Hi all,
I mainly work with Scilab on windows, but have now upgraded an Intel i3 Laptop with integrated Intel Graphics to Ubuntu 26.04.
How do I install Scilab correctly on Unbuntu 26.04?
Thanks
I’m using Debian, but I think Ubuntu works similarly.
You cansudo apt install scilab, but I had some problems both with this apt version and with the flatpak one, so I prefer to download it manually, even thoug this should be not the most “official” way (moreover, this way you get the very last version).
Therefore, download the .tar.xz from the Scilab website; then unpack the archive in a folder you like (in my case ~/scilabXXX).
To launch it, run the scilab file in the scilabXXX/bin/ folder; in terminal, something like ~/scilabXXX/bin/./scilab. 
Hi Mario,
I just plugged the query into ChatGPT and it made an install script, but not sure if it is valid.
Create a file install-scilab.sh eg in Kate
#!/bin/bash
set -e
echo “=========================================”
echo " Scilab Installer for Ubuntu 26.04"
echo “=========================================”
cd ~/Downloads
echo “”
echo “Looking for Scilab download…”
FILE=$(ls scilab-*.tar.xz 2>/dev/null | head -n 1)
if [ -z “$FILE” ]; then
echo “ERROR: No Scilab .tar.xz file found in ~/Downloads”
exit 1
fi
echo “Found: $FILE”
echo “”
echo “Extracting archive…”
tar -xvf “$FILE”
DIR=$(tar -tf “$FILE” | head -n 1 | cut -d/ -f1)
echo “”
echo “Detected extracted folder:”
echo “$DIR”
INSTALL_DIR=“/opt/$DIR”
echo “”
echo “Moving Scilab to:”
echo “$INSTALL_DIR”
sudo mv “$DIR” “$INSTALL_DIR”
echo “”
echo “Installing required packages…”
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y
openjdk-17-jre
libncurses6
libtinfo6
libx11-6
libxext6
libxrender1
libxtst6
libxft2
libgtk-3-0
echo “”
echo “Creating compatibility symlink…”
if [ ! -e /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtinfo.so.5 ]; then
sudo ln -s
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtinfo.so.6
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtinfo.so.5
fi
echo “”
echo “Creating desktop launcher…”
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/applications
cat > ~/.local/share/applications/scilab.desktop <<EOF
Desktop Entry
Name=Scilab
Comment=Scientific Computing
Exec=$INSTALL_DIR/bin/scilab
Icon=$INSTALL_DIR/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/scilab.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Education;Science;
EOF
echo “”
echo “Adding Scilab to PATH…”
if ! grep -q “$INSTALL_DIR/bin” ~/.bashrc; then
echo “export PATH=$INSTALL_DIR/bin:$PATH” >> ~/.bashrc
fi
echo “”
echo “Refreshing application database…”
update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications || true
echo “”
echo “=========================================”
echo " Installation Complete"
echo “=========================================”
echo “”
echo “You can now:”
echo “”
echo “1. Launch Scilab from the Applications menu”
echo “2. Or type:”
echo “”
echo " scilab"
echo “”
echo “in a new terminal window.”
echo “”
make script executable
chmod +x install-scilab.sh
run installer
./install-scilab.sh
I still work with Scilab on Windows, and the sudo apt version is likely an older version (?2024). but I couldn’t get that working when I tried, even with pointing to the universe repository.
Lester
Just download https://www.scilab.org/download/2026.0.1/scilab-2026.0.1.bin.x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.xz
and extract the content into your home. In the bin\ directory, there is a script scilab that you can run to launch the software.
I have installed it recently in Ubuntu 26.04 and it works perfectly. I have the latest 2026.0.1, instead of the 2024 officially available in the Ubuntu repositories.
If ever some libraries are needed, you will have to install them also.
Hello,
Thanks for the information, I will try the route you suggest. I have an icon for the Home folder in the bottom right, is that where it has to extract to? Still getting my head around moving around directories.
Thanks
Lester
If there is a house on the icon, yes it will open your home folder. In Linux, home folders are stored into the /home/ folder. The path to your home is /home/your_login/ and the scilab-2026.0.1 directory should be installed there.
In Ubuntu, there is a File Roller application to extract archive files.
Hello,
I downloaded the Linux version and managed to extract it to the home folder. I right click on the Scilab file (run as program) and it runs but the text is all tiny and impossible to work with, is there a fix for that? Apologies, I am not a “native” Linux user. Is there away to make an icon/shortcut that one can just click on to launch Scilab like in Windows?
Lester
Concerning the display, see:
That’s a Java problem (Scilab has a Java GUI). You probably have a screen with a very high definition. I have the same problem on some machines and I have just set big fonts (30 or 36) in the preferences. Not a perfect solution. If you look at the end of the cited post there is something to install to fix the problem, but I have not tried.
As you have not installed Scilab from the official Ubuntu repositories, you will have to follow those steps for the icon:
- Open the folder
/home/your_login/.local/share/applications. In Linux, folders (and files) having a name beginning by a dot are hidden. The shortcutCTRL+Hcan be used to display or hide them. - There, with a text editor, create a file
scilab.desktopcontaining such lines:
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Scilab
Exec=/home/your_login/scilab-2026.0.1/bin/scilab
Terminal=false
Categories=Programming;
Keywords=script;Scilab
Icon=/home/your_login/scilab-2026.0.1/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/scilab.png
- If the icon is still not available in the Ubuntu menus, you may also need to type in a terminal (don’t type the
$):
$ update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications
(the ~ is a shortcut for /home/your_login/)
Welcome in the Linux world 
I got the font sizes increased for console and scinotes, that helps for the coding areas. Not a perfect solution but the simplest option for now. Verified that the Java was there and present as Java jdk and jre (25.xx). The font scaling in other parts of the window are still there; not sure what else to try.
Thanks
1 Like
The problem is described here:
Maybe a “solution” would be to have a secondary screen with a moderate resolution. On one machine, I have a 1920x1080 screen and Scilab 2026 is displayed perfectly (Ubuntu 26.04).
Hi all,
At the moment, I cannot get Scilab 2026.1.0 to install properly on Ubuntu 26.04. The java issue is not helping with the font sizing problem; pushing the font size up is not a perfect solution. It really needs a fundamental check from the developers to make it work properly. The display I have is 1920 x 1080. The issue is the way GNOME50 works I guess and Java; Java is installed by default.
Maybe if there is a well documented methodology, with screen images to show how it can be installed, without fiddling with the fonts which is not a solution since it only affects the console and editor. At the moment I have to use it on Windows which is all fine.
I am not an expert with the Linux system. Sudo apt install scilab seems to work, but the apps don’t want to run (only gets v 2024).
Hopefully someone has a foolproof and simple workflow to install on Ubuntu and not have to change font sizes. On my Windows version I have the console font at 13 and Scinotes at 18, both using the default Monospaced Plain font.
Apologies for repeating this query.
Lester