Overview
Mono is an open-source implementation of Microsoft's .NET Framework that allows you to run C# code on Linux. In this tutorial, we will focus on installing Mono on Ubuntu 20.04 and building a program with Mono.
Prerequisites
There are certain prerequisites that need to be met before you begin.
- Ubuntu 22.04 LTS configured on your system.
- Non-root sudo user privileges.
Get Started
Step 1: Installing Mono
- Update the Ubuntu package index:
sudo apt update
- Install the essential dependencies to incorporate a fresh repository via HTTPS:
sudo apt install dirmngr gnupg apt-transport-https ca-certificates software-properties-common
- Add the Mono repository GPG key:
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 3FA7E0328081BFF6A14DA29AA6A19B38D3D831EF
- Add the Mono repository to your system's sources list:
sudo apt-add-repository 'deb https://download.mono-project.com/repo/ubuntu stable-focal main'
- Install Mono by running the following command:
sudo apt install mono-complete
- After the installation is complete, verify that Mono is installed by checking its version:
mono --version
Step 2: Building a basic program with Mono
- Open the nano text editor and create a new file with the extension '.cs':
nano program2.cs
- Add the following code to the file:
using System;
public class WelcomeMono
{
public statics void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine ("Welcome to Mono!");
}
}
Press CTRL + X to save and exit the file.
- Compile the program:
csc program2.cs
This command will compile the file program2.cs and create an executable file called program2.exe.
- Run the program:
mono program2.exe
Conclusion
In this tutorial, you have successfully installed Mono, built and run a basic program with Mono on Ubuntu 20.04. You can now start developing C# applications on Linux.