Opera web browser, which is also based on the open source Chromium engine as Google Chrome can easily be installed on Ubuntu. It is one of the popular cross-platform web browser in use today with support for Google Chrome extensions, built-in VPN, Ad blocker and more.
The official Opera browser is not an open source browser and you won’t see it in Ubuntu default repositories.
Google Chrome, Opera and others that based on the open source Chromium engine support similar browsing experiences and functions and may use extensions from the official Google Chrome store.
However, each of these browser may provide different features and capabilities that are sometimes unique and reflect the developer’s views other than Google.
To learn how to install the official Opera web browser on Ubuntu, the steps below should be a good place to start.
This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install Opera browser on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04 desktops.
Step 1: Download and Install Opera
Like Windows , Mac OS X and others, you can simply download and install Opera from its download page. You’ll need to use Firefox or another browser to get there and download Opera installer package.
When you’re at Open’s download page, click the Download button, the downloaded will automatically download the edition for (Debian/Ubuntu – 64-bit)
Click the Accept and Install button. When prompt, choose to save the file to your computer. This will automatically save into your ~/Downloads folder of your home directory.
Next, browse to your ~/Downloads folder. using Ubuntu File explorer. this is the default location if you don’t choose where to save downloaded packages.
Step 2: Install Opera Web Browser
In the Download folder, right-click Opera installer and select Open With Software Install.
This should open Ubuntu Software apps to install Opera. When it does, click Install
After clicking Install. you will be prompted to type your password and authenticate. Confirm your password and continue.
Installing Opera via the Command line
The same actions above can be done using the command line console. To download and install Opera via Ubuntu command line, open your terminal either by using the Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by clicking on the terminal icon.
Then run the commands below to add Opera’s official GPG key to Ubuntu. The imported GPG key is there to validate packages from Opera’s repository.
wget -qO- | sudo apt-key add -
After adding the GPG key above, run the commands below to add Opera’s official repository for Ubuntu.
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=i386,amd64] stable non-free"
When you’re done adding the GPG key and repository above, run the commands below to install Opera.
sudo apt update sudo apt install opera-stable
Wait for the installation to complete. During the installation, you will be prompted whether you want a new repository file to be created. Select No since we already have Opera’s repository added above.
When the installation is complete, go to the Activities Overview, then search for Opera.
Launch Opera. you can then sign to sync and bring over your passwords, extensions and other data.
This is how one installs Opera web browser on Ubuntu. While installing Opera, if you didn’t create a file as noted above to prevent Opera from creating a repository file, a new file was created at /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera-stable.list
You open it to view its content.
cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera-stable.list
This is Opera official repository:
# This file makes sure that Opera Browser is kept up-to-date # as part of regular system upgrades deb stable non-free #Opera Browser (final releases)
Congratulations! you have learned how to install the official Opera web browser on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04
You may also like the post below:
