Flatpak is a powerful and flexible package management system that allows you to run applications in isolated environments. This ensures that the applications are safe and do not interfere with other software on your system. In this detailed guide, we will walk you through the steps to install Flatpak Package Manager on Ubuntu 22.04. This guide is designed to be easy to understand, even for newcomers, with real examples and command lines for every step.

Step 1: Initiating Instance Creation

• To create a new instance, click on the blue “Create” button located in the top-right corner of the page.

• Selecting Instance Type
• You’ll be presented with options to create different types of resources. Click on “Add New Instance” to begin setting up a new virtual machine.

Step 2: Choosing a Location

• On the “Create New Instance” page, you’ll see a list of available locations. Select your preferred data center location. In this example, “Amsterdam, Netherlands” is highlighted.

Step 3: Selecting a Plan

• Choose a plan that fits your needs. The screenshot shows various options ranging from $3.5 to $22 per month, with different specifications for CPU, memory, storage, and bandwidth.

• Choosing an Operating System
• Scroll down to the “Choose an image” section. You can select from various distributions such as AlmaLinux, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, FreeBSD, RockyLinux, Ubuntu, Windows, and Windows Server. In this case, Ubuntu 22.04 is selected.

Step 4: Authentication Method

Choose between SSH keys (recommended for better security) or a password for root access. The password option is selected in the image.

To complete the process, you would click the “Create Instance” button at the bottom of the page, which is not visible in the provided screenshots.

Step 5: Connecting to Your Instance

• Retrieve SSH Credentials:

• Note the IP address of your newly created instance from the Shape.host dashboard.

• Connect via SSH:

• Open a terminal on your local machine.
• Use the following command to connect to your instance:
  ssh root@your_instance_ip
• Replace your_instance_ip with the actual IP address of your instance.
  

Before we begin, ensure you have:

1. A fresh installation of Ubuntu 22.04.
2. Root access to the server or your local machine.

Step 6: Update Your System

First, update your package lists to ensure you have the latest versions of your installed packages.

apt update && apt upgrade -y

Step 7: Install Flatpak

Flatpak is not installed by default on Ubuntu, but it can be easily added from the default Ubuntu repositories.

apt install flatpak -y

Step 8: Add the Flathub Repository

Flatpak requires a repository from where it can fetch applications. The most commonly used repository is Flathub. Add the Flathub repository by running the following command:

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

Step 9: Configure XDG_DATA_DIRS Environment Variable

To ensure Flatpak applications appear correctly on your desktop, you need to add Flatpak paths to the XDG_DATA_DIRS environment variable.

Edit your .profile file:

nano ~/.profile

Add the following lines to the end of the file:

# Add Flatpak paths
if [ -z "${XDG_DATA_DIRS}" ]; then
    XDG_DATA_DIRS="/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share"
else
    XDG_DATA_DIRS="/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:${XDG_DATA_DIRS}"
fi
export XDG_DATA_DIRS

Save and close the file (Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X).

Apply the changes:

source ~/.profile

Verify that the XDG_DATA_DIRS environment variable has been updated:

echo $XDG_DATA_DIRS

You should see something like this:

/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share

Step 10: Install Flatpak Plugin for GNOME Software (Optional)

To integrate Flatpak with the GNOME Software application, you need to install an additional plugin. This is particularly useful if you prefer using a graphical interface to manage your Flatpak applications.

apt install gnome-software-plugin-flatpak -y

After installing the plugin, you may need to restart your system or log out and back in to make sure the changes take effect.

Step 11: Using Flatpak

Now that Flatpak is installed and configured, you can start using it to install applications. Here are some basic commands to help you get started.

Searching for Applications

To search for an application, use the following command:

flatpak search vlc

Replace vlc with the name of the application you are looking for.

Installing an Application

To install an application, use the following command:

flatpak install flathub org.videolan.VLC

Replace org.videolan.VLC with the application ID you want to install.

Running an Application

Once installed, you can run the application using:

flatpak run org.videolan.VLC

Updating Applications

To update all your Flatpak applications to the latest version, use:

flatpak update

Uninstalling an Application

If you need to remove an application, use the following command:

flatpak uninstall org.videolan.VLC

Listing Installed Applications

To see a list of all installed Flatpak applications, use:

flatpak list

Step 12: Managing Flatpak Permissions

Flatpak allows you to manage permissions for each application. For example, to see the permissions of an installed application, use:

flatpak info --show-permissions org.videolan.VLC

To change the permissions of an application, you can use the flatpak override command. For instance, to grant an application access to all user files, you would run:

flatpak override org.videolan.VLC --filesystem=home

Flatpak has extensive documentation and a helpful community. If you need more information or run into any issues, you can visit the official Flatpak website or the Flathub repository.

If you’re looking for reliable and scalable hosting solutions, consider using Shape.host’s Cloud VPS services. They offer high-performance, fully managed cloud servers that ensure your applications run smoothly and efficiently. Check out Shape.host for more information on their offerings and how they can support your development needs.