How to install Chromium without snap?

Question

I just discovered that chromium will only be released as a snap package.

How can I continue to get chromium, without snap? Is this possible without building from source?

Notes:

• Please let's keep to the question as stated - not "what do you have against snap?"
• I'm not asking how to remove snap - just how to use chromium as it is now, a deb.

---

Update

No, this is not a duplicate of that linked question. I don't need to know "why it's a snap". I want to know how to use it without snap.

Right now there is building from source, and some random PPA mentioned below. I hope someone can advise us of trustworthy alternatives.

Solution 1

You can use Chromium from the Debian "buster" repository.
For example, if your Ubuntu release is Eoan (19.10):

1. Remove Ubuntu chromium packages:

   sudo apt remove chromium-browser chromium-browser-l10n chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra
   

2. Add Debian "buster" repository. Create a file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list with the following content:

   deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/debian-buster.gpg] http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main
   deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/debian-buster-updates.gpg] http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main
   deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/debian-security-buster.gpg] http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main
   

3. Add the Debian signing keys:

   sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys DCC9EFBF77E11517
   sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 648ACFD622F3D138
   sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 112695A0E562B32A
   

4. Store GPG keys in /usr/share/keyrings

   sudo apt-key export 77E11517 | sudo gpg --dearmour -o /usr/share/keyrings/debian-buster.gpg
   sudo apt-key export 22F3D138 | sudo gpg --dearmour -o /usr/share/keyrings/debian-buster-updates.gpg
   sudo apt-key export E562B32A | sudo gpg --dearmour -o /usr/share/keyrings/debian-security-buster.gpg
   

5. Configure apt pinning. Create a file /etc/apt/preferences.d/chromium.pref with the following content:

   # Note: 2 blank lines are required between entries
   Package: *
   Pin: release a=eoan
   Pin-Priority: 500
   
   Package: *
   Pin: origin "deb.debian.org"
   Pin-Priority: 300
   
   # Pattern includes 'chromium', 'chromium-browser' and similarly
   # named dependencies:
   Package: chromium*
   Pin: origin "deb.debian.org"
   Pin-Priority: 700
   

6. Install Chromium again

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install chromium
   

This should install the latest chromium from the debian-security repository and look like this:

$ sudo apt install chromium
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  chromium-common chromium-sandbox libjpeg62-turbo libminizip1 libre2-5
Suggested packages:
  chromium-l10n chromium-shell chromium-driver
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  chromium chromium-common chromium-sandbox libjpeg62-turbo libminizip1 libre2-5
0 upgraded, 6 newly installed, 0 to remove and 9 not upgraded.
Need to get 56,6 MB of archives.
After this operation, 202 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu eoan/universe amd64 libminizip1 amd64 1.1-8build1 [20,2 kB]
Get:2 http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian buster/main amd64 libjpeg62-turbo amd64 1:1.5.2-2+b1 [134 kB]
Get:3 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu eoan/universe amd64 libre2-5 amd64 20190801+dfsg-1 [162 kB]
Get:4 http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates/main amd64 chromium-common amd64 79.0.3945.130-1~deb10u1 [257 kB]
Get:5 http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates/main amd64 chromium amd64 79.0.3945.130-1~deb10u1 [55,9 MB]
Get:6 http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates/main amd64 chromium-sandbox amd64 79.0.3945.130-1~deb10u1 [141 kB]

As you can see, only Chromium related packages are fetched from the Debian repository, but all others like libminizip1 still come from your Ubuntu repository.

Solution 2

If you can live with Chrome instead of Chromium, you can use the officially provided Debian package from Google:

wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
apt install ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb

You can get the download URL from the normal Chrome download page, then scroll to the very bottom of the page and select "other platforms". The URL is not directly displayed but you can see it in your download history.

apt instead of dpkg also takes care of installing all dependencies – which snap is not one of.

From reading a few files in that package, I have the impression that it installs a cron job that automatically updates the Chrome installation, just like we know it from Windows. So this looks like a pretty solid solution to me, without tinkering with package sources from other distributions or even personal PPAs. And it might even be available for longer, no need for procedure updates with a new distro version.

I've installed this in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and it works for me, but I'm only using it headless on a web server. The package includes config files for graphical desktop environments, too, though.

Solution 3

For the time being, the chromium-beta PPA also works fine & does not require snap: https://launchpad.net/~saiarcot895/+archive/ubuntu/chromium-beta

To add this PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:saiarcot895/chromium-beta
sudo apt-get update

Solution 4

Chromium is now available in Flatpak packaging format on Flathub: https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.chromium.Chromium

Although Flatpak is similar to Snap, I think it matches the freedom standards that many Linux users are usually looking for, much better than Snap.

Solution 5

For completeness: Another option is to use nix:

# Install nix
curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install | sh
. /home/$USER/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh
nix-env --install chromium
chromium

Unfortunately, for getting chromium into your launcher, you'll need to execute whereis chromium and, supposed the outcome is /nix/store/bpmjh6lpsfn3fwrkqx9kp1013x4hqk2y-user-environment/bin/chromium, create ~/.local/share/applications/chromium.desktop (e.g. by gedit ~/.local/share/applications/chromium.desktop) like

[Desktop Entry]
Name=chromium
Exec=/nix/store/bpmjh6lpsfn3fwrkqx9kp1013x4hqk2y-user-environment/bin/chromium
Comment=
Terminal=false
Icon=gnome-panel-launcher
Type=Application

While this basically works, chromium sometimes hangs with this solution, I have no clue why. So if you are ok with the Debian-solution, stick to it.

View more solutions

Comments

[DK Bose]

I don't use chromium but does askubuntu.com/a/1200343/248158 work for you?

[lonix]

@DKBose I'm very (VERY!) tempted to use that ppa, but without offense to it's maintainers... it's just some random ppa. If it had more "traction" I'd use it. Right now it has only 3 maintainers. I'm gonna keep an eye on it though... thanks!

[N0rbert]

Does this answer your question? Why apt package chromium-browser installs snap package instead?

[lonix]

@N0rbert No but thanks. That is the "why" - I wanted to know how to continue getting it without snap (hopefully as a deb). Maybe with time someone will post a decent solution here, or that PPA will get some traction (I'm wary of it right now).

[hrzhu]

This is a ppa doesn't look like random. But they only provide dev and beta version. The stable version hasn't updated for a long time. launchpad.net/~chromium-team/+archive/ubuntu/dev

[j4nd3r53n]

I don't like snap either - I simply removed it from the Ubuntu that I am using atm. It doesn't seem to hamr anything, and I no longer have something using up my loopback devices.

[lonix]

@j4nd3r53n You removed snap from ubuntu desktop? I thought that wasn't possible... some things break if you remove snap completely. How did you do it, any good links, etc.?

[j4nd3r53n]

@lonix No, I just did - it doesn't appear to be an essential part of the system. Depending on what you feel is essential, of course. If you do apt remove ... you should see a list of all the things that are going to disappear. In my case there was one or two which I wouldn't miss any way.

[Sqerstet]

@lonix Uninstalled it too, no problems. It will only come back if you install something which depends on it.

[Mitar]

This is useful to have to install inside Docker images.

[Brent Bradburn]

The question is well-taken, since apps installed via snap have weird file system access limitations. FWIW, google-chrome-stable probably has the functionality that you need (although --temp-profile is missing so you have to roll-your-own with --user-data-dir). However, if you require Chromium because it's open-source, then why not build from source? One reason I can think of is that updates won't be automatic.

[Stephen Boston]

apt purge snap! And pouf the nasty creature is banished. It's so neat and slick a purging it's like the devs just knew what a terrible terrible thing is snap.

[Piotr Henryk Dabrowski]

Does this answer your question? How to remove snap completely without losing the Chromium browser?

[lonix]

@PiotrHenrykDabrowski That question is unrelated.

[lonix]

This is excellent, and just the sort of cleverness I was looking for! I'm changing the accepted answer to this! Thanks!

[ʇsәɹoɈ]

I used a similar approach. Details here: askubuntu.com/a/1206502/164224

[lonix]

@ʇsәɹoɈ Thanks. I saw that approach but wasn't sure whether to try it. From what I understand ubuntu breaks if snap itself is removed, because it ships various system things as snap. So it's not just chromium. Wasn't that your experience?

[ʇsәɹoɈ]

@lonix I haven't removed snapd from my system yet, but snap list tells me that the only things it currently manages are itself and gtk-common-themes. I might just leave it installed, in case Canonical ends up replacing more important deb packages with snaps. (I might also drop Ubuntu if they do that.) As long as there isn't a snap directory cluttering my home dir, I can tolerate snapd lurking in the background for now. It might even become useful to me if they fix bug 1575053 and learn from their mistake there.

[lonix]

"I might also drop Ubuntu"... Considering this too. It's just too much of a hassle to switch, even if it's to Debian.

[pruflyos]

I doubt that snap will be used for important system packages or security critical system updates. Anyway, right now it is save to be removed completely. You'll notice when another Ubuntu deb package requires it as a dependency in the future and asks to install it again.

[pruflyos]

Apart from snapd being an additional system service running in the background all the time, every snap is mounted as a separate loop device. I don't think that's scalable from a UX perspective. There are so many Linux programs that are suddenly spammed by all those loop devices snapd creates. df -h being just one example. Imagine having 30 snaps or so one day :-) Ubuntu would have to patch so many different applications to hide the snap loop devices from their output.

[Ferroao]

security deb gave me error, have to use: deb security.debian.org buster/updates main contrib non-free

[jarno]

I wonder why Ubuntu does not provide that debian package in its repository?

[Chen Noam]

Does adding these repos have any side-effects for other packages?

[lonix]

This was already mentioned above. It may be an option for some people, but keep in mind it's just some random PPA - who knows whether it's safe to use? The approach in the accepted answer ensures you get chromium without malware.

[Sachin]

@lonix their project is open source though - github.com/saiarcot895/chromium-ubuntu-build . Also its totally up to date , the accepted answer will install chromium 80 if that matters for someone

[Sqerstet]

Perhaps not a good idea, in general, to use a random PPA for such sprawling software as a browser. Auditability near zero even if it is open source.

[James Bradbury]

Thanks @Ferroao. When I added "deb security.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main contrib non-free" to debian.list instead of the last line above, it worked!

[Ferroao]

@jamesBradbury I ended uninstalling this because debian dependencies cause dependency nightmare for other ubuntu packages.

[Ferroao]

@jamesBradbury I think i got problem installing libssl-dev libsasl2-dev or ubuntu versions of them.

[Zouppen]

After this answer Debian has changed their repository from ftp subdomain to deb. See wiki.debian.org/SourcesList#Example_sources.list

[Lorenz Keel]

System76's employee themselves don't recommend using Pop!_OS' PPA over Ubuntu. There is a warning as well in the PPA page. For reference, askubuntu.com/a/1188837

[Michael Butler]

Do NOT do this. I almost screwed up my laptop (Kubuntu 20.04) massively. I had to use ppa-purge to fix everything. What happened was that by adding the system76/pop repository, the next time I ran the standard package updates (Software Updates) it ended up basically installing all of PopOS along with Gnome, GDM3, and it even changed Grub!

[HippoMan]

Agreed about the risk of using a random PPA. However, the snap-based chromium cannot access files on my separately-mounted /opt filesystem. The non-snap chromium has no such limitation. Until or unless the snap version ever is able to access all the filesystems on my device, I am willing to live with the risk of a PPA-based version.

[John Rose]

The above 85.0.4183 18.04.2 packages have been removed. I then tried the 85.0.4183 20.04.2 packages. Even though they installed (after displaying some software channel nonsense), Chromium was not available as an app (i.e. using Activities or the nine dots on the Ubuntu standard screen).

[John Rose]

I entered previous comment again as it cut me off while I was looking up details in repo index. The above 85.0.4183.83 18.04.2 packages have been removed. I then tried the 85.0.4183.83 20.04.2 packages. Even though they installed (after displaying some software channel nonsense), Chromium was not available as an app (i.e. using Activities or the nine dots on the Ubuntu standard screen). I then tried the 86.0.4640.75 18.04.1 packages and they installed OK:, though I had to do the codecs package install first due to dependency problem when I tried the browser package install first.

[Pynchia]

It did not work for me. How do you remove all those components now?

[David Georg Reichelt]

Just get rid of the nix folders: stackoverflow.com/questions/51929461/how-to-uninstall-nix If you would further specify why installing chromium using nix did not work for you, it would maybe be possible to provide a solution, in case others also stumble over the problem.

[user2364305]

Just install the flatpak! I fixed all the issues with this answer, only to find I installed a pre-covid version of Chrome... Which crashed like a mother on the RPi4 with Disco Donkey. flatpak install org.chromium.chromium is great

[Darren G]

Strange how Ubuntu can simply use thousands of packages from Debian, but are unable to do so for Chromium.

[undsoft]

I realise you're just venting snark, but for anyone reading, it's partly because we're supporting multiple (5) stable releases of Ubuntu, so we don't use the debian package of chromium, because that's only updated in stable/unstable/experimental. We support 14.04/16.04/18.04/20.04/20.10/21.04.

[TheAlphaReturns]

Yes, chromium will get updates, you should manually look for the latest versions of chromium :)

[Chris1804505]

Running Virtual machines?? no freaking way..

[Archisman Panigrahi]

This PPA seems to be discontinued (last updated in 2019).

[Heisenberg]

How do I update this version?

[Brent Bradburn]

There is a package google-chrome-stable in the standard repositories for Ubuntu 20.04 (I probably originally installed via "Software Boutique"), so you don't need to do anything this exotic.

[axblount]

@nobar I see that I have that package installed on my system. I also noticed it was updated some time ago. So I think what I downloaded was just a copy of that package and it's more easily available through apt indeed.

[user2364305]

It is much faster... but the AUR and the Flatpak have a crippling sync bug. The snap is 3 versions out of date. Annoying position to be in. I'll try the beta Flatpak I guess. If Xenial was an option, I could just have a deb.

[stephenfjohnson]

snapd is reinstalled regardless using this method

[TheAlphaReturns]

@danger89 you don't need to... Can get from the Ubuntu Archive

[Timo]

@nobar, my Lubuntu 20.04 LTs apt cannot find the chrome package.

[Timo]

@Zouppen, does the domain change to deb from ftp also refer to the apt pinning /etc/apt/preferences.d/chromium.pref ?

[Timo]

@Ferroao your solution did not work, I left the list as is, not changing the 3rd (security) entry.

[Brent Bradburn]

@Timo: I did some experiments, and apparently google-chrome-stable only shows up for apt after you install via the "Software Boutique". Lubuntu has "Discover", which seems to have different packages available -- so my approach probably won't work for Lubuntu.

[Timo]

The thing is that apt install <deb>.deb does not work for Lubuntu I guess, you need package only. So I should have used dpkg but what about dependencies then. I installed with the manual from the top post here. It works,if I get updates,ok, if not I come back to your solution as a basis for a gui chromium;)

[ʇsәɹoɈ]

@lonix I am now on Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS and have removed snapd; nothing broke. Chromium is currently at version 90.0.4430.212 and working fine. I also wrote up my approach to using the Debian package instead of the snap: inx.one/blog/debian-repo-on-ubuntu

[lonix]

What is the difference between your PPA and the other ones floating around? Same warnings would apply as stated above to any PPA for such a core system programme. I'm not unappreciative for you efforts, just curious.

[Piotr Henryk Dabrowski]

It contains only official Ubuntu packages from Ubuntu 18.04, where Chromium .deb is still supported.

[Liso]

This works on fresh 20.04, I removed both repo and key after installing as I don't frequently update browser.

[chx101]

sudo dpkg -i *.deb Man, this looks dangerous

[kontextify]

Check the current Debian sources.list page for up to date repositories. The default Bullseye example works for me on Impish!

[lonix]

A very good option for some people, except they'd have to manage updates themselves. Most users prefer to rely on a package manager.

[Ganton]

That "beta" repo is maintained and can be used. (The "stable" repo is the one which is not maintained, although the "beta" one is available).

[Admin]

Following these instructions leads to $ chromium-browser Command '/usr/bin/chromium-browser' requires the chromium snap to be installed. Please install it with: snap install chromium