Install Autodesk Maya in Ubuntu 20.04

Autodesk Maya is a popular 3D computer animation and modeling software. Maya was originally developed by Alias Systems but is now owned and developed by Autodesk. It is used to create 3D applications, animated movies, 3D video games, and visual effects. The Autodesk Maya application is supported by Linux, Windows, and macOS.

This tutorial will explain how to install Autodesk Maya in Ubuntu OS. The commands and procedures in this article were run in the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) system.

Install Dependencies

Autodesk Maya depends on some packages and libraries to work. Follow the below steps to install the relevant dependencies:

To install Autodesk Maya in Ubuntu 20.04, you will need to add some libraries. Some of these libraries are not available in the official Ubuntu 20.04 repositories; however, they are available in the Ubuntu 16.04 repository.

To install these libraries in Ubuntu 20.04, you will need to add the Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial) repository to your Ubuntu repository. Issue the following command in the Terminal to do so:

$ echo 'deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial main restricted universe
multiverse' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/xenial.list

Then, to update the Ubuntu 20.04 local repository with that of the newly added repository, issue the following command in the Terminal:

$ sudo apt update

Now, install the libraries using the following command in the Terminal:

$ sudo apt install -y libtbb-dev libtiff5-dev libssl-dev libpng12-dev
libssl1.1 gcc libjpeg62 libcurl4

Next, install the multimedia library files. Run the following command in the Terminal to do so:

$ sudo apt-get install -y libaudiofile-dev
libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0

Install the graphic library files. Issue the following command in the Terminal to do so:

$ sudo apt install -y libglw1-mesa libglw1-mesa-dev mesa-utils

Install the Microsoft True Type Core Fonts. Issue the following command in the Terminal to do so:

$ sudo apt install -y xfonts-100dpi xfonts-75dpi ttf-mscorefonts-installer
fonts-liberation

When the following screen appears, use the tab key to select OK and then hit Enter.

Accept the end-user license agreement. Use the tab key to highlight the Yes option and then press Enter to do so.

After accepting the license terms, the required fonts will be installed on your system.

Autodesk Maya also requires some other packages to be installed. Install the packages using the following commands in the Terminal:

$ sudo apt install -y csh tcsh libfam0 libfam-dev xfstt

The libxp6 package is not available in the Ubuntu repositories, so you will first need to download its .deb file. Issue the following command in the Terminal to do so:

$ cd /tmp
$ wget http://launchpadlibrarian.net/183708483/libxp6_1.0.2-2_amd64.deb

Then, install the libxp6 package using the command below in the Terminal:

$ sudo dpkg -i libxp6_1.0.2-2_amd64.deb

The installer packages of Maya are in .rpm format. You will need to convert them to .deb format using the Alien program. Issue the following command in the Terminal to install the Alien program:

$ sudo apt install -y alien elfutils

After completing the steps listed above, all the dependencies required to run Maya should be installed, and you can now move on to the next step.

Download Autodesk Maya

To download Maya, follow the steps listed below:

Move inside the ~/Downloads directory using the cd command in the Terminal:

$ cd ~/Downloads

Use the wget command to download the Autodesk Maya installer:

$ wget http://edutrial.autodesk.com/NET17SWDLD/2017/MAYA/ESD/Autodesk_Maya_2017_EN
_JP_ZH_Linux_64bit.tgz

Create a directory named “maya” to which the installation files will be extracted:

$ mkdir maya

Extract the Maya installer to the newly created “maya” directory using the below command:

$ tar xvzf Autodesk_Maya_2017_EN_JP_ZH_Linux_64bit.tgz -C maya

Convert the Maya .rpm Installer Files into .deb

1. Move inside the “maya” directory using the cd command:

$ cd maya/

2. Convert all the Maya installer files, which are currently in .rpm format, into .deb format. Use the Alien program to do so:

$ sudo alien –cv *.rpm

The conversion process will take a while. Once the process has completed, you will see the following output:

Install Autodesk Maya

To install Maya, follow the steps listed below:

In the previous section, we converted all the .rpm files into .deb format. In this step, we will install them using the following command in the Terminal:

$ sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Create a source file using the below command:

$ echo "int main (void) {return 0;}" > mayainstall.c

Then, compile it using the following command:

$ gcc mayainstall.c

After compilation, move the binary to the /usr/bin/rpm. But before doing this, create a backup of the /usr/bin/rpm using the following command:

$ sudo mv -v /usr/bin/rpm /usr/bin/rpm.backup

Move the binary to the /usr/bin/rpm using the following command:

$ sudo cp -v a.out /usr/bin/rpm

Now, you will create symbolic links to all the required library files that Autodesk Maya depends on. Use the following commands to do so:

$ sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtbb.so /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
libtbb_preview.so.2
$ sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtiff.so /usr/lib/libtiff.so.3
$ sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libssl.so /usr/autodesk/maya2017/lib/
libssl.so.10
$ sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcrypto.so /usr/autodesk/maya2017/lib/
libcrypto.so.10

Next, you will need to make the setup file executable. Use the following command to do so:

$ chmod +x setup

Then, run the Maya installer.

$ sudo ./setup

This will initiate the Maya Installer wizard. Click Continue.

Select your country or region, and then select the I ACCEPT radio button to accept the license and services agreement. Then, click Continue.

Now, you will enter the license information. Select your license type and then enter the serial number and product key.

When the following screen appears, click Continue to install the selected components.

The installation will be started and once it has completed, you will see the following screen. Click Done to close the wizard.

Post-Installation Configuration

After the installation is completed, you will need to perform some more configurations. Follow the below steps to do so.

Create the /usr/tmp directory.

$ sudo mkdir -p /usr/tmp

Set the permission to this directory.

$ sudo chmod 777 /usr/tmp

Create a few directories for Maya configuration files.

$ mkdir -p ~/mayac/2017 ~/mayac/2017/syncColor/Shared

Fix segmentation fault errors using the following command in the Terminal:

$ echo "MAYA_DISABLE_CIP=1" >> ~/mayac/2017/Maya.en

Fix color management errors using the following command:

$ echo "LC_ALL=C" >> ~/mayac/2017/Maya.env

Set the permissions using the following command:

$ chmod -Rfv 777 ~/mayac

Configure fonts for Maya using the following commands:

$ xset +fp /usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/
$ xset +fp /usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/
$ xset fp rehash

Fix the Maya Camera Modifier Key. Issue the following command to do so:

$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences mouse-button-modifier
"<Super>"

Restore rpm utilities using the following command:

$ sudo rm -v /usr/bin/rpm
$ sudo mv -v /usr/bin/rpm_backup /usr/bin/rpm

Finally, run Maya using the following command:

$ /usr/autodesk/maya2017/bin/maya.bin

When the following screen appears, click on I Agree, after which Maya will be launched on your system.

Conclusion

That is all there is to it! In this article, you have learned how to install Autodesk Maya in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa). I hope you liked the article and that now, you will be comfortable installing the computer animation and modeling software Autodesk Maya on your Linux system.