{"id":1934,"date":"2021-12-19T13:57:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-19T12:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/?p=1934"},"modified":"2025-11-24T09:55:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T08:55:43","slug":"how-to-install-the-cncnet-client-on-linux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/en\/2021\/12\/19\/how-to-install-the-cncnet-client-on-linux\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Install the CnCNet Client on Linux"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Update 25.11.2025<\/strong>: You can now play Red Alert 2 multiplayer directly in your browser: https:\/\/chronodivide.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guide updated on 16.05.2025<\/strong>: The installation of the CnCNet client has become a lot easier since the first time I wrote this guide. A 32bit windows wine environment is no longer required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to play the classic Games Red Alert 2 and Red Alert Yuri’s Revenge with multiplayer support on Linux (or other old Command and Conquer Games), you need to download and install the CnCNet Client<\/a>. Here are the instructions on how to get CnCNet 5 working under Linux using Wine and winetricks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Screenshot of a wine virtual desktop running Command & Conquer Yuri’s Revenge modded with the CnCNet Client v 8.71.1 on Linux Mint 22.1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Prerequisites<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wine and winetricks should already be installed (not part of this guide). You need the original Red Alert 2 Game and to download the CnCNet Installer<\/a> for Red Alert 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CnCNet Client Installation using Wine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
# Configure wine to use a reasonable screen resolution and font size before installation (using the default wine prefix)\n$ winecfg<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"Screenshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
# copy the (mounted) game directory into home, e.g. ~\/Downloads\/ra2, and install the game Red Alert 2 Yuri's Revenge\n$ wine ~\/Downloads\/ra2\/setup.exe<\/code>\n\n# install dotnet 4.8\n$ winetricks dotnet48<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Screenshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Screenshot<\/figure>\n
When installing .NET 4.8, you can safely ignore the warning: Setup may not run properly, because Windows Modules Installer Service is not available on this computer<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
# install the CnCNet client, if it displays a black screen after installation, never mind just close wine\n$ wine ~\/Downloads\/CnCNet5_YR_Installer.exe<\/code><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"Screenshot
After the installation of the client is completed, you here sound, but get a black screen. Don’t worry, just close wine. You need to start the OpenGl version of the client.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
# start the OpenGl version of the client\n$ wine C:\\Program\\ Files\\ (x86)\\Games\\RA2\\Resources\\clientogl.exe<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"Screenshot
In the Options Menu set the client and the game to a resolution of your liking.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Create a launcher for the start menu<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Instructions for Linux Mint 22 (other distributions should work similarly):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. right click on the start menu<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. select Edit menu<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Select Games and click on New Item<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"Screenshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Command: wine C:\\Program\\ Files\\ (x86)\\Games\\RA2\\Resources\\clientogl.exe<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Enjoy!
    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Update 25.11.2025: You can now play Red Alert 2 multiplayer directly in your browser: https:\/\/chronodivide.com\/ Guide updated on 16.05.2025: The installation of the CnCNet client has become a lot easier since the first time I wrote this guide. A 32bit windows wine environment is no longer required. If you want to play the classic Games … <\/p>\n
    Continue reading “How to Install the CnCNet Client on Linux”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[315],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-1934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-linux","tag-linux-mint","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1934"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2677,"href":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1934\/revisions\/2677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speich.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}