How To Install Zlib on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Zlib on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, The Zlib package is a popular data compression library that is used by many programs and libraries. If you are developing software that requires the Zlib library, or if you are using a program that depends on it, you will need to install it on your Ubuntu system. Zlib is also a crucial component of many software platforms, including Linux, macOS, and iOS.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the Zlib open-source compression library on Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: Ubuntu 22.04, 20.04, 18.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
• A non-root sudo user or access to the root user. We recommend acting as a non-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.

Install Zlib on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Jammy Jellyfish

Step 1. Before installing any software, it’s a good practice to update your package repository. This ensures you have the latest information on available packages and their versions:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install curl build-essential gnupg2 gnupg wget software-properties-common

Step 2. Installing the Zlib package on Ubuntu 22.04.

• Install Zlib from the Default Ubuntu Repository √

By default, the Zlib is available on the Ubuntu 22.04 base repository. Now run the following command below to install the latest version of Zlib to your Ubuntu system:

sudo apt install zlib1g-dev

This command instructs APT to install the zlib1g-dev package, which contains the Zlib library. You’ll be prompted to confirm the installation by typing ‘Y’ and hitting Enter.

To verify that the Zlib package has been installed successfully, you can run the following command:

zlib-config --version

• Install Zlib from the Official Source √

Run the following command below to download the source code archive:

wget https://www.zlib.net/zlib-1.3.1.tar.gz

Next, extract the file from the downloaded package:

tar -xvf zlib-1.3.1.tar.gz

Change the directory where the package is extracted and configured:

./configure --prefix=/usr/local/zlib
sudo make install

To verify the successful installation of Zlib from the source, you can check the library’s version using the following command:

zlib-flate -version

Step 3. Troubleshooting.

During the installation of Zlib, you may encounter some common issues. Here are solutions to address them:

• Issue 1: Unable to Locate the Package

If you encounter the error “E: Unable to locate package zlib1g-dev,” it means that the package name is incorrect or the package repository is not properly updated. Double-check the package name and ensure you’ve updated the repository with sudo apt update.

• Issue 2: Permission Denied

You might encounter “Permission Denied” errors when using sudo. Ensure that you have administrative privileges and that your user account is added to the ‘sudo’ group.

• Issue 3: Conflicting Libraries

If you have other libraries installed that conflict with Zlib, this can cause issues. Ensure that no other libraries interfere with your Zlib installation.

• Issue 4: Compilation Errors (Source Installation)

During the compilation from the source, you may encounter errors due to missing dependencies. Make sure you have essential build tools and libraries installed using sudo apt install build-essential.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Zlib. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the Zlib open-source compression library package on the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Jammy Jellyfish system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Zlib website.