Install Skype on Debian Stretch (next-stable/testing)

Install Skype on Debian Stretch (next-stable/testing)

First and foremost: This post only makes sense if you’re trying to install Skype (multiarch) on Debian Stretch while it’s on the testing branch. This is true as of February 3rd 2016.

I faced an issue where Skype wouldn’t install because libssl1.0.0 isn’t available for multiarch (yet). So when trying to install Skype it’d fail saying there was no candidate of libssl1.0.0:i386 to be installed.

Note: this tutorial assumes you are familiar with the terminal and already have multiarch enabled for your system.

This is how libssl1.0.0 looks at the moment of this writing.
This is how libssl1.0.2 looks at the moment of this writing.

To check the current state of libssl1.0.0 check this link.

Skype multiarch depends on libssl1.0.0:i386 and currently there’s no candidate for installation:

What I did (and it worked) is not ideal but I couldn’t afford not having Skype installed on my workstation, so I did it anyway and it’s been working great so far.

I used this script (check the code below) to edit the deb file and change the dependencies so it wouldn’t complain about libssl1.0.0:i386.
Note: Remember to `gzip -d videbcontrol.gz` and `chmod 755 videbcontrol`.

#!/bin/bash

if [[ -z "$1" ]]; then
  echo "Syntax: $0 debfile"
  exit 1
fi

DEBFILE="$1"
TMPDIR=`mktemp -d /tmp/deb.XXXXXXXXXX` || exit 1
OUTPUT=`basename "$DEBFILE" .deb`.modfied.deb

if [[ -e "$OUTPUT" ]]; then
  echo "$OUTPUT exists."
  rm -r "$TMPDIR"
  exit 1
fi

dpkg-deb -x "$DEBFILE" "$TMPDIR"
dpkg-deb --control "$DEBFILE" "$TMPDIR"/DEBIAN

if [[ ! -e "$TMPDIR"/DEBIAN/control ]]; then
  echo DEBIAN/control not found.

  rm -r "$TMPDIR"
  exit 1
fi

CONTROL="$TMPDIR"/DEBIAN/control

MOD=`stat -c "%y" "$CONTROL"`
vi "$CONTROL"

if [[ "$MOD" == `stat -c "%y" "$CONTROL"` ]]; then
  echo Not modfied.
else
  echo Building new deb...
  dpkg -b "$TMPDIR" "$OUTPUT"
fi

rm -r "$TMPDIR"

I simply ran:

# ./videbcontrol skype-debian_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb

Look for “libssl1.0.0” on the highlighted line:

Package: skype
Version: 4.3.0.37-1
Section: non-free/net
Priority: extra
Architecture: i386
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.3.6-6~), libc6 (>= 2.7), libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1), libqt4-dbus (>= 4:4.5.3), libqt4-network (>= 4:4.8.0), libqt4-xml (>= 4:4.5.3), libqtcore4 (>= 4:4.7.0~beta1), libqtgui4 (>= 4:4.8.0), libqtwebkit4 (>= 2.1.0~2011week13), libstdc++6 (>= 4.2.1), libx11-6, libxext6, libxss1, libxv1, libssl1.0.0, libpulse0, libasound2-plugins
Conflicts: skype-mid, skype-common, skype-bin
Replaces: skype-mid, skype-common, skype-bin
Installed-Size: 43261
Maintainer: Skype Technologies <[email protected]>
Description: Wherever you are, wherever they are
Skype keeps you together. Call, see, message and share with others.
* It's free to download and join.
* Call, instant message and send photos and documents to anyone else on Skype.
* And with a webcam you can catch up face-to-face with a video call.
* Call mobiles and landlines worldwide at low rates.
* Easily text message anywhere in the world.
* Get your friends together on a conference call.
.
And that's just the start...

I thought about changing libssl1.0.0 to libssl1.0.2, but I first decided to try and append “:amd64” to “libssl1.0.0”, like this:

Package: skype
Version: 4.3.0.37-1
Section: non-free/net
Priority: extra
Architecture: i386
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.3.6-6~), libc6 (>= 2.7), libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1), libqt4-dbus (>= 4:4.5.3), libqt4-network (>= 4:4.8.0), libqt4-xml (>= 4:4.5.3), libqtcore4 (>= 4:4.7.0~beta1), libqtgui4 (>= 4:4.8.0), libqtwebkit4 (>= 2.1.0~2011week13), libstdc++6 (>= 4.2.1), libx11-6, libxext6, libxss1, libxv1, libssl1.0.0:amd64, libpulse0, libasound2-plugins
Conflicts: skype-mid, skype-common, skype-bin
Replaces: skype-mid, skype-common, skype-bin
Installed-Size: 43261
Maintainer: Skype Technologies <[email protected]>
Description: Wherever you are, wherever they are
Skype keeps you together. Call, see, message and share with others.
* It's free to download and join.
* Call, instant message and send photos and documents to anyone else on Skype.
* And with a webcam you can catch up face-to-face with a video call.
* Call mobiles and landlines worldwide at low rates.
* Easily text message anywhere in the world.
* Get your friends together on a conference call.
.
And that's just the start...

After editing the file, just save and exit.
It generated (in my case) the file skype-debian_4.3.0.37-1_i386.modified.deb

After the modified package was built, installing Skype was as simple as:

# dpkg -i skype-debian_4.3.0.37-1_i386.modified.deb

Voilá!

13 thoughts on “Install Skype on Debian Stretch (next-stable/testing)

  • this method didnt work for me. however instead on appending :amd64 i just changed the version of libssl1 to libssl1.0.2 like you originaly intended and that did the trick.

    i can finally enjoy testing again .

    thanks a lot! 😀

  • Thanks mate. Changing to 1.0.2 did the trick for me.
    I opted this way because afaik skype is a 32bits application, so it makes more sense to me just to change the dependency issue in the 32bits realm. 🙂

  • i changed the version of libssl1 to libssl1.0.2 but that generated errors.

    but running apt-get -f install after that resulted in the i386 version of the library getting installed and skype shortly thereafter.

    thank you for this post, it illustrates exactly what the debian community is all about.

  • Thanks a lot! It worked! My girlfriend will be very happy! 😛
    Thanks again.

  • I prefer this trick:
    1. Download libssl1.0.0:i386 from http://pkgs.org
    2. Install this lib: dpkg -i ~/libssl1.0.0_i386.deb
    3. Install skype package: dpkg -i ~/skype-debian_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb
    4. apt-get -f install

    1. It’s not a simple matter of preferring one way over the other: when I wrote this tip, that version of libssl was not yet available on the stretch repository and I didn’t want to install a version not listed as built for that branch. So doing it the way I proposed was one way out of that dilemma! 🙂

  • this is one kind of useful tip, helped me fix skype on debian sid. issue was lubasound2-plugins; added to it amd64 using your script and skype installed, and works.

    the beauty of linux can be compared to views from tall mountains, takes effort to get there and is all worth the time.

  • Comments are closed.