How To Install mscgen on Ubuntu 22.04

In this tutorial we learn how to install mscgen on Ubuntu 22.04. mscgen is Message Sequence Chart (MSC) generator

Introduction

In this tutorial we learn how to install mscgen on Ubuntu 22.04.

What is mscgen

mscgen is:

mscgen is a small program that parses Message Sequence Chart descriptions and produces PNG, SVG, EPS or server side image maps (ismaps) as the output. Message Sequence Charts (MSCs) are a way of representing entities and interactions over some time period and are often used in combination with SDL. MSCs are popular in Telecoms to specify how protocols operate.

mscgen can be used to create in-line MSC-charts in documentations parsed by doxygen. Extensions also exists for Python’s Sphinx and mediawiki that can use mscgen.

There are three methods to install mscgen on Ubuntu 22.04. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.

Install mscgen Using apt-get

Update apt database with apt-get using the following command.

sudo apt-get update

After updating apt database, We can install mscgen using apt-get by running the following command:

sudo apt-get -y install mscgen

Install mscgen Using apt

Update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

After updating apt database, We can install mscgen using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install mscgen

Install mscgen Using aptitude

If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Ubuntu. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.

sudo aptitude update

After updating apt database, We can install mscgen using aptitude by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install mscgen

How To Uninstall mscgen on Ubuntu 22.04

To uninstall only the mscgen package we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get remove mscgen

Uninstall mscgen And Its Dependencies

To uninstall mscgen and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Ubuntu 22.04, we can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove mscgen

Remove mscgen Configurations and Data

To remove mscgen configuration and data from Ubuntu 22.04 we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y purge mscgen

Remove mscgen configuration, data, and all of its dependencies

We can use the following command to remove mscgen configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge mscgen

References

Summary

In this tutorial we learn how to install mscgen package on Ubuntu 22.04 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.