Installing Edge on Linux is not a straight forward process if you're not using Debian-based distros, as only .deb package is available on the official website. Fortunately, Microsoft also provides its official Linux repo that we can use to download and install Microsoft products on our system.
👉️ Table of contents:
- Preparing the Container
- Install Edge
- Export Edge from the Container
- Edit the Startup WM Class in the Desktop File
- Check the Host's Keyring Entry
- Automatically Update the Browser
1. Preparing the Container
I install the browser in a container because I want an isolation between the browser and my base system. I consider this is a good practice in both security and management, as the container is rootless, plus I can delete the container along with everything inside it more easily without affecting my system in any way.
If you want to install the browser directly on your system, you can skip this part.
1.1. Install Distrobox and Podman on the Host
sudo zypper install distrobox podman
1.2. Configure Distrobox to use Podman
echo 'container_manager="podman"' > ~/.config/distrobox/distrobox.conf
1.3. Create a New Distrobox Container for Edge
distrobox create -i registry.opensuse.org/opensuse/tumbleweed:latest -n edge-dbx --volume /run/dbus/system_bus_socket:/run/dbus/system_bus_socket
Note, if you're using Distrobox ≤ 1.7.1, you'll have to add
--hostname "$(uname -n)"to thedistrobox createcommand. Otherwise, you will have an issue with.desktopicon integretion with GNOME, see gnome-shell issue #7531.
1.4. Prepare the Packages Inside the Container
Base Packages
sudo zypper install adwaita-icon-theme dbus-1-x11 glib2
VA-API drivers for Intel GPUs (for example)
sudo zypper install intel-media-driver libva-utils
Note, for NVIDIA to work, please refer to the GPU section on Distrobox's GitHub page.
1.5. Prepare DBus
eval $(dbus-launch --sh-syntax)
At this point, if you set a bigger cursor size on the host system like me, you might want to change the cursor size in the container to match the one on your system as well. For example, the medium size (32) would be:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-size 32
The host's system reboot might be required for this to take effect.
2. Install Edge
2.1. Add the Official Edge Repo
sudo zypper ar -f --gpgcheck-allow-unsigned https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/edge/ edge-yum
Then, refresh all repos with:
sudo zypper refresh
Note, I use
-fto make the repo automatically refresh, and--gpgcheck-allow-unsignedto allow the unsigned repo and packages, the same with the official config.repo on Microsoft website.
2.2. Install Edge (finally 😂)
sudo zypper install microsoft-edge-stable
3. Export Edge from the Container
distrobox-export -a microsoft-edge-stable -ef "--enable-features=AcceleratedVideoDecodeLinuxZeroCopyGL,AcceleratedVideoDecodeLinuxGL --use-gl=angle --use-angle=gl --ozone-platform=wayland"
I use many flags as shown on above to enable native Wayland mode and VA-API video acceleration for Intel GPUs. Unlike other Chromium-based browser, you'll have to enable native Wayland through launch flags.
4. Edit the Startup WM Class in the Desktop File
You can use MenuLibre for this. Easy installation on the host system:
sudo zypper install menulibre gnome-icon-theme
Then, you can add microsoft-edge as the Startup WM Class, as shown in the screenshot below:
Note, you can use
Alt+F2thenlgto view any app's correct Startup WM Class value.If the icon of the browser doesn't show up, you can reboot the system. After that, the icon will show up without issues.
5. Check the Host's Keyring Entry
This is the most important step of all. On GNOME, we can use the Passwords and Keys app (Seahorse) to check whether the browser created a correct entry. If it doesn't create any entry, it means that all your data, which would be encrypted otherwise, will be stored in plain text!
In our case, if the encryption is in place, Edge will store its entry as Chromium Safe Storage, as shown in the screenshot below:
Note, not all container images could access the host's keyring in rootless mode, Ubuntu's container images for example.
6. Automatically Update the Browser
One important factor to make the browser as secure as it can be is to update it ASAP when a new version is released. To do this, we can use systemd's service and timer like this:
dbx-upgrade.service
[Unit]
Description=Upgrade all rootless Distrobox containers.
RequiresMountsFor=/run/user/1000/containers
[Service]
Type=exec
ExecStart=-bash -c "distrobox-upgrade --all"
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=60
TimeoutStopSec=5min
RemainAfterExit=yes
Save this in ~/.config/systemd/user/dbx-upgrade.service.
dbx-upgrade.timer
[Unit]
Description=Run distrobox-upgrade --all daily.
[Timer]
OnCalendar=daily
RandomizedDelaySec=5min
Persistent=true
[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target
Save this in ~/.config/systemd/user/dbx-upgrade.timer.
Enable the Timer
systemctl --user daemon-reload && systemctl --user enable dbx-upgrade.timer
Why Not Flatpak
There are many issues with all the Chromium-based browsers on Flathub. The showstoppers for me are Widevine and PWA supports.
- You need to open
filesystem=host-osto have Widevine support. I tested with Brave, see Brave Flatpak issue #357. Flatseal is the easiest way to do it. - Currently, on Wayland session, PWA icons doesn't work correctly, see Edge Flatpak issue #486.
Also, everyone must know that every Chromium-based browser available on Flathub uses zypak to circumvent Chromium's refined sandboxing. For a better or worse, security of zypak and Flatpak's sandboxing in general are still up for debating.
Lastly, Edge on Flathub is NOT maintained or affiliated by Microsoft. I am against using unverified software, unless it's maintained by your Linux distro, I don't think using unverified software in any form is a good idea, especially when security is the utmost important aspect of the app. Yes, your web browser is that kind of app. If you're not convinced, please see the recent incidents [1], [2] about fake Exodus wallet app for example.
I hope this helps! Bye 💨
Cover Photo by Microsoft Edge on Unsplash
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