{"id":8730,"date":"2020-05-14T10:58:15","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T10:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fhug.org.uk\/kb\/?post_type=kb_article&#038;p=8730"},"modified":"2026-01-16T11:01:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T11:01:30","slug":"running-family-historian-on-wine","status":"publish","type":"kb_article","link":"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/kb\/kb-article\/running-family-historian-on-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"Running Family Historian on Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 id=\"introduction\" class=\"sectionedit2\">Introduction<\/h2>\n<div class=\"level2\">\n<p>Users should be aware that Wine (a Windows emulator that forms the basis of running Windows applications on Mac or Linux PCs) is under continuous development, and may change significantly over a relatively short period. New users should always use the most recent stable version available from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winehq.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wine HQ<\/a> for their version of MacOS or Linux distribution (11.0 at the time of writing, January 2026). Linux users should be aware that the Wine version available in the official repository for the their distribution may lag behind that available directly from Wine HQ.<\/p>\n<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> can be installed using just Wine, but many users prefer the more refined developments based on Wine, particularly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.codeweavers.com\/crossover\">CrossOver<\/a> by CodeWeavers, which is available as commercial software in both Mac and Linux versions. There are also free alternatives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.playonmac.com\/en\/\">PlayOnMac<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.playonlinux.com\/en\/\">PlayOnLinux<\/a>, but these may be less functional than CrossOver.<\/p>\n<p>Installation of Wine or its derivatives is outside the scope of this basic introduction, so potential users should consult the various detailed guides available online for their chosen Operating System.<\/p>\n<p>Only the latest versions of\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> and AS are supported as described below.<\/p>\n<p>Also see <a href=\"#problems\">Reported Problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Note that this page is under revision as much of the following advice is out-of-date, and it is expected that this process will be completed by the end of January, 2026.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Family Historian V7<\/h2>\n<p>Family Historian V7 has some significant issues running on Crossover. Only install <span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> V7 if you are aware of these limitations.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>During the install process of V7 into a Wine Bottle it will report errors and may hang whist installing the Nova PDF driver<\/li>\n<li>Reports do not work. They display a black screen in preview mode, unlike V6 which prints the report content correctly, V7 will print a black report to the printer<\/li>\n<li>Reports cannot be saved to the Mac pdf printer<\/li>\n<li>Reports can be saved as RTF files and these will display and print correctly using an external program<\/li>\n<li>If a notes field is selected and just a formatting change is made then no save button is displayed. To alter formatting additional text must be added to the note, formatting applied and then the additional text deleted, now a save button will be displayed.<\/li>\n<li>Pasting text from a Mac\/Linux window or browser must be pasted in as unformatted text otherwise it will not paste into the Note, Text from Source etc fields in <span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li>Carriage returns may be stripped from Note, Text from Source fields etc and similar on import into a new project.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"level3\">\n<p>{This section needs checking} In Wine run winecfg, and with Default Settings selected under Applications, set Windows Version to Windows 7, and ensure that Drives are set appropriately. Install programs using the wine command to specify their installation .exe file. ( It is not certain whether WINEARCH is required to set a win32 wineprefix for <abbr title=\"\" data-original-title=\"Family Historian\">FH<\/abbr> which is a 32-bit application.) See <a class=\"urlextern\" title=\"https:\/\/wiki.winehq.org\/Wine_User%27s_Guide\" href=\"https:\/\/wiki.winehq.org\/Wine_User%27s_Guide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Wine User&#8217;s Guide<\/a> part 3 Using Wine.<\/p>\n<p>Install these applications:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"level1\">\n<div class=\"li\"><a class=\"wikilink1\" title=\"glossary:family_historian\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/wiki\/doku.php?id=glossary:family_historian\">Family Historian<\/a> V6 or V4\/V5 to V6 Upgrade CD or download as per the <a class=\"wikilink1\" title=\"how_to:reinstall_family_historian\" href=\"https:\/\/fhug.org.uk\/kb\/kb-article\/family-historian-installation-advice\/\">Family Historian Installation Advice<\/a><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"level1\">\n<div class=\"li\"><a class=\"wikilink1\" title=\"fhugdownloads:contents:family_historian_6.x.y_upgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.family-historian.co.uk\/downloads\/latest-free-upgrade\">Family Historian Version 6.2.7 Upgrade<\/a> as advised in <a class=\"wikilink1\" title=\"how_to:family_historian_v6_on_crossover_wine \u21b5\" href=\"#updates\">Program Updates<\/a> below<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"level1\">\n<div class=\"li\">Microsoft .NET Framework V3.5 SP1 only needed by AS<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"level1\">\n<div class=\"li\"><a class=\"wikilink1\" title=\"fhugdownloads:contents:ancestral_sources\" href=\"https:\/\/fhug.org.uk\/kb\/kb-article\/ancestral-sources\/\">Utility ~ Ancestral Sources v5.2.0<\/a> 32-bit latest download<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"level1\">\n<div class=\"li\"><a class=\"urlextern\" title=\"http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-gb\/download\/details.aspx?id=8247\" href=\"http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-gb\/download\/details.aspx?id=8247\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Windows Script 5.7<\/a> (needed by some Plugins)<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"secedit editbutton_section editbutton_6\"><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"program_configuration\" class=\"sectionedit7\">Program Configuration<\/h2>\n<div class=\"level2\">\n<p>To ensure\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> Reports display text correctly, set\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> Tools &gt; Preferences &gt; General &gt; Advanced &gt; Emulator Compatibility Mode.<\/p>\n<p>All the\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> and AS settings below should specify similar folder paths, usually involving the Documents folder, and all the named folders and files must actually exist.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"level1\">\n<div class=\"li\"><span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span>\u00a0File &gt; Project Window in the Location field<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"level1\">\n<div class=\"li\"><span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> Tools &gt; Preferences &gt; Startup in the Default Startup File field<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"level1\">\n<div class=\"li\"><span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span>Tools &gt; Preferences &gt; Backup in the Default Backup Folder field<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"level1\">\n<div class=\"li\">AS Tools &gt; Options &gt; General settings &gt; Folders in all three fields<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If necessary, it is advisable to create new folders using <span class=\"search_hit\">Crossover<\/span>, PlayOnLinux\/Mac or Wine rather than within <span class=\"fh\">\u0192h<\/span> or AS windows.<\/p>\n<p>Configuration changes are needed as described below in <a href=\"#plugins\">Plugins<\/a> to allow some Plugins to work.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"wine1\" class=\"sectionedit10\">File paths<\/h3>\n<div class=\"level3\">\n<p>\u00a0 {Needs checking} ~ Example file paths.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"program_updates\" class=\"sectionedit11\"><a id=\"updates\"><\/a>Program Updates<\/h2>\n<div class=\"level2\">\n<p>The simplest way to update both\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> and AS is to use their own Help &gt; Check for Updates commands and follow the automated download and install process, although this may not succeed in Wine.<\/p>\n<p>Otherwise use the following strategies for both\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> and AS program updates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"level3\">\n<p>{Needs checking} After the update has been downloaded, preferably using Firefox, it may be necessary to copy the update file to the virtual C drive and run the update exe file from there and apply it to the <em class=\"u\">existing bottle<\/em>. &#8211;\u00a0 See thread <a class=\"interwiki iw_topic\" title=\"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/forum\/viewtopic.php?t=14795\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/forum\/viewtopic.php?t=14795\">Upgrading FH to 6.2.3 on a MAC with wine<\/a> for further advice.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"plugins\" class=\"sectionedit15\"><a id=\"plugins\"><\/a>Plugins<\/h2>\n<div class=\"level2\">\n<p>Plugins downloaded from the Plugin Store sometimes will not import using the browser Open With option, although Save followed by an explicit Import command works OK. A workaround in Firefox is to use its Firefox &gt; Preferences settings to associate .fh_lua Plugin files with Family Historian then Open With works OK too.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"plugin_library_modules\" class=\"sectionedit17\">Plugin Library Modules<\/h3>\n<div class=\"level3\">\n<p>Some Plugins require extra library modules not included in the <span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> installation, but their download will fail or be very slow. So download and run the <a href=\"https:\/\/pluginstore.family-historian.co.uk\/page\/plugin\/install-library-modules\">Install Library Modules<\/a> Plugin shortcut to install these library modules in advance: compat53, luasql, md5, mime, pl, socket, utf8 &amp; zip.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"secedit editbutton_section editbutton_17\"><\/div>\n<h3 id=\"problems_with_plugins\" class=\"sectionedit18\">Problems With Plugins<\/h3>\n<div class=\"level3\">\n<p>The Plugins listed below may have limitations. Ensure that COMPUTERNAME is set as advised above.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4 id=\"backup_and_restore_family_historian_settings\">Backup and Restore Family Historian Settings<\/h4>\n<div class=\"level4\">\n<p>Version 2.5 or later is almost fully operational in <span class=\"search_hit\">Crossover<\/span> but fails in Wine. Even in <span class=\"search_hit\">Crossover<\/span> it only detects the primary Family Historian installation, and NOT any subsidiary installations such as Family Historian Demo 3.0 or Family Historian 6.0 Beta, and it will omit the settings of any custom Named List not mentioned in the current Project.\u00a0 PlayOnLinux\/Mac this plugin is operational in the current version.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4 id=\"check_installed_plugins_against_the_store\">Check Installed Plugins Against the Store<\/h4>\n<div class=\"level4\">\n<p>This may say all Plugins are Not In Store because <span class=\"search_hit\">Crossover<\/span> does not support the winhttp service needed to check the Plugin Store. See Forum thread <a class=\"interwiki iw_topic\" title=\"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/forum\/viewtopic.php?t=13994\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/forum\/viewtopic.php?t=13994\">Check Installed Plugins Against the Store &#8211; <span class=\"search_hit\">Crossover<\/span> issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This plugin works in PlayOnLinux\/Mac, however, on occasions when performing the update <span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> will crash. So manual install is a safer option for plugin updates.<\/p>\n<p>Some Plugins also check the Plugin Store for a later version, but cannot do so for the same reason as above.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, it is necessary to occasionally check the Plugin Store manually to ensure you have the latest versions.<\/p>\n<p>This problem appears to be partially fixed in <span class=\"search_hit\">Crossover<\/span> 18.5.0 although automatic Plugin Store downloads still fail, so must be updated manually.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4 id=\"research_planner\">Research Planner<\/h4>\n<div class=\"level4\">\n<p>This Plugin also relies on the winhttp service so will fail in <span class=\"search_hit\">Crossover<\/span> (&amp; Wine? ).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"printing_and_pdf\" class=\"sectionedit19\">Printing and PDF<\/h2>\n<div class=\"level2\">\n<p>All\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> Print Setup and Print options work with any Mac (or Linux?) printer, even when a Report is displayed incorrectly on screen (see <a class=\"wikilink1\" title=\"how_to:family_historian_v6_on_crossover_wine \u21b5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/wiki\/doku.php?id=how_to:family_historian_v6_on_crossover_wine&amp;s[]=crossover#reported_problems\">Reported Problems<\/a> below).<\/p>\n<p>The free <a class=\"urlextern\" title=\"http:\/\/pdfwriterformac.sourceforge.net\/\" href=\"http:\/\/pdfwriterformac.sourceforge.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">PDFWriter<\/a> for Mac offers a way of creating PDF output via the\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> Print commands rather than the\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> Save Diagram\/Report As &gt; PDF File (.pdf) commands.<\/p>\n<p>The free <a class=\"urlextern\" title=\"https:\/\/www.cups-pdf.de\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cups-pdf.de\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">CUPS-PDF<\/a> for Linux offers similar PDF features.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"reported_problems\" class=\"sectionedit20\"><a id=\"problems\"><\/a>Reported Problems<\/h2>\n<div class=\"level2\">\n<p>Avoid using Internet Explorer as it can lead to download issues. Instead use Firefox or Chrome in the native Mac or Linux environment.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Family Historian PDF (novaPDF printer) installs, Wine based emulators do not support Windows printer drivers, so the novaPDF printer does not work.<\/p>\n<p>You can use the wine uninstaller or wine control to remove it if you want to.<\/p>\n<p>Having done so, the\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> Save Diagram\/Report As &gt; PDF File (.pdf) commands say PDF file output is not enabled.<\/p>\n<p>Some\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> Reports may display text incorrectly, but this is usually cured by using Tools &gt; Preferences &gt; General &gt; Advanced &gt; Emulator Compatibility Mode. <a id=\"reportwindow-textmissingemulatormode\" class=\"entry no-star wikilink1\" title=\"Report Window \u2192 Text Missing (Emulator Mode) (0-Default)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/wiki\/doku.php?id=alphabetic_index#reportwindow-textmissingemulatormode\">See Index for related topics<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Use Tools &gt; Preferences &gt; Internet Data Matches &gt; Location to Display Matches: External Web Browser to avoid problems with the internal window.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> command Tools &gt; Preferences &gt; Backup &gt; &lt;&lt;Select &gt; Make New Folder, and similar commands in Plugins, produce a hieroglyphic error message. The workaround is to create the folder beforehand using <span class=\"search_hit\">Crossover<\/span>, PlayOnLinux\/Mac or Wine, and select the pre-existing folder in\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> or Plugins.<\/p>\n<p>When changing a Date field and the Invalid Date message opens saying Unknown date. Please enter a valid date. do not change focus to another application as\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> will freeze and must be closed. This problem may affect other error messages.<\/p>\n<p>If\u00a0<span class=\"fh\" style=\"font-size: 17px !important; line-height: 21.4286px !important;\">\u0192<span style=\"color:#73B262; font-weight: bold;\">h<\/span><\/span> &amp;\/or AS &amp;\/or another program are running at the same time, and one program changes the shared GEDCOM file, then the other program(s) correctly report the file has changed, but then <em class=\"u\">may<\/em> freeze and Force Quit must be used.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"secedit editbutton_section editbutton_20\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"template":"","fh_version":[14,15,739],"skill_level":[18,17],"topic":[88,65],"class_list":["post-8730","kb_article","type-kb_article","status-publish","hentry","fh_version-v5","fh_version-v6","fh_version-v7","search_term-installation","search_term-linux","search_term-mac","search_term-osx","search_term-wine","skill_level-advanced","skill_level-intermediate","topic-installing-fh","topic-installing-migrating-and-upgrading"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb_article\/8730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb_article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/kb_article"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"fh_version","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fh_version?post=8730"},{"taxonomy":"skill_level","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/skill_level?post=8730"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fhug.org.uk\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=8730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}