How to Install Microsoft Edge Browser on openSUSE Leap 15

openSUSE users currently, by default, are only limited to the Firefox Internet Browser. However, many alternatives can be installed. Microsoft Edge is one alternative that has been in development for over a year and has been getting quite a lot of good reviews amongst many Linux distribution communities and maybe an alternative compared to just switching to Google Chrome.

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install Microsoft Edge on openSUSE 15 Leap.

Prerequisites

• Recommended OS: openSUSE Leap – 15.x.
• User account: A user account with sudo or root access.
• Required Packages: wget

Update Operating System

Update your openSUSE operating system to make sure all existing packages are up to date:

sudo zypper refresh

Once refreshed, run the update command.

sudo zypper update

The tutorial will be using the sudo command and assuming you have sudo status.

To verify sudo status on your account:

sudo whoami

Example output showing sudo status:

[joshua@opensuse ~]$ sudo whoami
root

To set up an existing or new sudo account, visit our tutorial on adding a User to Sudoers on openSUSE.

To use the root account, use the following command with the root password to log in.

su

The tutorial will use the terminal for installation found in  Activities> Show Applications > Terminal.

Example:

Create & Import Microsoft Edge Repository

By default, Microsoft Edge does not come included in the openSUSE repositories. However, you can quickly import the official repository on your system with the following method.

First, import the Edge repository using the following command.

sudo zypper ar https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/edge edge

Next, import the GPG to verify the authenticity of the package.

sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

Install Microsoft Edge Browser on openSUSE

With the source repository sorted, you must refresh your zypper package manager sources list to reflect the new addition before the Edge installation. To do this, run the following command in your terminal:

sudo zypper refresh

During the refresh, you will know if the repositories were successfully imported with the following output:

Retrieving repository 'edge' metadata ....................................[done]
Building repository 'edge' cache .........................................[done]

Now install Edge with the following command:

sudo zypper install microsoft-edge-stable

Example output:

Type “Y,” then press the “ENTER KEY” to proceed and complete the installation.

To confirm the installation, you can use the verify version command as follows:

microsoft-edge-stable --version

Example output:

Microsoft Edge 95.0.1020.53 

Optional. Install Microsoft Edge Browser Beta or Dev Version

Alternatively, you can install Microsoft Edge Brower beta or dev (nightly) build if you have downloaded the repositories. These two versions are not recommended for daily use, especially not on a main desktop or production server. However, you can install alternative versions for those who want to live on the edge.

WARNING – THESE VERSIONS CAN POTENTIALLY HAVE SECURITY FLAWS WHILE IN TESTING.

DO NOT USE THESE IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD THE RISK.

To install Microsoft Edge Browser Beta:

sudo zypper install microsoft-edge-beta

To install Microsoft Edge Browser Dev (Nightly):

sudo zypper install microsoft-edge-dev

Note, these do not replace your stable version, and they are installed separately.

Next, verify the installation of beta or unstable, use the following command.

To verify Microsoft Edge Browser Beta:

microsoft-edge-beta --version

Example output:

Microsoft Edge 96.0.1054.13 beta

To verify Microsoft Edge Browser Dev (Nightly):

microsoft-edge-dev --version

Example output:

Microsoft Edge 97.0.1069.0 dev

How to Launch Microsoft Edge Browser

To run Microsoft Edge, you can use the terminal command in your console:

microsoft-edge

Alternatively, run microsoft-edge command in the background to free up the terminal:

microsoft-edge &

However, this isn’t practical, and you would use the following path on your desktop to open with the path: Activities > Show Applications > Microsoft Edge. If you cannot find it, use the search function in the Applications menu.

Example:

The first time you open Microsoft Edge, you will be greeted by the following:

Example:

Untick or leave the Microsoft improvement tracking, then click the OK button to continue.

Afterward, you will find three options Inspiration, Informational or Focused. Selecting each tab will preview what the view will look like in your Edge browser background.

Choose one and click the confirm button.

Example using Focused for simple UI:

Lastly, the optional sign-in and sync across multiple devices. Unless you need this, click Continue without signing in, as most users would do by clicking the X in the top right-hand corner of the pop-up screen.

Example:

Now you will see The Microsoft Edge Internet Browser finally as per below:

Congratulations, you have installed Microsoft Edge.

How to Update Microsoft Edge Browser

To update Microsoft Edge Internet Browser, run the zypper refresh & update commands in your terminal as you would check your entire system for any updates.

sudo zypper refresh

Next, run the following command.

sudo zypper update

How to Remove (Uninstall) Microsoft Edge Browser

To remove Edge, execute the following terminal command:

sudo zypper remove microsoft-edge-stable

Example output:

Type “Y,” then press the “ENTER KEY” to proceed with the uninstall.

Note, unused dependencies will also be removed.

If you have the beta or unstable builds installed.

To remove Microsoft Edge Beta:

sudo zypper remove microsoft-edge-beta

To remove Microsoft Edge Dev:

sudo zypper remove microsoft-edge-stable-dev

Comments and Conclusion

In the tutorial, you have learned how to import the zypper binary package and the GPG key to install Microsoft Edge.

Overall, Microsoft Edge is a solid option. However, many open-source and FOSS fans will not have a bar of it due to using a Windows product in a historical sense on Linux, and the long history of Microsoft vs. Linux, some of it is justifiable truly it is, some of it is just political rubbish.

However, ranking Edge for performance and speed lands this amongst the top Internet Browser, and it truly does work well on Linux. If you can get over the fact, Microsoft owns it.