How to Download BlueZ Linux: The Official Linux Bluetooth Stack
Bluetooth is a standard for wireless communication on short distances. It standardised multiple profiles for different use-cases such as music streaming, serial connections, message exchange, phone calls, and many others. It has been first published in 1994 and since then has been updated several times. The recent version called Bluetooth 5 is a major update and step forward towards the IoT market and its needs.
download bluez linux
Bluetooth is developed and published by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, but it also relies on the implementation of the Bluetooth stack on different platforms. For Linux, the official Bluetooth stack is called BlueZ. In this article, we will show you how to download and install BlueZ Linux on Ubuntu, as well as how to enable and configure its services and experimental features. We will also provide some tips on how to troubleshoot common issues and solutions for BlueZ Linux.
What is BlueZ Linux and why you should use it
BlueZ Linux is the official Linux Bluetooth protocol stack. It is an open source project distributed under GNU General Public License (GPL). It provides, in its modular way, support for the core Bluetooth layers and protocols. It also supports both the Bluetooth LE Peripheral and Central roles using GAP and GATT and Bluetooth mesh, provided the underlying controller supports dependent Bluetooth features. And its multi-process architecture means that multiple Bluetooth applications can be running at the same time on a single device, which offers some interesting possibilities.
BlueZ Linux features and benefits
BlueZ Linux has many interesting features:
Complete modular implementation
Symmetric multi processing safe
Multithreaded data processing
Support for multiple Bluetooth devices
Real hardware abstraction
Standard socket interface to all layers
Device and service level security support
Some of the benefits of using BlueZ Linux are:
It is compatible with most of the Linux distributions and devices
It is updated regularly with new features and bug fixes
It is easy to install and configure using different methods
It has a rich set of tools and libraries for developing Bluetooth applications
It supports a wide range of Bluetooth profiles and protocols
It has a large community of developers and users who can provide support and feedback
BlueZ Linux supported devices and profiles
BlueZ Linux supports most of the Bluetooth controllers that are either integrated into the main board or implemented in a peripheral like a USB dongle. However, some controllers may require additional firmware or kernel modules to work properly. You can check the compatibility of your controller with BlueZ Linux by running dmesg grep -i bluetooth or hciconfig -a commands in the terminal.
BlueZ Linux also supports a wide range of Bluetooth profiles and protocols, such as:
A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile)
AVRCP (Audio/Video Remote Control Profile)
BAP (Basic Audio Profile)
BNEP (Bluetooth Network Encapsulation Protocol)
GATT (Generic Attribute Profile)
HFP (Hands-Free Profile)
HID (Human Interface Device Profile)
HSP (Headset Profile)
LE (Low Energy)
MESH (Mesh Networking)
OBEX (Object Exchange Protocol)
PAN (Personal Area Networking Profile)
PBAP (Phone Book Access Profile)
RFCOMM (Radio Frequency Communication)
SAP (SIM Access Profile)
SPP (Serial Port Profile)
How to download and install BlueZ Linux on Ubuntu
There are different ways to download and install BlueZ Linux on Ubuntu, depending on your preferences and needs. Here are some of the most common methods:
Using snap package manager
Snap is a universal package manager that works across different Linux distributions. It allows you to install and update applications easily and securely. To use snap, you need to have snapd installed on your system. You can check if you have snapd by running snap version in the terminal. If you don't have it, you can install it by running sudo apt install snapd.
Once you have snapd, you can install BlueZ Linux by running sudo snap install bluez. This will download and install the latest stable version of BlueZ Linux from the snap store. You can also specify a different channel, such as beta or edge, to get a different version of BlueZ Linux. For example, sudo snap install bluez --channel=edge will install the latest development version of BlueZ Linux.
How to install bluez snap on Ubuntu
BlueZ source code and documentation
Linux kernel modules for Bluetooth support
BlueZ version 5.53 with core20 base
BlueZ version 5.48 with core16 base
Bluetooth Technology for Linux Developer guide
BlueZ snap plugs and slots
BlueZ user space package
BlueZ firmware package
BlueZ hcidump tool
BlueZ libraries and utilities
BlueZ Bluetooth stack for Linux
BlueZ development mailing list
BlueZ bug tracker and patches
BlueZ git repositories at kernel.org
BlueZ D-Bus API reference
BlueZ profiles and protocols support
BlueZ testing tools and scripts
BlueZ configuration and security options
BlueZ obexd daemon for OBEX support
How to update bluez snap on Ubuntu
How to uninstall bluez snap on Ubuntu
How to build bluez from source on Linux
How to configure bluez for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
How to use bluez tools for Bluetooth debugging
How to enable bluez service on Linux
How to disable bluez service on Linux
How to pair Bluetooth devices with bluez
How to connect Bluetooth devices with bluez
How to disconnect Bluetooth devices with bluez
How to scan for Bluetooth devices with bluez
How to send files via Bluetooth with bluez
How to receive files via Bluetooth with bluez
How to stream audio via Bluetooth with bluez
How to use Bluetooth keyboards and mice with bluez
How to use Bluetooth headsets and speakers with bluez
How to use Bluetooth printers and scanners with bluez
How to use Bluetooth game controllers with bluez
How to use Bluetooth smart watches with bluez
How to use Bluetooth health devices with bluez
How to monitor Bluetooth traffic with bluez hcidump
How to analyze Bluetooth packets with bluez hcidump
How to simulate Bluetooth devices with bluez tools
How to test Bluetooth functionality with bluez tools
How to troubleshoot Bluetooth issues with bluez tools
How to report bugs and feedback for bluez development
How to contribute code and patches for bluez development
How to join the bluez development community
What are the benefits of using bluez for Linux
What are the challenges of using bluez for Linux
Using apt package manager
Apt is the default package manager for Ubuntu and other Debian-based distributions. It allows you to install and update applications from the official repositories or from third-party sources. To use apt, you need to have a working internet connection and root privileges. You can check if you have root privileges by running whoami in the terminal. If you see root as the output, you have root privileges. If not, you can use sudo to run commands as root.
To install BlueZ Linux using apt, you need to update your system first by running sudo apt update. This will refresh your local package index and ensure that you get the latest versions of the packages. Then, you can install BlueZ Linux by running sudo apt install bluez. This will download and install the latest version of BlueZ Linux from the official repositories.
Downloading, compiling and installing the latest BlueZ source files
If you want to get the latest features and bug fixes of BlueZ Linux, or if you want to customize your installation, you can download, compile and install the latest BlueZ source files from the official website. To do this, you need to have some prerequisites installed on your system, such as gcc, make, libdbus-1-dev, libglib2.0-dev, libudev-dev, libical-dev, libreadline-dev, and libsystemd-dev. You can install them by running sudo apt install gcc make libdbus-1-dev libglib2.0-dev libudev-dev libical-dev libreadline-dev libsystemd-dev.
Then, you need to download the latest BlueZ source files from . You can use wget or curl to download them in the terminal. For example, wget This will download the file bluez-5.62.tar.xz in your current directory.
Next, you need to extract the downloaded file by running tar xvf bluez-5.62.tar.xz. This will create a directory called bluez-5.62 with the source files inside. You need to change into that directory by running cd bluez-5.62.
Now, you need to configure the source files by running ./configure --prefix=/usr --mandir=/usr/share/man --sysconfdir=/etc --localstatedir=/var --enable-experimental --enable-maintainer-mode --enable-library --enable-tools --enable-test --enable-deprecated --enable-datafiles --enable-obex --enable-mesh --enable-avrcp-tg --enable-sap --enable-hid2hci --enable-sixaxis --enable-midi --enable-btpclient --enable-cups. This will check for dependencies and enable various features and options for BlueZ Linux. You can modify these options according to your needs.After configuring the source files, you need to compile them by running make. This will build the BlueZ Linux binaries and libraries. Depending on your system, this may take some time.
Finally, you need to install the compiled files by running sudo make install. This will copy the BlueZ Linux files to the appropriate locations on your system. You may need to restart your system or the Bluetooth service for the changes to take effect.
How to enable and configure BlueZ Linux services and experimental features
Once you have installed BlueZ Linux on your system, you can enable and configure its services and experimental features using different methods. Here are some of the most common methods:
Using bluetoothctl command-line tool
Bluetoothctl is a command-line tool that allows you to interact with the Bluetooth controller and devices. You can use it to scan, pair, connect, disconnect, trust, untrust, block, unblock, remove, and configure Bluetooth devices. You can also use it to enable and disable Bluetooth services and experimental features.
To use bluetoothctl, you need to open a terminal and run bluetoothctl. This will launch the interactive mode of bluetoothctl, where you can enter commands and see the output. You can also run bluetoothctl with a command as an argument, such as bluetoothctl show, which will show the information of the default controller.
Some of the useful commands of bluetoothctl are:
help: show the list of available commands and their usage
list: show the list of available controllers
select [controller]: select a specific controller by its MAC address or alias
show [controller]: show the information of a specific controller or the default one
power [onoff]: turn on or off the power of the controller
discoverable [onoff]: make the controller discoverable or not by other devices
pairable [onoff]: make the controller pairable or not by other devices
agent [onoffKeyboardDisplayDisplayYesNoNoInputNoOutputKeyboardOnlyDisplayOnly]: enable or disable the agent with a specific capability for pairing authentication
default-agent: set the agent as the default one
scan [onoff]: start or stop scanning for nearby devices
devices: show the list of paired and discovered devices
info [device]: show the information of a specific device by its MAC address or alias
pair [device]: pair with a specific device by its MAC address or alias
trust [device]: trust a specific device by its MAC address or alias
untrust [device]: untrust a specific device by its MAC address or alias
block [device]: block a specific device by its MAC address or alias
unblock [device]: unblock a specific device by its MAC address or alias
remove [device]: remove a specific device by its MAC address or alias from the paired devices list
connect [device]: connect to a specific device by its MAC address or alias
disconnect [device]: disconnect from a specific device by its MAC address or alias
menu [mainscangattadvertisemesh]: enter a specific menu for more commands and options
version: show the version of bluetoothctl
quit: exit the interactive mode of bluetoothctl
You can also use tab to autocomplete the commands and arguments, and up and down arrows to navigate the command history.
Using D-Bus API and BlueZ bindings for different languages
D-Bus is a message bus system that allows communication between different processes and applications. BlueZ Linux uses D-Bus to expose its services and features to other applications. You can use the D-Bus API to interact with BlueZ Linux programmatically using different languages, such as Python, C, Java, etc.
To use the D-Bus API, you need to have some prerequisites installed on your system, such as dbus, libdbus-1-dev, python-dbus, python-gobject, etc. You can install them by running sudo apt install dbus libdbus-1-dev python-dbus python-gobject.
Then, you need to import the D-Bus module and create a bus object that connects to the system bus. For example, in Python, you can do this by running:
import dbus bus = dbus.SystemBus()
Next, you need to get the BlueZ service object that represents the BlueZ daemon. You can do this by running:
service = bus.get_object('org.bluez', '/')
Now, you can use the service object to access the different interfaces and methods of BlueZ Linux. For example, you can get the list of available controllers by running:
manager = dbus.Interface(service, 'org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager') objects = manager.GetManagedObjects() controllers = [path for path, interfaces in objects.items() if 'org.bluez.Adapter1' in interfaces.keys()]
You can also use the BlueZ bindings for different languages that provide a higher-level abstraction of the D-Bus API. For example, you can use PyBluez for Python, bluez-java for Java, node-bluetooth for Node.js, etc.
How to troubleshoot common issues and solutions for BlueZ Linux
Sometimes, you may encounter some issues or errors when using BlueZ Linux. Here are some of the common issues and solutions for BlueZ Linux:
Checking the status and logs of BlueZ service
If you have any problems with BlueZ Linux, you can check the status and logs of the BlueZ service by running sudo systemctl status bluetooth.service. This will show you if the service is active or not, and if there are any errors or warnings in the output. You can also check the detailed logs of the service by running sudo journalctl -u bluetooth.service. This will show you the timestamps and messages of the service events.
Updating the kernel modules and firmware of Bluetooth controller
Sometimes, you may need to update the kernel modules and firmware of your Bluetooth controller to fix some compatibility or performance issues. You can do this by running sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade. This will update your system packages and kernel modules. You can also download and install the latest firmware files from . You need to copy the firmware files to /lib/firmware/ directory and reboot your system for the changes to take effect.
Restarting the Bluetooth service and devices
Sometimes, restarting the Bluetooth service and devices can solve some minor issues or glitches. You can restart the Bluetooth service by running sudo systemctl restart bluetooth.service. You can also restart your Bluetooth devices by turning them off and on again.
Conclusion and FAQs
In this article, we have shown you how to download and install BlueZ Linux on Ubuntu, as well as how to enable and configure its services and experimental features. We have also provided some tips on how to troubleshoot common issues and solutions for BlueZ Linux. We hope that this article has been helpful and informative for you.
If you have any questions or feedback about this article, please feel free to contact us or leave a comment below. Here are some FAQs that you may find useful:
What is the difference between Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE?
Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE are two different versions of the Bluetooth standard. Bluetooth is the classic version that supports higher data rates and longer ranges, but consumes more power. Bluetooth LE is the low energy version that supports lower data rates and shorter ranges, but consumes less power. Bluetooth LE is more suitable for IoT devices and applications that require low power consumption and intermittent data transfer.
How can I check the Bluetooth version of my controller and device?
You can check the Bluetooth version of your controller by running hciconfig -a in the terminal. This will show you the information of your controller, including the HCI version and LMP version. You can compare these versions with the Bluetooth versions table from . For example, if your HCI version is 6 and your LMP version is 8, then your controller supports Bluetooth 4.0.
You can check the Bluetooth version of your device by looking at its specifications or manual. You can also use a tool like for iOS to scan and discover nearby Bluetooth devices and their information, including the Bluetooth version.
How can I use BlueZ Linux to stream audio from my phone to my computer?
You can use BlueZ Linux to stream audio from your phone to your computer by using the A2DP profile. You need to pair and connect your phone with your computer using bluetoothctl or any other tool. Then, you need to select the A2DP sink profile for your phone by running pactl set-card-profile bluez_card. a2dp_sink, where is the MAC address of your phone. You can also use a graphical tool like to switch profiles easily. After that, you can play any audio on your phone and hear it on your computer.
How can I use BlueZ Linux to control my smart home devices?
You can use BlueZ Linux to control your smart home devices by using the GATT profile. You need to pair and connect your smart home devices with your computer using bluetoothctl or any other tool. Then, you need to use a tool like to capture and replay GATT commands.
How can I use BlueZ Linux to create a mesh network of Bluetooth devices?
You can use BlueZ Linux to create a mesh network of Bluetooth devices by using the MESH profile. You need to have Bluetooth controllers that support Bluetooth 5 and MESH features. Then, you need to enable the experimental features of BlueZ Linux by running sudo btmgmt experimental on. After that, you need to use a tool like to provision, configure, and control your mesh network. 44f88ac181
Comments