Run an app - boat

Before you start, install Wine.

Install and start an app

Download the official installer or portable archive in the sandbox.
Install it.
Start it on the desktop. Every GUI command needs DISPLAY=:0.

This example installs the MicroDicom medical image viewer and opens a CT scan:

export DISPLAY=:0
curl -fsSL -o /tmp/microdicom.exe https://www.microdicom.com/downloads/Software/MicroDicom-2026.4-Setup.exe
wine /tmp/microdicom.exe /S
curl -fsSL -o ~/CT_small.dcm https://github.com/pydicom/pydicom/raw/main/src/pydicom/data/test_files/CT_small.dcm
cd "$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/MicroDicom"
wine mDicom.exe 'Z:\home\user\CT_small.dcm' &

On the first start, MicroDicom asks to become the default viewer. It does not open the file. To open the scan:

Press Escape.
Close MicroDicom.
Run the last command again.

After this, the scan opens immediately.

Tips

Use wine start /unix <path> to start a program. start gives the program normal Windows console handles. Without it, programs written in Python (Blender, FreeCAD) and many others crash.
Most installers have a silent switch:
Installer type Silent switch
NSIS /S
Inno Setup /VERYSILENT
MSI msiexec /i app.msi /qn
To find an official download link, open the app’s manifest in winget-pkgs. The InstallerUrl field is the vendor’s own link.
Windows paths map to Linux paths:
Windows path Linux path
C:\ ~/.wine/drive_c
Z:\ The Linux root /

Installer type	Silent switch
NSIS	`/S`
Inno Setup	`/VERYSILENT`
MSI	`msiexec /i app.msi /qn`

Windows path	Linux path
`C:\`	`~/.wine/drive_c`
`Z:\`	The Linux root `/`

Steam

Steam has these needs:

It needs the Arial font.
It must not use Wine’s DirectWrite.
Its web view must not use a GPU.

export DISPLAY=:0
winetricks -q arial
wine reg add 'HKCU\Software\Wine\AppDefaults\steam.exe\DllOverrides' /v dwrite /t REG_SZ /d '' /f
curl -fsSL -o /tmp/SteamSetup.exe https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/client/installer/SteamSetup.exe
wine /tmp/SteamSetup.exe /S
wine start 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe' -no-dwrite -cef-disable-gpu -cef-disable-sandbox

The first start updates Steam and takes about 2 minutes. Then the sign-in window opens.

Paint.NET

Paint.NET 5.2 has a separate build for Wine.

It needs Wine 11.15 or newer. The Wine set-up installs this version.
Its installer makes its own Wine set-up and needs Wine Mono. So it opens the “Wine Mono Installer” window.
The xdotool loop below presses Install for you.

export DISPLAY=:0
mkdir -p ~/apps/paintnet && cd ~/apps/paintnet
curl -fsSL -o pdn.zip "$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/paintdotnet/Paint.NET-on-Wine/releases \
  | grep -o '"browser_download_url": *"[^"]*x64[^"]*\.zip"' | cut -d'"' -f4 | head -1)"
unzip -q pdn.zip
( for i in $(seq 1 120); do
    w=$(wmctrl -l | grep 'Wine Mono Installer' | awk '{print $1}')
    [ -n "$w" ] && { wmctrl -i -a $w; sleep 0.5; xdotool key Return; break; }
    sleep 2
  done ) &
./install.sh
./paintdotnet.sh &

Use the x64 file. The release also has an arm64 file. That file does not run on a sandbox.
The Wine build is experimental. It expires 12 weeks after its build date. When it expires, download a new one.
Paint.NET 5.1 and older do not run.

Sysinternals

Process Explorer and Autoruns show a licence window on the first start. Accept the licence before the start, so that an agent does not have to. Autoruns rejects the /accepteula flag. So set the registry value for both apps:

export DISPLAY=:0
curl -fsSL -o /tmp/procexp.zip https://download.sysinternals.com/files/ProcessExplorer.zip
curl -fsSL -o /tmp/autoruns.zip https://download.sysinternals.com/files/Autoruns.zip
mkdir -p ~/apps/sysinternals && cd ~/apps/sysinternals
unzip -qo /tmp/procexp.zip && unzip -qo /tmp/autoruns.zip
wine reg add 'HKCU\Software\Sysinternals\Process Explorer' /v EulaAccepted /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
wine reg add 'HKCU\Software\Sysinternals\Autoruns' /v EulaAccepted /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
wine start /unix ~/apps/sysinternals/procexp64.exe

Direct3D games

DXVK from the Wine set-up runs Direct3D 8, 9, 10 and 11 games on the software Vulkan driver.

Game type	Speed
Simple 2D games and older 3D games	Playable
Modern 3D games	Too slow without a GPU

Old games that change the screen resolution can leave a full-screen window over the desktop. To stop Wine from changing the resolution, run:

wine reg add 'HKCU\Software\Wine\X11 Driver' /v UseXRandR /t REG_SZ /d N /f
wine reg add 'HKCU\Software\Wine\X11 Driver' /v UseXVidMode /t REG_SZ /d N /f

​Install and start an app

​Tips

​Steam

​Paint.NET

​Sysinternals

​Direct3D games