I’m switching from OSX to Ubuntu, and I’d like to be able to play my favorite game. Playonlinux has an install script for League of Legends, but it hasn’t been maintained in awhile, and there are some show stopping bugs. Here is how I got League of Legends to run on Ubuntu 14.04 in September 2016. Do note that from time to time, Riot updates the game which breaks compatibility with the Playonlinux installer, so if you happen to be following my notes much later than September 2016, you may or may not have positive results.

Step 1. Manually download LeagueOfLegendsBaseNA.exe.

This exe file is not the same one as if you go to leagueoflegends.com and click download. If you go to Leagueoflegends.com and click download, you will get something like LeagueofLegendsNAInstaller20160513.exe, which is not what we want. We need LeagueOfLegendsBaseNA.exe because this is what Playonlinux uses to install the game. Playonlinux can automatically download this file for you, but from my experience, Riot’s servers will return a 403 error because Playonlinux doesn’t identify itself in a way that Riot’s servers allow. In the past, I’m guessing Riot’s servers allowed all connections, but a more recent update changed that. (I’ve opened a Playonlinux feature request ticket to potentially solve this problem.)

To download, just click this link

Step 2. Get Chodi’s patched POL installer script, lol-pol-chodi-sept-3-2016.tar

Hopefully I’m saving you some time browsing the POL League of Legends page. With all the error message copy pasta, patches, and poorly formatted comments, that page is truly information overload. Chodi’s installer script overcomes a few problems with the main installer script. Download this script to your hard drive somewhere. Get the latest version from the POL League of Legends page, or download this copy that I made. lol-pol-chodi-sept-3-2016.tar (extract the tarball to get the code file)

Alternatively, you can click this link which is supposed to open Chodi’s script in playonlinux. I have not tested this functionality– Try this update

Step 3. Run Chodi’s script in PlayOnLinux.

This is easy enough. Just open Playonlinux, then on the menu bar, click Tools > Run a local script. Browse to lol-pol-chodi-sept-3-2016.py, then click Next. Keep clicking Next until you get to the Playonlinux screen that asks you if you want Playonlinux to download League of Legends, or use a file you downloaded. This step is important, and you need to tell Playonlinux to use the file you have already downloaded. Browse to LeagueOfLegendsBaseNA.exe, and you’re all set. Simply follow the installer, and make sure to read all it’s instructions. Remember to uncheck the box in the installer, “Run League of Legends now”, because PlayOnLinux needs to finish up some things before the launcher actually starts.

Step 4 Update and play!

Home stretch! Simply run the League of Legends launcher by clicking either your League desktop shortcut, or the League icon in your PlayOnLinux menu. Depending on your machine’s specs and your internet, updating may take a long time. On my desktop, It downloaded overnight. On my laptop, It took two nights of updating. You should be set from here. GLHF!