How to install proprietary media codecs and font on Ubuntu

Ubuntu does not automatically install some multimedia media codecs and fonts due to licensing and legal reasons. Ubuntu considers DVD, MP3, Quicktime, Windows Media and a few other as restricted formats which you need to explicitly install.

A checkbox is available during Ubuntu installation, which you can tick to install these restricted media codecs and some Microsoft fonts. However, if you missed it, you can still install them using apt. apt repository contains packages that include these codecs and an installer for the Microsoft fonts.

1. Launch a terminal application.
2. Update apt's package application list from repository.

   $ sudo apt update [sudo] password for user:  Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease [107 kB] Hit:2 http://jp.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease                Hit:3 http://jp.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease Hit:4 http://jp.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease Fetched 107 kB in 2s (61.1 kB/s) Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree        Reading state information... Done All packages are up to date.

3. Install ubuntu-restricted-extras package using apt.

   $ sudo apt install --assume-yes ubuntu-restricted-extras Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree        Reading state information... Done The following additional packages will be installed:   cabextract chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra gstreamer1.0-libav   gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly gstreamer1.0-vaapi i965-va-driver   intel-media-va-driver liba52-0.7.4 libaacs0 libaom0 libaribb24-0 libass9   libavcodec-extra libavcodec-extra58 libavfilter7 libavformat58 libavutil56   libbdplus0 libbluray2 libbs2b0 libchromaprint1 libcodec2-0.9 libdvdnav4   libdvdread7 libfftw3-double3 libflite1 libgme0 libgsm1   libgstreamer-plugins-bad1.0-0 libigdgmm11 liblilv-0-0 libmpeg2-4   libmysofa1 libnorm1 libopencore-amrnb0 libopencore-amrwb0 libopenmpt0   libpgm-5.2-0 libpostproc55 librubberband2 libserd-0-0 libshine3   libsidplay1v5 libsnappy1v5 libsord-0-0 libsratom-0-0 libssh-gcrypt-4   libswresample3 libswscale5 libva-drm2 libva-wayland2 libva-x11-2 libva2   libvdpau1 libvidstab1.1 libvo-amrwbenc0 libx264-155 libx265-179   libxvidcore4 libzmq5 libzvbi-common libzvbi0 mesa-va-drivers   mesa-vdpau-drivers ocl-icd-libopencl1 ttf-mscorefonts-installer   ubuntu-restricted-addons unrar va-driver-all vdpau-driver-all Suggested packages:   gstreamer1.0-vaapi-doc i965-va-driver-shaders libbluray-bdj libdvdcss2   libfftw3-bin libfftw3-dev serdi sidplay-base sordi opencl-icd   libvdpau-va-gl1 nvidia-vdpau-driver nvidia-legacy-340xx-vdpau-driver   nvidia-legacy-304xx-vdpau-driver Recommended packages:   gstreamer1.0-fluendo-mp3 The following NEW packages will be installed:   cabextract chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra gstreamer1.0-libav   gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly gstreamer1.0-vaapi i965-va-driver   intel-media-va-driver liba52-0.7.4 libaacs0 libaom0 libaribb24-0 libass9   libavcodec-extra libavcodec-extra58 libavfilter7 libavformat58 libavutil56   libbdplus0 libbluray2 libbs2b0 libchromaprint1 libcodec2-0.9 libdvdnav4   libdvdread7 libfftw3-double3 libflite1 libgme0 libgsm1   libgstreamer-plugins-bad1.0-0 libigdgmm11 liblilv-0-0 libmpeg2-4   libmysofa1 libnorm1 libopencore-amrnb0 libopencore-amrwb0 libopenmpt0   libpgm-5.2-0 libpostproc55 librubberband2 libserd-0-0 libshine3   libsidplay1v5 libsnappy1v5 libsord-0-0 libsratom-0-0 libssh-gcrypt-4   libswresample3 libswscale5 libva-drm2 libva-wayland2 libva-x11-2 libva2   libvdpau1 libvidstab1.1 libvo-amrwbenc0 libx264-155 libx265-179   libxvidcore4 libzmq5 libzvbi-common libzvbi0 mesa-va-drivers   mesa-vdpau-drivers ocl-icd-libopencl1 ttf-mscorefonts-installer   ubuntu-restricted-addons ubuntu-restricted-extras unrar va-driver-all   vdpau-driver-all 0 upgraded, 71 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 44.0 MB of archives. After this operation, 186 MB of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue? [Y/n] ##### snipped 

   Replace ubuntu-restricted-extras with kubuntu-restricted-extras, lubuntu-restricted-extras or xubuntu-restricted-extras accordingly if you're using these Ubuntu derivatives.

4. Read the End User License Agreement (EULA) for Microsoft TTF and click Ok.

   

5. Click Yes to accept the license agreement and proceed with installation.

   
6. Relaunch your application to start using the newly installed codec.