadfolderbecause theinstallprogramcreatesadifferent.msifilewiththesamenameasthedownloadedones.Thisconflict willabortinstallationwithanerrormessagelike"InternalError2203....LibO Dev_3.6.0beta1_Win_x86_install_multi.msi,2147287008"!Yougetthesameerrorifyoudonotrunthe commandpromptasadministratorinWin7.

UserConfiguration
1. Useafilemanagertofindthefile"bootstrap.ini"in"..\<installed>\program"andifnecessaryedit therow fromoriginal"UserInstallation=$SYSUSERCONFIG/LibreOffice/3" tothenew:"UserInstallation=$ORIGIN/../Data/settings" Duringthefirstrun,theapplicationwillputusersettingsinthenameddirectory"UserInstallation",and LibreOfficewillbereadytorun. (Note:Thiswillinstallthedata/settings/usersettingswithinthesamedirectoryastheapplication.ButI'm notreallysurethatanyremaining"normalwindowssettings"in"../applications/LibreOffice"willhave sideeffects.Pleasereportifyouobserveerrors.) Tostarttheapplication,run"soffice.exe"fromexplorerorfromlinkondesktop. Note:oneshouldkeepoldandnewversionsofbootstrap.iniinasafeplace.

Uninstall
Touninstalltheadministrativinstallationsyoujustdeletetheinstallfolder.Thisprogramsdonotshowup inWindowsuninstalloptions.

MinGWVersion
ThecompressedMinGWbuildssimplyhavetobedecompressed,thentheycanbeusedbyadoubleclick onsoffice.exeintheprogramfolder,similartoaPortableVersion.

Mac
IfyoualreadyhaveanexistingLibreOfficeinstallation,forexampleinthe"Applications"folder,then renameittosomethingelsebeforeinstallinganyotherversionofLibreOffice.Forexample,ifyoualready haveLibreOffice3.3.2onyourMacsystem,renameittosomethinglikeLO332. NowyoucanproceedtoinstallanyotherversionofLibreOfficeasnormal,i.e.,doubleclickingthe downloadedDMGfileandinstallingasusual.
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Installing several versions of LibreOffice in parallel - The Document Foundation Wiki

ThenewinstallationwillshareyourexistingLibreOfficeuserconfigurationandprofile.Thiscanbefound in/Users/<username>/Library/ApplicationSupport/LibreOffice.Bewarnedthatsometimes,newversions canoverwriteexistingconfigurations,includingthelistofavailableextensions,renderingthem inaccessibleornonfunctional.Forthisreason,youmaywanttoworkwithseparateuserconfiguration folders. Uptoandincludingthe3.3.xseries,thewaytoseparateconfigurationsontheMacsimplyinvolved renamingyourexistinginstallationuserconfigurationfoldertothesamenameasthenameofthe LibreOfficeapplication.Intheexamplegivenabove,thiswouldhavemeantrenamingthefolderin Library/ApplicationSupport/fromLibreOfficetoLO332.Withthe3.4.xseries,thisnolongerworks.If youknowhowtodothis,pleaseexplainithere. Retrievedfrom"http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/index.php?title=Installing_in_parallel&oldid=67622" Categories: EN Documentation

Documentation Main>Main>Languages>EN Thispagehasbeenaccessed25,527times. Thispagewaslastmodified11:20:46,20130422byTomDavies.BasedonworkbyRobinson TryonandRainerBielefeldandothers. ContentisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlike3.0UnportedLicense, unlessotherwisespecified.ThisdoesnotincludethesourcecodeofLibreOffice,whichislicensed undertheGNULesserGeneralPublicLicense(LGPLv3)."LibreOffice"and"TheDocument Foundation"areregisteredtrademarksoftheircorrespondingregisteredownersorareinactualuse astrademarksinoneormorecountries.Theirrespectivelogosandiconsarealsosubjectto internationalcopyrightlaws.Usethereofisexplainedinourtrademarkpolicyunlessotherwise noted.

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