Man page 8 : desktop-file-install

desktop-file-install - install a desktop file to the applications directory

desktop-file-install "[options] file"

desktop-file-install installs a specified .desktop file to the applications directory, optionally munging it a bit in transit.

• \fB --dir path
      Specify the directory where files should be installed.
• \fB --vendor vendor
      Add a vendor prefix to the desktop file. If the file already has this prefix, nothing happens.
• \fB --add-category category
      Add a category to the Categories field.
• \fB --remove-category category
      Remove a category from the Categories field.
• \fB --add-only-show-in product
      Add a product name to the OnlyShowIn field.
• \fB --remove-only-show-in product
      Remove a product name from the OnlyShowIn field.
• \fB --delete-original
      Delete the source desktop file, leaving only the target file. Effectively "renames" a desktop file.
• \fB -m, --mode mode
      Set the given permissions on the destination file.
• \fB --copy-name-to-generic-name
      Copy the contents of the Name field to the GenericName field.
• \fB --copy-generic-name-to-name
      Copy the contents of the GenericName field to the Name field.
• \fB --remove-key key
      Remove a specific key from the desktop file.

-h, --help

    Show summary of options.

--usage

    Display brief usage message.

-v, --version

    Show version of program.

The Free Desktop .desktop file specification at www.freedesktop.org.

This manual page was written by Ross Burton <>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others).