Testing a Linux Tauri App on a Hyper-V Ubuntu VM

What is this

Notes on the steps I follow to try out a Tauri app built on a Windows host machine on an Ubuntu virtual machine (VM) running on Hyper-V.

Environment

• Windows 11 Pro
• Ubuntu VM on Hyper-V: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS

Preparation

On the Windows host

Build for Linux ahead of time. I use Docker for the build. As long as you end up with a .deb file, you are good to go.

On the Ubuntu VM

Install an SSH server on the Ubuntu VM.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install openssh-server
sudo systemctl enable --now ssh

Check the IP address of the Ubuntu VM.

ip addr

The address like 172.XX.XX.XX shown under inet for eth0 is the VM’s IP.

Installing on the VM

Copy the .deb file from the Windows host to the Ubuntu VM. The easiest way is to run scp from the directory that contains the .deb file. Replace your-app.deb with the name of the .deb file you are copying, username with the user name on the Ubuntu VM, and 172.XX.XX.XX with the IP address of the Ubuntu VM.

scp your-app.deb username@172.XX.XX.XX:/tmp/

If scp asks Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?, answer yes. It then prompts for a password, so enter the login password of the Ubuntu VM.

Once the copy succeeds, you can confirm it with the ls command.

ls /tmp/

With the file in place, install it.

sudo apt install /tmp/your-app.deb

If the installation succeeds, you can launch the app and check that it works.

Uninstalling on the VM

To uninstall the app you installed, run the following command. Replace your-app with the name of the app you installed.

sudo apt remove your-app

If you also want to remove the configuration files, use purge instead.

sudo apt purge your-app

After that, run the following command to remove dependency packages that are no longer needed.

sudo apt autoremove

The installer can be deleted with rm.

rm /tmp/your-app.deb