Working with Linux, you will likely have heard of Snap in relation to installing software on a Linux system.
Snap is a software packaging and deployment system for Linux operating systems. Software packages, which are called snaps, and the program for using them, which is called snapd, work on many Linux distributions and provide a way for software developers to package and distribute their applications. Snaps are self contained applications, which run in a sandbox, with controlled access to the host operating system.
Snap provides a solution to the problem of having to develop applications to run on different Linux distributions, which require different packages etc. Snap applications run in a container with restricted access to the host system. Users can grant an application mediated access to extra functionalities of the host via Interfaces, such as recording audio and capturing video.
Developers can publish their snap-packaged programmes on the Snap Store. All programmes submitted to the Snap Store are automatically tested, including a virus scan. Although the Snap sandbox mitigates the effect of a malicious software, Canonical advises users to only install Snaps from publishers they trust.
When first released, Snap supported just the all-Snap Ubuntu Core edition, but it was adapted to a broad range of Linux distributions in June 2016. Snap needs Systemd, which is present in the majority, but not all, Linux distributions. Snap is currently supported by a variety of Linux distributions out of the box, including Ubuntu (and its derivatives, such as Kubuntu and Xubuntu), Manjaro, and others. Many other distributions, including CentOS, Debian, Elementary OS, Fedora, Kali Linux, Linux Mint, Raspbian, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and openSUSE, support Snap.
Let’s take a look at some examples of how to install Snap on Linux.
How to Install Snap on Debian and Ubuntu based Linux distributions
To install Snap on a Debian or Ubuntu based Linux distribution, the following command can be used:
sudo apt install snapd
How to Install Snap on Red Hat and Fedora based Linux distributions
To install Snap on a Red Hat or Fedora based Linux distribution, the following command can be used:
sudo dnf install snapd
How to List Packages Installed with Snap
You can list Snap packages on your system with the snap list command:
sudo snap list
Name Version Rev Tracking Publisher Notes
amazon-ssm-agent 3.1.1188.0 5656 latest/stable/… aws✓ classic
core 16-2.56.2 13425 latest/stable canonical✓ core
core18 20220706 2538 latest/stable canonical✓ base
core20 20220527 1518 latest/stable canonical✓ base
lxd 5.3-91e042b 23270 latest/stable/… canonical✓ -
Find and Install a Snap
The snap find command can be used to search the snap store for snaps. For example:
snap find docker
Name Version Publisher Notes Summary
docker 20.10.14 canonical✓ - Docker container runtime
Here we have found a snap for the Docker Container Runtime. The output displays the name of the snap, the version, the publisher and any notes or summary. The publisher for this one is Canonical.
We can now install it using the snap install command:
sudo snap install docker
docker 20.10.14 from Canonical✓ installed
Once complete, Docker should be installed. Now if we run the snap list command again we can see that the docker snap is listed:
sudo snap list
Name Version Rev Tracking Publisher Notes
amazon-ssm-agent 3.1.1188.0 5656 latest/stable/… aws✓ classic
core 16-2.56.2 13425 latest/stable canonical✓ core
core18 20220706 2538 latest/stable canonical✓ base
core20 20220706 1581 latest/stable canonical✓ base
docker 20.10.14 1779 latest/stable canonical✓ -
lxd 5.4-82d05d6 23339 latest/stable/… canonical✓ -
More Snap Commands
You can update a snap to the latest version by using the snap refresh command:
sudo snap refresh docker
snap "docker" has no updates available
We have no updates for docker as we have just installed the latest available snap.
Finally, you can remove / uninstall a snap that is already installed by using the snap remove command.
sudo snap remove docker
docker removed
Summary
In this tutorial you have learned how to install snap on Linux. There were examples of how to install snap on Ubuntu or Debian based Linux systems, and how to install snap on Red Hat or Fedora based systems.
We then went on to running through some examples of how to install docker using snap, how to list already installed snaps and how to find snaps on the snap store.
Finally we looked at how to update a snap and how to remove or uninstall a snap from a Linux system.