Q100521: How to create a desktop shortcut for Foundry software on Linux operating systems

Todd

Updated: August 10, 2026 19:09

Created: October 23, 2019 22:02

SUMMARY

When installing Mari or Nuke 12.0+ on Linux, a Desktop configuration file (.desktop shortcut) is not created. Additionally, when launching the application, an icon is not present on the launcher/taskbar or available to search from the OS menu. This article will explain how to create a Desktop shortcut for Foundry software.
 

MORE INFORMATION

In Linux, Mari is generally run by using a command in Terminal, so Desktop icons were not implemented. This does not occur on the Windows and macOS, as shortcut and taskbar/launcher icons are available on those platforms.

The information below is relative to testing with GNOME on Rocky 9, CentOS 7 and Ubuntu 16.04; other Desktop Environments may vary, depending on the Linux install. Other Desktop Environments can include GNOME, KDE, MATE, etc.

Desktop shortcuts can be created with an icon when following the steps below. A working knowledge of a text editor and how to navigate directory locations in Linux are needed. After performing the following example, a .desktop configuration file with an icon for launching Mari 7.5v2 or Nuke 17.0v4 will be created.

1. Install Mari to the /usr/local directory, to be displayed as /usr/local/Mari7.5v2
2. Download the Mari.png located at the end of this article. Place this file locally on your machine. Alternatively, for Mari and Nuke, you can navigate to where the app icons are located. This is in /Media/Icons for Mari, and /plugins/icons for Nuke.
3. Launch any text editor to create a new file, and add the relevant lines below depending on the application. Please view the explanation of shortcut contents section for understanding what the line items result in, and why they’re used.

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Mari7.5v2
Comment=Mari desktop shortcut!
Exec=/usr/local/Mari7.5v2/mari --name "Mari7.5v2"
StartupWMClass=MARI
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Qt;Graphics;3DGraphics;
Icon=/usr/local/Mari7.5v2/Media/Icons/Mari.png

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Nuke 17.0v4
Comment=Nuke desktop shortcut
Exec="/usr/local/Nuke17.0v4/Nuke17.0" -b %f
Terminal=false
MimeType=application/x-nuke;
Icon=/usr/local/Nuke17.0v4/plugins/icons/NukeApp48.png
Type=Application
Categories=Graphics;2DGraphics;RasterGraphics;FLTK;

4. Save the file as “Mari7.5v2.desktop” and place it in the /usr/share/applications directory. This will create a shortcut that can be found in the Search bar of the OS.

EXPLANATION OF SHORTCUT CONTENTS

The following information will explain the line items entered in step 2 above, for the Mari7.1v2.desktop shortcut. Additional information regarding these lines can be found in the Further Reading section below:

[Desktop Entry]
This is the Group header of the file. It defines the shortcut-type and allows it to be used as such.

Name=Mari7.5v2
This is a string for the name of the file that is given when created.

Comment=Mari desktop shortcut!
This is a tooltip comment for when viewing the Properties of the file.

Exec=/usr/local/Mari7.5v2/mari --name "Mari7.5v2"
This is a required line that specifies what command to launch Mari with. Additional command line flags can be added to the shortcut, such as -safemode -dbononconfig. More information on these can be found in the Further Reading section.

StartupWMClass=MARI
This flag maps the window for Mari from the application’s launch, allowing the window to display the icon and remain on the taskbar after launching.

Terminal=false
The Terminal false/true argument is used in deciding if the application is run through Terminal.

Type=Application
The “Type” flag designates the type of file the shortcut should imitate. In this case, we specify an “application”, as we are running a piece of software.

Categories=Qt;Graphics;3DGraphics;
The Categories flag is used to classify menu items. This ensures that it will show up in a section of the application menu dedicated to the specified category.

Icon=/usr/local/Mari7.5v2/Media/Icons/Mari.png
This identifies the icon to be used for the desktop shortcut. If you have downloaded the Mari .png file and placed them locally on your machine, you will need to change this path to reflect where your .png files are located.

FURTHER READING

• For an in-depth look at desktop configurations, please view additional information regarding the Desktop Entry specifications and their meanings. 

• For additional guidance on installing the software in Linux, please review our instructions here:
  Installing Mari
  Installing Nuke

FURTHER HELP

If you have any issues with creating a desktop shortcut in Linux, please raise a Support request and let us know more about the problem you are encountering, and the troubleshooting steps you have taken so far. 

For more information on how to open a Support request, please refer to this article: Q100064: How to raise a support ticket.

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