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sunyata
Asked: 2020-10-20 08:46:33 +0800 CST

"Invalid desktop entry file" when using "Type=Link" in .desktop files on Lubuntu 20.04

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I'm having problems creating a shortcut file to webpages using Type=Link in a .desktop file, on Lubuntu 20.04

Problem

When clicking on a .desktop file with content like this ..

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Link
Name=Name of Link Shortcut
URL=https://askubuntu.com

.. I get the following error message:

invalid-desktop-entry-file

What I've tried

  • Making the file executable with sudo chmod a+x [filename] --- result: same issue
  • Adding Version=1.0 or Version=1.1 --- result: same issue
  • Adding Encoding=UTF-8 --- result: same issue
  • Using different values for the URL key --- result: same issue
  • Changing the file suffix to .url --- result: nothing happens when trying to open the file

I've also run desktop-file-validate which does not give any errors or warnings (except when i include the "Encoding" key)

After searching I found this answer but it gives me the same issue that I describe above

My OS is Lubuntu 20.04, but I think I recall having the same problem on Lubuntu 18.04

Specification document for .desktop files: https://specifications.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/desktop-entry-spec-latest.html

lubuntu .desktop url

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    The only solution I found is to directly use the .desktop entry as firefox application:

    [Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Open Askbuntu
Exec=firefox https://askubuntu.com

    Lxqt seems to take the URL key as a file browser path:

    [Desktop Entry]
Type=Link
Name=Open Askbuntu
URL=/home

    Opens the file browser at /home path. Must be a bug? Or some obscure misconfiguration.

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