How to Install Google Chrome on RHEL 8

Google Chrome is the most popular on Desktop computers and arguably on smartphones and tablets so requests on how to install it on Red Hat 8 Linux doesn’t come as a surprise at all – Google has a rich features list that satisfies both average and tech-savvy users. You can learn more about the web browser’s features by visiting the page at Google’s Chrome Features.

RHEL 8 ships with the also much-loved Firefox browser by default but it is possible to easily get the latest Google Chrome version up and running as you would on any other distro using the Yum package manager tool; just follow the steps below.

Note: Google Chrome’s support for 32-bit Linux distros ended in March 2016 and it no longer supports RHEL 6.X so update your distro to version 8 (my recommendation) before going forward. Also, go over the steps to make sure you understand the process before proceeding.

Enable Google YUM Repository

Create a file called /etc/yum.repos.d/google-chrome.repo with your favorite text editor and add the following lines of code to it.

[google-chrome]
name=google-chrome
baseurl=http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/rpm/stable/$basearch
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub

Install Google Chrome on RHEL 8

Using yum command to install the browser ensures that it pulls all its dependencies to your system.

First, run the following command to confirm that you’re getting the latest Google Chrome version:

# yum info google-chrome-stable
Sample Output
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
google-chrome                                                                                                                                                 1.5 kB/s | 3.3 kB     00:02    
Available Packages
Name         : google-chrome-stable
Version      : 75.0.3770.80
Release      : 1
Arch         : x86_64
Size         : 56 M
Source       : google-chrome-stable-75.0.3770.80-1.src.rpm
Repo         : google-chrome
Summary      : Google Chrome
URL          : https://chrome.google.com/
License      : Multiple, see https://chrome.google.com/
Description  : The web browser from Google
             : 
             : Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.

From the output above, we clearly see that latest version of Google Chrome 75 is available from repository. So, let’s install it using yum command as shown below, which will automatically install all required dependencies.

# yum install google-chrome-stable
Sample Output
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Last metadata expiration check: 0:05:23 ago on Thursday 23 May 2019 11:11:17 AM UTC.
Dependencies resolved.
========================================================================================================================
 Package                            Arch                Version                     Repository                  Size
========================================================================================================================
Installing:
 google-chrome-stable               x86_64              75.0.3770.80-1              google-chrome               56 M
Installing dependencies:
 at                                 x86_64              3.1.20-11.el8               LocalRepo_AppStream         81 k
 bc                                 x86_64              1.07.1-5.el8                LocalRepo_AppStream         129 k
 cups-client                        x86_64              1:2.2.6-25.el8              LocalRepo_AppStream         167 k
 ed                                 x86_64              1.14.2-4.el8                LocalRepo_AppStream         82 k
 libX11-xcb                         x86_64              1.6.7-1.el8                 LocalRepo_AppStream         14 k
 libXScrnSaver                      x86_64              1.2.3-1.el8                 LocalRepo_AppStream         31 k
 libappindicator-gtk3               x86_64              12.10.0-19.el8              LocalRepo_AppStream         43 k
 libdbusmenu                        x86_64              16.04.0-12.el8              LocalRepo_AppStream         140 k
 libdbusmenu-gtk3                   x86_64              16.04.0-12.el8              LocalRepo_AppStream         41 k
 liberation-fonts                   noarch              1:2.00.3-4.el8              LocalRepo_AppStream         19 k
 liberation-fonts-common            noarch              1:2.00.3-4.el8              LocalRepo_AppStream         26 k
 liberation-mono-fonts              noarch              1:2.00.3-4.el8              LocalRepo_AppStream         504 k
 liberation-sans-fonts              noarch              1:2.00.3-4.el8              LocalRepo_AppStream         609 k
 liberation-serif-fonts             noarch              1:2.00.3-4.el8              LocalRepo_AppStream         607 k
 libindicator-gtk3                  x86_64              12.10.1-14.el8              LocalRepo_AppStream         70 k
 mailx                              x86_64              12.5-29.el8                 LocalRepo_AppStream         257 k
 psmisc                             x86_64              23.1-3.el8                  LocalRepo_AppStream         150 k
 redhat-lsb-core                    x86_64              4.1-47.el8                  LocalRepo_AppStream         45 k
 redhat-lsb-submod-security         x86_64              4.1-47.el8                  LocalRepo_AppStream         22 k
 spax                               x86_64              1.5.3-13.el8                LocalRepo_AppStream         217 k
 time                               x86_64              1.9-3.el8                   LocalRepo_AppStream         54 k

Transaction Summary
========================================================================================================================
Install  22 Packages

Total size: 60 M
Total download size: 56 M
Installed size: 206 M
Is this ok [y/N]: 

Updating Google Chrome on RHEL 8

Updating the Google Chrome browser on RHEL 8, is as simple as running the following command.

# yum update google-chrome-stable
Sample Output
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
google-chrome                      1.2 kB/s | 1.3 kB     00:01    
Dependencies resolved.
Nothing to do.
Complete!

Starting Google Chrome

Make sure that you start Google Chrome as a normal user. You don’t need root privileges here:

# google-chrome &
Running Google Chrome in RHEL 8
Running Google Chrome in RHEL 8

Voila! Easy, right? The same commands will work on Fedora and its derivatives as well as on RHEL/CentOS 7.x so you have no compatibility issues to worry about.

I’m sure you’ll fancy browsing with Google Chrome so feel free to share your experience with us in the comments section.

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Martins D. Okoi
Martins Divine Okoi is a graduate of Computer Science with a passion for Linux and the Open Source community. He works as a Graphic Designer, Web Developer, and programmer.

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3 Comments

Leave a Reply
  1. I followed all the steps (Thanks for this) but when I give a command.

    $ google-chrome &   
    

    I am getting an error related to:

     --no-sandbox is not supported.
    

    and if I type google-chrome --no-sandbox then google Chrome is able to open but getting error/warning in the browser.

    Please help

    Reply

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