Linux installation (.deb)

On Ubuntu 22.04 / Debian the recommended way to install DroneField is the native .deb package. The self-contained .NET 10 runtime is bundled inside, so the machine does not need any preinstalled .NET. For other distributions, use the AppImage described on the Installation page.

Supported distribution

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is the supported target for the .deb.

Ubuntu 24.04

The OpenCV native runtime bundled in the package was built against the Ubuntu 22.04 system stack. On Ubuntu 24.04 it fails to load at runtime (incompatible libtesseract, ffmpeg, libtiff and OpenEXR major versions). On 24.04, use the AppImage for now — a dedicated 24.04 build will follow.

Step 1 — Download the package

Sign in to my.dronefield.app, open Downloads in the left menu, and on the Latest stable version card download the Linux .deb (around 100–130 MB). The file is named like dronefield_26.2.18_amd64.deb.

Step 2 — Install

From the folder where you downloaded the file:

sudo apt install ./dronefield_26.2.18_amd64.deb

Tip

Use apt install ./file.deb rather than dpkg -i ./file.deb — apt automatically resolves the runtime dependencies (libx11-6, libvulkan1, etc.). With dpkg -i you would have to pull missing dependencies manually afterwards with sudo apt install -f.

Step 3 (optional) — Verify the download

Signed releases ship a detached .deb.asc signature next to the .deb. You only need stock gnupg to verify it. Import the publisher’s release key once:

wget https://dronefield.app/keys/dronefield-release.asc
gpg --import dronefield-release.asc

Then verify the downloaded package against it:

gpg --verify dronefield_26.2.18_amd64.deb.asc dronefield_26.2.18_amd64.deb

A Good signature from "DroneSpot Kft <support@dronefield.app>" line means the package is authentic. The first run also prints WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature — that is expected, because the key is self-signed by the publisher. What matters is that the fingerprint matches the one published on dronefield.app/keys. If you see BAD signature or Can't check signature, stop and contact support.

Step 4 — After install

• An application launcher entry appears under Education / Science, named DroneField.
• It can also be started from a terminal with dronefield (from any working directory).
• Program files live in /usr/lib/dronefield/ (read-only; only root can modify them).
• The app icon is installed at every standard size (16–256 px).

Step 5 — First launch

On first launch a sign-in screen appears:

1. Enter the email and password of your portal account.
2. Click Sign in.
3. DroneField automatically registers your device under your account (see Device management).
4. Read and accept the End User License Agreement (EULA). This is a one-time step; if the EULA is updated later, acceptance is requested again.

You can now create your first project — see First project in 10 minutes.

Your projects live under ~/DroneField/ by default. See Installation → Data and project folder for details on changing the location.

Uninstall

sudo apt remove dronefield     # keeps user config under ~/.config/
sudo apt purge dronefield      # also removes any debconf data

Your projects under ~/DroneField/ are never touched by remove or purge.

Troubleshooting

If the app fails to start with a “shared object not found” error, a runtime library is missing. Pull any unmet dependencies with:

sudo apt install -f

If the error persists after that, contact support with the exact missing .so name from the error message.