Member Avatar for anoopkh

Hi

can We run VB.Net windows Application (2.0 Framework) in Linux.
If possible what are the steps to follow.

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Short answer: yes — many VB.NET 2.0 Windows apps can run on Linux, but results depend on what the app uses. As pointed out, Mono provides runtime support for VB.NET; for simple console and many WinForms apps this is usually enough. Apps that rely on WPF, heavy COM automation, native Windows-only DLLs, Windows Services or deep P/Invoke will need changes or won’t run.

Typical approaches and quick steps:

  • For a compiled .exe, run it with Mono or with Wine.
  • For source projects, rebuild on Linux with Mono’s build tools (xbuild or msbuild) or on Windows and copy the output.
  • To bundle a standalone binary, consider Mono’s packaging tools (older mkbundle-style workflows exist, but they can be brittle).

Example commands (run from a shell):

mono --version
mono MyApp.exe

# or with Wine
wine MyApp.exe

# to build from a solution on Linux
msbuild MySolution.sln   # or xbuild MySolution.sln on older Mono

Common pitfalls and troubleshooting:

  • MissingMethodException / TypeLoadException usually means an unsupported API. Check stack traces from a terminal run to find the offending call.
  • UI differences: System.Windows.Forms on Mono is imperfect — custom controls, fonts and layout may behave differently.
  • Windows-only APIs (WPF, COM, native DLLs, registry-heavy logic) generally require porting to cross-platform alternatives (GTK#, Avalonia) or rewriting those parts.
  • If assemblies are missing, install a full Mono package (mono-complete) or supply the needed DLLs; with Wine, install the matching .NET runtime using winetricks.

Practical guidance: test on the target Linux distro early, run the app from a terminal to capture errors, and decide whether a quick Wine/Mono run or a port to a cross-platform stack is the better long-term path.

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Member Avatar for kvprajapati

Yes! we can. Visual Basic.NET runtime has been available for Mono.

Member Avatar for anoopkh

Hi
Thanks for the reply

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