How to install Snap & Snap-store on Debian 11 Bullseye Linux

Debian 11 or 10 does not come with SNAP like Ubuntu, so we have to install it manually using the command terminal. And here we learn how to do that?

Snap is a package format developed by Canonical that can be installed in various apps and packages available in the Snapcraft repository. The good thing is that the user can use it without conflicts with the “normal” package management DEB packages. This means that we can install GIMP through APT as well as SNAP without any conflicts, hence two instances of the same application on a single Linux system. This is the reason why SNAP is available for all popular Linux distributions.

Well, SNAPS was originally intended to target and use in server or cloud environments and also for the Internet of Things. Later it made its way to the desktop versions. We can install programs with graphical user interface, applications for the command line, environments for programming languages, etc. via snaps.

Currently, all of the Snap packages we manage to install are fetched from the central SNAP server operated by Canonical. There is currently no alternative server. Installation of locally downloaded snaps is also possible.

Instant installation on Debian 11 Bullseye

1. Run the system update

Many times, if we haven’t updated our system for a while, it wouldn’t be able to recognize the latest version of the packages available for download and installation. Therefore, it will be a good idea to run a system update command once before installing a package.

sudo apt update

2. Install Snapd on Debian 11

As we know Ubuntu is based on Debian and also uses the same package manager -APT. Therefore, Debian developers also provide the packages to install Snapd on their Linux without adding a repository manually.

sudo apt install snapd
sudo snap install core

Check the status of the Snapd service

Once the installation is complete, let’s see if it runs correctly without any errors.

sudo systemctl status snapd

Although it starts automatically, if not, we can start it using the given command:

sudo systemctl start snapd

3. Start using Snap via the control terminal

Now if you want to install an app via BREAK you can use the following command syntax;

sudo snap install application-name

You can consult the Snapcarft repository to find out which applications are available to install.

For example, say you want to install VLC. The order will be:

sudo snap install vlc

4. Install the Snap Store GUI on Debian 11 | 10 | 9

Those using the graphical desktop of Debian 11 or its previous version can opt for the GUI store provided by SnapCraft to easily install hundreds of applications available in its repository instead of using the command line.

sudo snap install snap-store

Once the installation is complete, restart your system

sudo reboot

Error: The icons of installed Snap apps are not showing in the launcher

If the icons for applications installed using SNAP do not appear in the System Application Launcher, run the commands below:

sudo ln -s /etc/profile.d/apps-bin-path.sh /etc/X11/Xsession.d/99snap

sudo nano /etc/login.defs

Paste the following at the end of the file:

ENV_PATH PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/snap/bin

Save file Ctrl + O and exit the file.

Sign out and connection your system again

Now you will be able to install all app icons in the launcher.