How To Install Discord On Linux

Discord is a text/voice and video chat client for gamers that is quickly rising in popularity. Recently, the program announced Linux support which means you can now use the popular chat client on any Linux distribution. Here’s how you can install Discord on Linux.

SPOILER ALERT: Scroll down and watch the video tutorial at the end of this article.

Discord On Ubuntu

As Ubuntu is the most popular Linux operating system, the developers behind Discord have decided to target it by default. To install Discord on Ubuntu, first head over to the developer’s website and click the button that says “Download for Linux”. Select the option for Deb, to get the version that will work with Ubuntu.

If you are you a Debian use, follow these same instructions to install Discord on your system.

After downloading the latest package file, open up a terminal and use it to update your Ubuntu PC to the latest packages:

sudo apt update

sudo apt upgrade -y

The next step in the installation process is to take the terminal and move it to the Downloads directory with the CD command.

cd ~/Downloads

Once in ~/Downloads, we can use the dpkg tool to install the Discord Deb onto the system.

sudo dpkg -i discord-*.deb

Dpkg won’t take long, and it will install Discord. This should go smoothly, but in case any sort of error pops up, you’ll also need to run this command:

sudo apt install -f

When apt install -f finishes, all dependencies will be satisfied and Discord will be ready to use on Ubuntu!

Discord On Fedora

The Fedora operating system makes it very hard to use proprietary tools sometime. This is due to the Fedora project’s want to keep non-free software out by default. Additionally, Discord isn’t directly targeting Redhat Linux distributions, so users can’t easily just install an RPM package file and be good to go. Luckily, someone has set up a nice Copr repository to get it working.

To start off, open up a terminal, and run an update to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

sudo dnf update -y

When the update finishes, add the Copr repo that you’ll need to get Discord working on Fedora.

sudo dnf copr enable tcg/discord

Next, you’ll need to install the tool that bootstraps the Discord application:

sudo dnf install discord-installer -y

By installing Discord-installer, you’ll be able to automate the installation of Discord on Fedora. Additionally, by enabling the systemd service, you can ensure that it will always stay up to date. To do this, enter the following:

sudo systemctl enable --now discord-installer

Discord On OpenSUSE

Even though there is a nice automated installation tool for Fedora, OpenSUSE users aren’t as lucky. Getting the Discord client working on this Linux operating system is a little more hit-and-miss. The packages themselves are easily located on the OBS, but some dependencies must be hunted down first.

Note: if you have trouble getting Discord working via the OBS, consider following the Snap or Flatpak instructions instead.

sudo zypper ar -n devel:tools:compiler https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/tools:/compiler/openSUSE_Leap_42.3/ devel:tools:compiler

sudo zypper in libc++1

With Libc+++ on SUSE, Discord will run properly. Install it by grabbing the latest version from the OpenSUSE Build Service. Select your version of SUSE, then click the install button to get going.

Discord On Generic Linux Distributions

On non-supported Linux distributions there are many different ways to install the Discord client. Users can choose to download a generic binary, compress it, and install it to their system manually. The client is also available as a Flatpak on Flathub, and was recently added to the Snap store.

Note: are you an Arch Linux user? Discord is readily available in the Arch Linux User Repository. Get it here.

Snap Package

Snaps run on any pretty much any Linux distribution. To install Discord via the snap store, be sure that your operating system has a way to use Snaps. Enable the snapd service with systemd. Once enabled, use the snap package management system to install the program to your system.

sudo snap install discord

On many desktop environments on Linux, snaps will not show up in application menus right away. To solve this, consider logging in and out, waiting a couple minutes, or restarting your desktop session altogether.

FlatPak

Thanks to Flathub, any Linux operating system that has the ability to run Flatpak, can use the Discord client. To get it, you’ll first need to add Flathub as a source for Flatpak. Open a terminal, and enter the following command:

sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Now that the software source is added, simply use the Flatpak packaging tool to install the latest version of the package.

Note: Flathub isn’t perfect, and sometimes Discord installation will time out. If this happens, it’s best to try to install it again, or install it as a Snap instead.

sudo flatpak install --from https://flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.discordapp.Discord.flatpakref

Like Snaps, Flatpak programs may take a bit of time to appear in the application menu of your desktop menu. Give it a few minutes, or restart your session if nothing happens.

Generic Binary

The Discord client is distributed as a generic, tar.gz package file for use on a multitude of Linux distributions. This route works when you’re on a Linux distribution that doesn’t support Snaps or Flatpak. It has a major disadvantage: each time there is an update, you’ll need to go to the website, download the new version of the package, and overwrite the files.

This binary doesn’t need to be placed in a specific area of the file system to run. If you’d like, it is possible to extract the Discord archive and run it anywhere. However, to make the application fit in with the rest of your stuff, do the following.

Step 1: Go to the website, click “Download for Linux”, and select the tar.gz option.

When the download finishes, use CD to enter the ~/Downloads directory.

cd ~/Downloads

Step 2: Use the tar command to unzip the tar.gz file.

tar -xvzf discord-*.tar.gz

Using the mv command, move the extracted files to the /opt directory. If you do not have /opt, put it somewhere else, like /usr/lib and etc.

sudo mv Discord /opt/

Step 3: Use mv to take the included Discord.desktop file and place it in /usr/share/applications/. This will ensure that the program shows up like other programs on your PC.

sudo mv /opt/Discord/Discord.desktop /usr/share/applications/

Read Full Bio

AddictiveTips Team

Latest from Author

Deploy SeaFile in Docker on Ubuntu Server How to install TeamSpeak5 on Chromebook