In this post I will describe how to install WeChat for PC on Fedora 33 using Wine.

Installing WineHQ

Add the repository:

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/fedora/33/winehq.repo

Install the staging branch:

sudo dnf install winehq-staging

Install those extra dependencies to make WeChat application launch:

sudo dnf install samba samba-winbind* mesa-dri-drivers.i686

Setup Wine

Open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and run the following commands:

export WINEARCH=win32

export WINEPREFIX=~/.wine32

winecfg

When you run the winecfg command for the first time, Wine will start to setup the required environment under the specified WINEPREFIX, which in this case we set to ~/.wine32.

You should be prompted to install Wine Mono and Wine Gecko. Choose Install for both.

If you are using a HiDPI screen, it might be worth scaling the interface under Screen resolution, in the Graphics tab

Providing a Chinese font

For the Chinese characters to be rendered correctly we need to provide Wine with a Chinese font. We will use winetricks for this, which is a helper script to download and install extra Wine stuff.

Download winetricks:

wget  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Winetricks/winetricks/master/src/winetricks

Set the executable flag:

chmod +x winetricks

Some winetricks “packages” require a few external tools to be installed. We need cabextract:

sudo dnf install cabextract

In this step, we just install all the fonts that winetricks has in its repository:

./winetricks allfonts

Finally, we need to edit regedit to enable the font we just installed. Download this .reg file.

Open regedit with the command:

./winetricks regedit

In the Menu bar, click Registry and select Import Registry File…

When the browser shows up, select the .reg file you have just downloaded and install it.

Installing WeChat

We are now ready to install WeChat itself. Download the Windows installer from here:

Once the download has finished, install it by running:

wine ~/Downloads/WeChatSetup.exe

The installer should start. Click on Install WeChat.

Final result

After the installation has completed, you may launch WeChat. The application should be listed in the Applications drawer.

System Tray on Gnome

If you are using Gnome on Fedora, chances are you will be greeted a nasty windowed legacy system tray/

Install this Gnome Extension and the problem will be gone