Something which I think falls under this topic, but I’ve not seen discussed widely, is the requirement for certain kernel features to be enabled (regardless of distribution).
I know that trying to make an exhaustive list of those would be a fool’s errand, but here are a couple that I came across on a recent adventure with a Moxa device:
SquashFS support is required in order to mount snaps. This is not always provided out of the box, but can be installed as a module
The ptmx device is required (enabled by the CONFIG_DEVPTS_MULTIPLE_INSTANCES kernel option). This is thankfully almost always enabled by default - but if not, requires kernel recompilation.
Not sure what the best way is to capture points like these (and how much detail to go into), but figured I’d throw it out there.
Thanks, that’s a great point. I personally think the best way to capture it is in a page for distribution authors (“Bringing snap support to a distro”?) that walks through the kernel and other system requirements for snapd.
The list is currently missing OpenSUSE instructions. There is a really easy process (single click is an option) on the OpenSUSE software site at https://software.opensuse.org/download.html?project=system%3Asnappy&package=snapd. Once installed, it needs sudo systemctl enable snapd and then sudo systemctl start snapd, and then you can use snaps .
@degville I just released 2.36 for openSUSE, could you please create a section for it. Feel free to give it a try on either Leap 42.3 (old stable), Leap 15 (stable) or Tumbleweed (rolling stable).
The Ubuntu 18.04 comment doesn’t read well because it’s no longer the latest Ubuntu even though it’s the latest LTS… also Solus also has snaps installed out-of-the-box (as far as we know), could we add that to that pre-installed comment?
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve updated the text - the Solus-specific page did mention snapd being pre-installed , but I think it’s also worth highlighting here.
I noticed RedHat isn’t on this list, but @Wimpress tells me that RedHat is in fact supported. Can we get this in the docs here and on installation pages? My team is fumbling in the dark trying to get snaps working on that distro.
As a person new to Ubuntu/Linux and also someone who’s Snap doesn’t current work/open (and seeming leaves a lot of locked space that can’t be removed), this guidance is little help.
How is one to reinstall this system when it doesn’t work?
No instructions are given and you end up in an endless loop going between pages that are no help.
Additionally the one instruction I could find, “sudo snap install snap-store” does not work and gives a “command not found” error.
Specific instructions should be included on how to get the system installed, not just “it’s there already”. Plus guidance on removing old packages taking up too much space should also be given somewhere.