Snaps are installed via the snap
command, using GNOME Software or via KDE Discover. Each allows the user to find out detailed information about a snap before installation.
Finding snaps
On the command line the snap find
command will search the store for the specified search term.
$ snap find firefox
Name Version Publisher Notes Summary
firefox 61.0.2-1 mozilla - Mozilla Firefox web browser
To get more detailed information on a snap, use snap info
.
$ snap info firefox
2018/08/23 13:44:35.653849 cmd.go:203: DEBUG: restarting into "/snap/core/current/usr/bin/snap"
name: firefox
summary: Mozilla Firefox web browser
publisher: mozilla
license: unknown
description: |
The new Firefox
Meet Firefox Quantum. Fast for good.
⋮
commands:
- firefox
snap-id: 3wdHCAVyZEmYsCMFDE9qt92UV8rC8Wdk
tracking: stable
refresh-date: 14 days ago, at 22:04 BST
channels:
stable: 61.0.2-1 (118) 204MB -
candidate: 61.0.2-1 (118) 204MB -
beta: 62.0b19-1 (122) 204MB -
edge: ↑
esr/stable: 60.1.0esr-2 (102) 205MB -
esr/candidate: ↑
esr/beta: ↑
esr/edge: ↑
installed: 61.0.2-1 (118) 204MB -
Installing from the store using the command line
By default, installing a snap from the store will take the snap from the latest/stable track and channel.
snap install firefox
Installing from another track or channel requires the --channel
option.
snap install firefox --channel=esr/stable
If the snap is already installed, use the snap refresh
command to change channel.
snap refresh firefox --channel=esr/stable
Once installed, users can refresh
channel at any time
Installing from the store using GNOME Software
GNOME Software supports installation of snaps via the gnome-software-plugin-snap
which is installed by default on Ubuntu and some flavours & derivatives. If not already installed, installation should be performed using the standard package manager such as apt or yum. Once installed, restart GNOME Software (which may require you to killall gnome-software
to force-restart the background daemon).
Launch GNOME Software and search for a snap. Click the snap and review the metadata. Click the [Install] button to begin installation of the snap
Installing a local snap
Installing a snap from a local is also done with the snap
command. The --dangerous
option is required, to indicate that the user is aware they’re installing a snap which hasn’t been through any store review process.
snap install mysnap_1.5_amd64.snap --dangerous
Switching from local to store snap
Often a developer will test out a locally installed snap, then publish the snap in the store. Anyone who installed the local snap will not get updates from the store automatically. So the user should refresh to the store snap to get updates. The additional --amend
option is required here.
snap refresh mysnap --channel=stable --amend