Why the file isn't running as executable?

Question

I'm reading a tutorial on creating a Windows 7 bootable disk in Ubuntu.

In the tutorial, it lists an older version of unetbootin to download.

It then instructs you to right click on the file, then under permissions, allow it to run as an executable. When I do this though, nothing happens at all.

Is this file just a dud, or am I doing something wrong?

Try the chmod method described in my answer. See if it works or gives you an error message. — Samuel, Mar 01 '17 at 07:12

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

0

The article you linked to recommends downloading unetbootin from the Ubuntu repositories. The unetbootin download site gives the following instructions:

To install UNetbootin from the Ubuntu PPA, run the commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gezakovacs/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install unetbootin

You should be able to run the file from your applications menu once install is complete

edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

Community

1

answered Mar 01 '17 at 03:50

brndn2k

164

1

incorrect. you did not read the whole article. I suggests downloading a linked older version that supports ntsf. – Scorb Mar 01 '17 at 04:40

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

If you are the file's owner you should be able to make the file executable through the use of your file manager or using chmod in a console. I'll show how to do it both ways.

Using chmod (console)

myuser@myhost:~$ ls -l unetbootin-linux-494 
-rw-rw-r-- 1 myuser mygroup 4320172 feb 28 23:48 unetbootin-linux-494
myuser@myhost:~$ chmod u+x ./unetbootin-linux-494
myuser@myhost:~$ ls -l unetbootin-linux-494 
-rwxrw-r-- 1 myuser mygroup 4320172 feb 28 23:48 unetbootin-linux-494
myuser@myhost:~$ chmod u-x ./unetbootin-linux-494
myuser@myhost:~$ ls -l unetbootin-linux-494 
-rw-rw-r-- 1 myuser mygroup 4320172 feb 28 23:48 unetbootin-linux-494

In this case u tells chmod it should modify the file owner permissions, hence the u(ser). The + operand indicate that the permissions after it should be added, the - operand means permission will be removed. The x is the flag for the executable permission.

chmod u+x file.whatever reads as "for file.whatever, add execution permission to its owner".

For more details on chmod's usage, check its manual. You can view online version here or launch it locally with the command man chmod or man --html=firefox chmod (to view it in browser, requires the groff package).

Using a graphical file manager

I'm using PCManFM, but the steps are very similar with any file manager.

Locate your file and open context menu by right clicking it.
Select the execute box.
Assign permission (owner, group, all).
Apply changes by clicking the OK button.

Does not work, will not work if the file system is FAT or NTFS — nodws, Jun 20 '19 at 19:06
@nodws OP said " ...the file is placed on my ext4 system partition". I guess the most common use case for a linux user would be to run unetbootin from a Unix file system such as ext4 or xfs, not fat32 or even ntfs. But anyway, the answers here may help you if this is indeed your case: https://askubuntu.com/questions/11840/how-do-i-use-chmod-on-an-ntfs-or-fat32-partition/ — Samuel, Jun 29 '19 at 00:06

Why the file isn't running as executable?

2 Answers2

Using chmod (console)

Using a graphical file manager