How to install and Manage Snap Packages on Ubuntu

To install and Manage Snap Packages on Ubuntu 16.04

“ Snap” packages are a new way to install apps. Snaps with “ .snap” extension are similar to containers. Installation of Snap packages is explained in this article.

Run the following command to list all the available packages.

user1@linuxhelp:~$ snap find
Name                       Version                    Price    Summary
ab                         1.0                        -        Test snap with shortest name
ag-mcphail                 1.0                        -        The Silver Searcher - mcphail' s build and upstream git version
alsa-utils                 1.1.0-1                    -        Utilities for configuring and using ALSA
apktool                    2.1.1                      -        A tool for reverse engineering 3rd party, closed, binary Android apps.
atom-cwayne                1.9.0                      -        Atom Text Editor
audovia                    3.3.1                      -        Database application for making music using JFugue MusicStrings
base                       16.04+20160525.05-00       -        Base content for snapd
.
.
.
xkcdpass-codersquid        0.1                        -        Generate secure multiword passwords/passphrases, inspired by XKCD
yacas                      1.4.2                      -        Yet Another Computer Algebra System
yagy                       1.1.0                      -        Yacas GUI

To search the specific package, execute the following command.

user1@linuxhelp:~$ snap find ubuntu
Name                       Version                  Summary
bluez                      5.37-1                   Bluez for Ubuntu
canonical-pc-linux         4.4.0-18+20160419.13-26  The ubuntu-core kernel snap
krita                      3.0-snap12               Krita: the free digital painting studio
minecraft-server-jdstrand  16.04.8                  Minecraft server packaging for Ubuntu Core
snappy-debug               0.23                     Debug tools for ubuntu-core
ubuntu-calculator-app      2.1+snap3                Ubuntu Calculator application for the Unity 7 desktop
ubuntu-clock-app           3.6+snap3                Ubuntu Clock application for the Unity 7 desktop
ubuntu-core                16.04+20160531.11-56     The ubuntu-core OS snap
ufw                        0.36pre-16.2             ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall) for Ubuntu Core

To Install Snap

Utilise the following command to install a snap package.

user1@linuxhelp:~$ sudo snap install ubuntu-calculator-app
[sudo] password for user1:
120.01 MB / 120.01 MB [==================================] 100.00 % 430.68 KB/s

Name                   Version    Rev  Developer
ubuntu-calculator-app  2.1+snap3  5    ubuntucoredev

After the installation, open the package using the following command.

user1@linuxhelp:~$ ubuntu-calculator-app.calculator

To Update Snap

To update an installed Snap package, run the following command.

user1@linuxhelp:~$ sudo snap refresh ubuntu-calculator-app
error: cannot perform the following tasks:
- Download snap " ubuntu-calculator-app"  from channel " stable"  (revision 5 of snap " ubuntu-calculator-app"  already installed)

The installed package is up to date, so the above error occurs.

To List the Installed Snap

Run the following command to list installed Snap packages,

user1@linuxhelp:~$ snap list
Name Version Rev Developer
ubuntu-calculator-app 2.1+snap3 5 ubuntucoredev
ubuntu-core 16.04+20160531.11-56 122 canonical

To Remove a Snap Package

To remove an installed Snap package, run the following command.

user1@linuxhelp:~$ sudo snap remove ubuntu-calculator-app
Done

To view Recent Changes

Utilise the following command to list the system changes.

user1@linuxhelp:~$ snap changes
ID Status Spawn Ready Summary
1 Done 2016-07-07T02:34:34Z 2016-07-07T02:41:47Z Install " ubuntu-calculator-app"  snap
2 Error 2016-07-07T02:47:17Z 2016-07-07T02:47:18Z Refresh " ubuntu-calculator-app"  snap
3 Done 2016-07-07T02:49:29Z 2016-07-07T02:49:32Z Remove " ubuntu-calculator-app"  snap

To know more about snap operations, execute the following command.

user1@linuxhelp:~$ man snap
snap(1) General Commands Manual snap(1)

NAME
snap - Tool to interact with snaps

SYNOPSIS
snap [OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION
The snap tool interacts with the snapd daemon to control the snappy
software platform.

OPTIONS
-h, --help
Show this help message

COMMANDS
abort
Abort a pending change

The abort command attempts to abort a change that still has pending
tasks.

-h, --help
Show this help message

ack
Adds an assertion to the system

The ack command tries to add an assertion to the system assertion data?
base.

Manual page snap(1) line 1 (press h for help or q to quit)
.
.

Tag : Snap Ubuntu

FAQ

How can I report a bug in Snap?

Found a bug in Snap? Please create a ticket on our issue tracker.

How do I run my app in development mode?

Running Snap in development depends on which version of Snap you are using:
SNAP 0.9.1.1 UPWARDS
If you used snap init to create your project, you simply need to build your project with the development flag:
cabal clean; cabal install -f development

Why do I get a “cannot find normal object file” error when building Snap?

If you try to build Snap in profiling mode, sometimes you will encounter this error:
src/Snap/Starter.hs:1:0:
cannot find normal object file `dist/build/snap/snap-tmp/Snap/StarterTH.o'

Can I develop with Snap-on Windows?

Yes! Snap 0.5.5 and Snap 0.6 have been tested to work on Windows 7 using Haskell Platform 2011.2.0.1.

How do I enable SSL?

*First, you need to install snap-server with -fopenssl. If you have already installed snap-server, you might want to uninstall it first with ghc-pkg unregister -f snap-server to avoid potential version conflicts.
*Once you have done that, run your application as follows using values appropriate to your setup.
* ./app --ssl-port=443 --ssl-cert=cert.pem --ssl-key=key.pem --ssl-address=0.0.0.0 --ssl-chain-cert=False