Learn how to play .swf Files on Ubuntu from our experts. Our Server Management Support team is here to help you with your questions and concerns.

How To Play .swf Files on Ubuntu

Flash Player has been a staple for multimedia content on the web for a long time. However, compatibility issues are common.

If you have been running into problems while running .swf files on Ubuntu, you have come to the right place. Today, we are going to explore different ways to resolve this issue.

Solution 1: How to Update MIME Database & Reinstall Flash Player

1. First, we must open the terminal and run this command to edit the freedesktop.org.xml file:

   sudo nano /usr/share/mime/packages/freedesktop.org.xml
2. Then, locate the following line:

   <mime-type type="application/vnd.adobe.flash.movie">

   And change it as seen here:

   <mime-type type="application/x-shockwave-flash">
3. Finally, save the file and exit.
4. Now, we have to update the MIME database as seen here:

   sudo update-mime-database /usr/share/mime
5. Then, reinstall Flash Player.

Solution 2: Gnash SWF Viewer

This solution involves installing Gnash by opening a terminal and running this command:

sudo apt-get install gnash

Our experts would like to point out that Gnash does not support certain languages.

Solution 3: Standalone Flash Player by Adobe

Adobe offers a standalone Flash Player called Flash Player Projector. We can download it from here.

After downloading, we have to extract the contents and open the Flash player file to play SWF files locally.

Solution 4: Configure Firefox to Play .swf Files

1. Alternatively, we can easily configure Firefox to play .swf files by creating ~/.mime.types file with the following content:

   application/x-shockwave-flash swf swfl
2. Then, open Firefox and enter about:config in the URL box.
3. Additionally, locate the plugins.http_https_only setting and set it to false.
4. Now, we can open .swf files from the file manager with Firefox.

Solution 5: Open .swf Files Directly in Firefox

1. First, we have to right-click on the .swf file and select Open With under Properties.
2. Then, choose Firefox as the default application.
3. After that, we have to double-click the .swf file to open it in Firefox.

Solution 6: Install Shockwave Player for Windows via Wine

Did you know that Wine is a compatibility layer that allows running Windows applications on Linux?

We can easily install the Shockwave Player for Windows using Wine.

Solution 7: Install swfdec-gnome and Use Google Chrome

1. First, open a terminal window and run this command:

   sudo apt-get install swfdec-gnome
2. Then, we can use the latest version of Google Chrome to play.swf files.

Let us know in the comments which one of the above solutions helped you run .swf files with ease.

[Need assistance with a different issue? Our team is available 24/7.]

Conclusion

In brief, our Support Techs demonstrated how to play .swf Files on Ubuntu.