Setting up your development environment for Ubuntu 20.04

This section provides a step-by-step guide for setting up your development environment for Ubuntu 20.04.

Install .NET Core SDK

Add repository:

wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/20.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb -O /tmp/packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo dpkg -i /tmp/packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo apt update

Install packages:

sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https
sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-sdk-3.1

[Optional] Install mono

Mono is a C# runtime, just like .NET Core. If you're targeting Linux only, it's unnecessary, but if you're targeting some other platforms like Android, it's required.

Add repository:

sudo apt install gnupg ca-certificates
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 3FA7E0328081BFF6A14DA29AA6A19B38D3D831EF
echo "deb https://download.mono-project.com/repo/ubuntu stable-focal main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mono-official-stable.list
sudo apt update

Install packages:

sudo apt install -y mono-devel

Install Visual Studio Code

Add repository:

curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > /tmp/packages.microsoft.gpg
sudo install -o root -g root -m 644 /tmp/packages.microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/packages.microsoft.gpg] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/vscode stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list'
sudo apt update

Install packages:

sudo apt-get install code

Install C# extension:

code --install-extension ms-dotnettools.csharp

Install MonoGame templates

This will install templates for .NET Core CLI and the Rider IDE. There is no template support for MonoDevelop.

dotnet new --install MonoGame.Templates.CSharp

Install MGCB Editor

MGCB Editor is a tool for editing .mgcb files, which are used for building content.

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-mgcb-editor
mgcb-editor --register

[Optional] Set up Wine for effect compilation

Effect compilation requires access to DirectX, so it won't work natively on Linux systems, but it can be used through Wine.

Install wine64:

sudo apt install wine64 p7zip-full

Create wine prefix:

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MonoGame/MonoGame/develop/Tools/MonoGame.Effect.Compiler/mgfxc_wine_setup.sh | bash

If you ever need to undo the script, simply delete the .winemonogame folder in your home directory.

Next up: Creating a new project