In this Linux tutorial, you will learn how to install Snap on Linux 9 or other Red Hat based Linux distributions. #centlinux #linux #snapstore
Table of Contents
What is Snap?:
Snap is a software packaging and deployment system, developed by Canonical for operating systems that use the Linux kernel and the systemd init system. The packages, called snaps, and the tool for using them, snapd, work across a range of Linux distributions and allow upstream software developers to distribute their applications directly to users. Snaps are self-contained applications running in a sandbox with mediated access to the host system. Snap was originally released for cloud applications but was later ported to also work for Internet of Things devices and desktop applications. (Source: Wikipedia)
Snaps are packaged with all their dependencies to run on all popular Linux distributions from a single build. They update automatically and roll back gracefully.
Snaps are discoverable and installable from the Snap Store, an app store with an audience of millions.
Video to install Snap on Linux:
Features of Snap Software:
Some of the most popular features of Snap software are:
- Snap Store: The Snap Store allows developers to publish their snap-packaged applications. All apps uploaded to the Snap Store undergo automatic testing, including a malware scan.
- Universal Linux Packages: Snaps are self-contained packages that work across a range of Linux distributions. This is unlike traditional Linux package management approaches, which require specifically adapted packages for each Linux distribution.
- Configurable Sandbox: Applications in a Snap run in a container with limited access to the host system. Using Interfaces, users can give an application mediated access to additional features of the host such as recording audio, accessing USB devices and recording video. These interfaces mediate regular Linux APIs so that applications can function in the sandbox without needing to be rewritten. Desktop applications can also use the XDG Desktop Portals, a standardized API originally created by the Flatpak project to give sandboxed desktop applications access to host resources.
- Automatic and Atomic Updates: Multiple times a day, snapd checks for available updates of all Snaps and installs them in the background using an atomic operation. Updates can be reverted and use delta encoding to reduce their download size.
- Snapcraft: Snapcraft is a tool for developers to package their programs in the Snap format. It runs on any Linux distribution supported by Snap, macOS and Microsoft Windows. Snapcraft builds the packages in a Virtual Machine using Multipass, in order to ensure the result of a build is the same, regardless of which distribution or operating system it is built on. Snapcraft supports multiple build tools and programming languages, such as Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, C/C++ and Rust. It also allows importing application metadata from multiple sources such as AppStream, git, shell scripts and setup.py files.
Environment Specification:
We are using a virtual machine with minimal Rocky Linux 9 OS with following specifications.
- CPU – 3.4 Ghz (2 cores)
- Memory – 2 GB
- Storage – 20 GB
- Operating System – Rocky Linux release 9.1 (Blue Onyx)
- Hostname – rocky-01.centlinux.com
- IP Address – 192.168.116.128/24
Preparing your Linux Server:
By using a ssh tool, login as root user on your Rocky Linux server.
Execute dnf command to update software packages in your Linux OS.
# dnf update -y
Snap software is available in EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) yum repository. Therefore, you should install it now by executing following command.
# dnf install -y epel-release
EPEL repository is dependent upon CRB (CodeReady Builder) yum repository. Therefore, you need to enable it before installing Snap software.
# /usr/bin/crb enable Enabling CRB repo CRB repo is enabled and named: crb
Rebuild your cache for newly installed yum repositories.
# dnf makecache Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 9 - x86_64 515 kB/s | 15 MB 00:30 Rocky Linux 9 - BaseOS 816 B/s | 4.1 kB 00:05 Rocky Linux 9 - AppStream 857 B/s | 4.5 kB 00:05 Rocky Linux 9 - CRB 372 kB/s | 2.1 MB 00:05 Rocky Linux 9 - Extras 737 B/s | 2.9 kB 00:04 Metadata cache created.
All required yum repositories has been setup. Now, you can easily install snap software.
Install Snapd on Linux Server:
To setup Snap software on your Linux OS, you need to install snapd software package.
Search for snapd by using dnf command.
# dnf search snapd Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:30 ago on Sat 13 May 2023 08:11:20 PM PKT. ========================= Name Exactly Matched: snapd ========================== snapd.x86_64 : A transactional software package manager ======================== Name & Summary Matched: snapd ========================= snapd-devel.noarch : Development files for snapd snapd-glib.x86_64 : Library providing a GLib interface to snapd snapd-glib-devel.x86_64 : Development files for snapd-glib snapd-glib-tests.x86_64 : Installed tests for snapd-glib snapd-qt.x86_64 : Library providing a Qt5 interface to snapd snapd-qt-devel.x86_64 : Development files for snapd-qt snapd-qt-qml.x86_64 : Library providing a Qt5 QML interface to snapd snapd-qt-tests.x86_64 : Installed tests for snapd-qt snapd-selinux.noarch : SELinux module for snapd
Install snapd software package by executing following command.
# dnf install -y snapd
Enable and start snapd.socket by running following command at Linux terminal.
# systemctl enable --now snapd.socket Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/sockets.target.wants/snapd.socket → /usr/lib/systemd/system/snapd.socket.
To enable classic snap support, enter the following to create a symbolic link between /var/lib/snapd/snap and /snap directories.
# ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap
Snap environment variables are not set for your current session. Therefore, obtain a new Linux Bash shell by using su command.
# su -
Install Snap on Linux:
To install Snap on Linux, simply run the following command at Linux terminal.
# snap install snap-store snap-store 41.3-71-g709398e from Canonical✓ installed
To get the list of installed snaps, you can execute following command.
# snap list Name Version Rev Tracking Publisher Notes snap-store 41.3-71-g709398e 959 latest/stable canonical✓ -
You can get more details about a snap as follows.
# snap info snap-store name: snap-store summary: Snap Store is a graphical desktop application for discovering, installing and managing snaps on Linux. publisher: Canonical✓ store-url: https://snapcraft.io/snap-store contact: https://bugs.launchpad.net/snap-store/ license: unset description: | Snap Store showcases featured and popular applications with useful descriptions, ratings, reviews and screenshots. Applications can be found either through browsing categories or by searching. Snap Store can also be used to switch channels, view and alter snap permissions and view and submit reviews and ratings. Snap Store is based on GNOME Software, optimized for the Snap experience. commands: - snap-store - snap-store.ubuntu-software - snap-store.ubuntu-software-local-file snap-id: gjf3IPXoRiipCu9K0kVu52f0H56fIksg tracking: latest/stable refresh-date: today at 22:26 PKT channels: latest/stable: 41.3-71-g709398e 2023-04-28 (959) 12MB - latest/candidate: 41.3-71-g709398e 2023-04-27 (959) 12MB - latest/beta: ↑ latest/edge: 41.3-71-g709398e 2023-03-29 (959) 12MB - preview/stable: – preview/candidate: 0.2.7-alpha 2023-02-02 (864) 10MB - preview/beta: ↑ preview/edge: 0.2.9-alpha 2023-05-09 (965) 10MB - installed: 41.3-71-g709398e (959) 12MB -
To update all installed snaps, you can execute following command at Linux terminal.
# snap refresh All snaps up to date.
Conclusion – Install Snap on Linux:
In this Linux tutorial, you have learned how to install snap on Linux 9 or other Red Hat based Linux distributions. If you are new to Linux command-line, then we strongly recommend that you should attend online training: Linux command line for beginners
