Install Codeweaver's Crossover on Mageia Linux, Updated for Version 23.6 and for Mageia9

I have used Codeweaver's Crossover product since it was originally offered. Sadly, I install it on one of Codeweaver's unsupported distros, Mageia. This is, of course the successor distro to Mandrake and Mandriva. Mageia uses the RPM packaging manager and provides two wrappers, their own urpmi and dnf ("Dandified YUM").

The RPM package provided by Codeweaver's installs almost perfectly because, distros being what they are, certain necessary packages are not named consistently from distro to distro. For Mageia, and many others, the two important packages are mentioned in an xmessage window as:

Could not install some Unix packages
Some errors may prevent CrossOver Linux from working correctly:
* Could not load the GTK+ Python modules.
* Missing 32bit libnss_mdns.so.2 library

You may be able to fix some issues by running one of the following commands as root:
Arch Linux (32 bits)    pacman -Syu nss-mdns pygtk
Arch Linux (64 bits)    pacman -Syu pygtk
Debian 7 (32 bits)      apt-get install libnss-mdns python-gtk2
Debian 7 (64 bits)      apt-get install lib32nss-mdns python-gtk2
Debian 8                apt-get install libnss-mdns:i386
Debian <= 6 (32 bits)   apt-get install libnss-mdns python-gtk2
Debian <= 6 (64 bits)   apt-get install lib32nss-mdns python-gtk2
Fedora <= 13 (32 bits)  yum install nss-mdns pygtk2
Fedora <= 13 (64 bits)  yum install nss-mdns.i686 nss-mdns.x86_64 pygtk2
Mandriva                /usr/sbin/urpmi nss_mdns pygtk2.0
openSUSE <= 11.2 (32 bits)      zypper install nss-mdns python-gtk
openSUSE <= 11.2 (64 bits)      zypper install nss-mdns-32bit python-gtk

This hints at the packages needed with a reference to the Mandriva distro and the package names for the Mageia distro are similar.

To install just these two packages on Mandriva (Note that pygtk2.0 is no longer available from Mageia8, see the end of the article for the solution and for installing other missing packages),

$ sudo /usr/sbin/urpmi libnss-mdns2 pygtk2.0

If you run a diagnostic utility for Crossover, you'll get a list of other "missing" libraries which may or may not be necessary for the proper functioning of a Windows application you are trying to get to work. Some of these are at the level of "Suggest" or "Recommend".

It's a bit of a chore, but those libraries should be offered in the "supported" distros. I suggest getting them and their dependencies from Fedora if you must include them.

$ /opt/cxoffice/bin/cxdiag

[MissingLibCapi20]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libcapi20.so.3 library"
"Description"="Provides support for some ISDN cards. Very few applications need this."
Not available in Mageia

[MissingLibFontconfig]
"Level"="Recommend"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libfontconfig.so.1 library"
"Description"="Makes it possible to find and use the system's TrueType fonts. This is strongly recommended for office-type applications."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libfontconfig1

[MissingLibGlu]
"Level"="Recommend"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libGLU.so.1 library"
"Description"="This may be needed by some games or CAD applications."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libmesaglu1

[MissingLibGphoto2]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libgphoto2.so.6 library"
"Description"="Lets Windows applications access digital cameras."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libgphoto2_6

[MissingLibGphoto2Port]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libgphoto2_port.so.10 library"
"Description"="Lets Windows applications access digital cameras."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libgphoto2_port12

[MissingLibGsm]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libgsm.so.1 library"
"Description"="Lets Windows applications use the GSM codec for audio compression and decompression."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libgsm1

[MissingLibLber]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit liblber-2.4.so.2 library"
"Description"="Lets Windows applications access LDAP servers."
Not available in Mageia 

[MissingLibLcms2]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit liblcms2.so.2 library"
"Description"="Provides color profile information to Windows applications. This is particularly useful if you have color-calibrated your screen but some applications need it even if you have not done so."
Install with $ sudo urpmi iblcms2_2

[MissingLibLdap_r]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libldap_r-2.4.so.2 library"
"Description"="Lets Windows applications access LDAP servers."
Not available in Mageia 


[MissingLibOpenal]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libopenal.so.1 library"
"Description"="Provides audio support to Windows applications."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libopenal1

[MissingLibOpencl]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libOpenCL.so.1 library"
"Description"="Provides GPU computation support to Windows applications."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libopencl1

[MissingLibOsmesa8]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libOSMesa.so.8 library"
"Description"="This is needed by some games and CAD-like applications to perform off-screen rendering."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libosmesa8

[MissingLibSane]
"Level"="Recommend"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libsane.so.1 library"
"Description"="Lets Windows applications access scanners."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libsane1

[MissingLibTiff5]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libtiff.so.5 library"
"Description"="This is needed by some applications that need to manipulate TIFF images in their user interface."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libtiff5

[MissingLibUdev]
"Level"="Recommend"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libudev.so.1 library"
"Description"="Lets Windows applications detect when devices are plugged in."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libudev1

[MissingLibV4l1]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libv4l1.so.0 library"
"Description"="Lets Windows applications access video devices."
Not available in Mageia 

[MissingLibXcomposite]
"Level"="Recommend"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libXcomposite.so.1 library"
"Description"="This is needed for most CAD-like applications and some games."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libxcomposite1

[MissingLibXinerama]
"Level"="Recommend"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libXinerama.so.1 library"
"Description"="This is needed if your display spans multiple screens. If your computer has a single screen then you don't need it."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libxinerama1

[MissingLibXml2]
"Level"="Recommend"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libxml2.so.2 library"
"Description"="This library makes it possible for Windows applications read and write XML files."
This is installed as a dependency of libxslt1

[MissingLibXslt]
"Level"="Recommend"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libxslt.so.1 library"
"Description"="This library lets Windows applications perform queries and transformations on XML files."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libxslt1

[MissingLibNss_mdns]
"Level"="Require"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libnss_mdns.so.2 library"
"Description"="This library is needed for network and Internet access. Installing it is strongly recommended."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libnss_mdns2

[MissingLibVulkan]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libvulkan.so.1 library"
"Description"="This library is needed for games which use the Vulkan graphics API; for D3D12 applications; and for the DXVK layer for D3D11"
Install with $ sudo urpmi libvulkan-loader1

[Properties]
"vulkan.present"="no"

[MissingLibPulse]
"Level"="Recommend"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libpulse.so.0 library"
"Description"="This is the preferred way to provide audio support to Windows applications."
Install with $sudo urpmi libpulseaudio0

[MissingLibGstreamer1]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libgstreamer-1.0.so.0 library"
"Description"="GStreamer is needed by some games and multimedia applications to play audio and/or video content."
Install with $ sudo urpmi libgstreamer1.0_0

[MissingGStreamer1Bad]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="The gst-plugins-bad 32 bit GStreamer plugins appears to be missing"
"Description"="These GStreamer plugins may be needed by some games and multimedia applications to play audio and/or video content"
Install with $ sudo urpmi gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad

[MissingGStreamer1Base]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="The gst-plugins-base 32 bit GStreamer plugins appears to be missing"
"Description"="These GStreamer plugins may be needed by some games and multimedia applications to play audio and/or video content"
Install with $ sudo urpmi gstreamer1.0-plugins-base

[MissingGStreamer1Good]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="The gst-plugins-good 32 bit GStreamer plugins appears to be missing"
"Description"="These GStreamer plugins may be needed by some games and multimedia applications to play audio and/or video content"
Install with $ sudo urpmi gstreamer1.0-plugins-good

[MissingGStreamer1Ugly]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="The gst-plugins-ugly 32 bit GStreamer plugins appears to be missing"
"Description"="These GStreamer plugins may be needed by some games and multimedia applications to play audio and/or video content"
Install with $ sudo urpmi gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly

[MissingGStreamer1Libav]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="The gst-libav 32 bit GStreamer plugins appears to be missing"
"Description"="These GStreamer plugins may be needed by some games and multimedia applications to play audio and/or video content"
Install with $ urpmi gstreamer1.0-libav

[MissingLibMpg123]
"Title"="Missing 32-bit libmpg123.so.0 library"

Install with $ sudo urpmi libmpg123_0

[MissingLibNcurses]

"Title"="Missing 32-bit libncurses.so.5 library"

Install with $ sudo urpmi libncurses5

[MissingLibOdbc]

"Title"="Missing 32-bit libodbc.so.2 library"
Allows access to databases.

Not provided by Mageia

[MissingLibOpenal]

"Title"="Missing 32-bit libopenal.so.1 library"

Install with $ sudo urpmi libopenal1

[MissingLibPcap]

"Title"="Missing 32-bit libpcap.so.0.8 library"

Install with $ sudo urpmi libpcap1

[MissingLibOsmesa8]
"Title"="Missing 32-bit libOSMesa.so.8 library"

Install with $ urpmi libosmesa8

[MissingLibNcurses]

"Title"="Missing 32-bit libncurses.so.5 library"

Install with $ urpmi libncurses5

[MissingLibMpg123.amd64]

"Title"="Missing 64-bit libmpg123.so.0 library"

Install with $ sudo urpmi lib64mpg123_0

[MissingLibNcurses.amd64]

"Title"="Missing 64-bit libncurses.so.5 library"

Install with $ sudo urpmi lib64ncurses5

[MissingLibOsmesa8.amd64]

"Title"="Missing 64-bit libOSMesa.so.8 library"

Install with $ sudo urpmi lib64osmesa8

To install the "Recommended" libraries (all on one line),

$ sudo urpmi libfontconfig1 libmesaglu1 libsane1 libudev1 libxcomposite1 libxinerama1 libmesagl1 libfreetype6 libpng16_16 libxslt1 libpulseaudio0 libnss-mdns2 libgsm1 libmpg123_0 lib64mpg123_0 libopencl1 libopenal1 libpcap1 libgstreamer1.0_0 libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0_0 libosmesa8 lib64osmesa8 libncurses5 lib64ncurses5

This also installs the dependencies of these packages, so 90+ packages total.

After installing these, you can confirm the absence of "Recommended" libraries by re-running the diagnostic. This information can also be accessed through the Crossover GUI under Help - System Information.

To install other libraries as needed, the search function of the graphical package manager application, rpmdrake, is useful. By being familiar with these "Suggest" libraries and their uses, you may be able to get some more obscure Windows applications running using Crossover.

Metapackage for Crossover
You can create a metapackage that will automatically install all of the Recommended dependencies. Read about it here. (It still needs some tweaks to install all of the above packages.) If I can get all the syntax correct, I'll submit it to Mageia for inclusion in their distro. You can download my RPM here, but it's not secure and not signed. Use at your own risk.

REGISTRATION
I have a license for Crossover and a method of entering that information is provided, but the sudo method used by Crossover fails for Mageia, so it is necessary to start Crossover as the root user to enter the information. Codeweavers strongly cautions you against running Crossover as root, since even Windows malware runs well with Crossover.

Brian from Tech Support suggests using  /opt/cxoffice/bin/cxregister as a regular user, but that has not worked for me in the past. I'll make a note to trouble-shoot it and file a bug report if necessary. (It's trivial to run that command as root and enter the registration info.)

Executing that as my user brings up a dialog that prompts me for my Codeweavers login info. Providing that brings up a dialog asking for my user password. And then it respond with an error message that it "Failed to run" due to not receiving a reply. I'm not certain how to troubleshoot that issue.

If I go with
$ sudo /opt/cxoffice/bin/cxregister everything works as it should.


UPDATE
All the above applies to Crossover 18 which was current when this HOWTO was first written. When I upgraded to Crossover 19, the following packages were installed, probably because of improved support of 32-bit Windows apps on 64-bit Linux, but check your system anyway; it's easy to do.

UPDATE February, 2023
Version 22.0.1 of Crossover will still require this process as described above.  Just make certain that, on 64-bit systems, all 32-bit repositories are enabled.

UPDATE November, 2023
Version 23.6.0 will still require this process as described above.  However, a few of the packages are available from Mageia8. If your application will not run without them, you must locate and install them. These are libudev1, lib64nss_mdns2 and iblcms2_2. I'll link to a new page about installing no-longer-supplied libraries from older versions of Mageia.

Installing pygtk2.0
The package pygtk2.0 is no longer provided by Mageia8. You can install it from Mageia7, however, but you must also provide its dependencies. Open a Magiea7 repository and download and then install the following files (these are for a 64-bit system; the names should be the same for 32-bit/i586 systems if you require that):

pygtk2.0-2.24.0-14.mga7.x86_64.rpm

python2-cairo-1.17.0-2.mga7.x86_64.rpm

python2-gobject-2.28.7-3.mga7.x86_64.rpm

python2-numpy-1.16.2-1.mga7.x86_64.rpm
mingw64-libffi-3.2.1-2.mga7.noarch.rpm

lib64pyglib2.0_0-2.28.7-3.mga7.x86_64.rpm

Place them in a directory by themselves and run
# sudo urpmi *