How to Install Telegram on Fedora 36 Linux

Telegram is a free, cross-platform messaging app with end-to-end encryption. It’s famous for providing video calling and other missing features from Facebook or Twitter – one of its main attractions! The application also has no ties whatsoever between them (the big social media companies), meaning you can be sure your data won’t go unnoticed by anyone else besides whom it belongs too; this makes telegram more secure than ever before because there isn’t anything giving away how much information we share on our phones every day.

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install the Telegram client on Fedora 36 Linux using the command line terminal with two installation methods and some tips on maintaining Telegram into the future.

Update Fedora

Before you continue, your system is advised to ensure all existing packages are up to date to avoid system conflicts during the installation and good system maintenance.

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh -y

Install Telegram – DNF Method with RPM Fusion

The first option is to use the RPM fusion third-party repository. This is the recommended way to install Telegram for Fedora users by utilizing the DNF package manager. Execute the following commands to import the free and non-free repositories into your terminal.

Enable the Free Repository

sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

Enable the Nonfree Repository

sudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

Next, execute the following dnf install command.

sudo dnf install telegram -y

Optional – Enable RPM Fusion Testing

An alternative is to enable bleeding-edge updates to all packages you install from RPM Fusion, so be aware that things can get buggy on the odd occasion; worse can remove the application, disable testing, and revert to stable.

Enable the Free Testing Updates Repository

sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled rpmfusion-free-updates-testing

Enable the Non-Free Testing Updates Repository

sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled rpmfusion-nonfree-updates-testing

Install Telegram – Flatpak Method

The second option is to use the Flatpak package manager. Flatpak is installed with Fedora 36 unless you have removed it. This is another popular option similar to Snap but would be preferred since it comes natively installed.

First, if Flatpak has been removed, reinstall it using the following command.

sudo dnf install flatpak -y

Next, you need to enable Flatpack for Fedora using the following command in your terminal:

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

Now install Telegram using the following flatpak command:

flatpak install flathub org.telegram.desktop -y

If the above command does not work and you receive the “error: Unable to load summary from remote flathub: Can’t fetch summary from disabled remote ‘flathub’‘ use the following command.

flatpak remote-modify --enable flathub

This will fix the issue.

How to Launch Telegram

Now that you have the Telegram client installed, launching can be done in two ways.

In your terminal type:

telegram

If you would like to launch Telegram and use the terminal simultaneously, send it to the background with the & syntax added to the command.

telegram &

Alternatively, Flatpak users will need to launch using the command below from a terminal instance:

flatpak run org.telegram.desktop

However, this isn’t practical, and you would use the following path on your desktop to open the course.

Activities > Show Applications > Telegram.

Example:

Once you open Telegram, you will see the first default landing screen. From here, you can sign or create an account with either an email or your mobile number.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Telegram.

How to Update/Upgrade Telegram

For future updates for Telegram, run the standard dnf command update command. Ideally, desktop users can set up auto-updates and not need to use the terminal, and overall you should run a terminal update now and then to make sure everything is up to date.

sudo dnf update

When updates are available, it is the same process to upgrade.

sudo dnf upgrade

A better one is to use an all-in-one command, which is a new standard.

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

How to Remove (Uninstall) Telegram

Use one of the following commands to suit the original installation method for users who no longer require the application.

DNF Remove Method

sudo dnf autoremove telegram -y

Note, autoremove will also delete any unused packages from Telegram any other leftovers from previous applications. Most times, this is safe to do and should be done to keep your system from being bloated.

Use the following commands for users who may want to disable RPM Fusion.

Disable the Free Updates Repository

sudo dnf config-manager --set-disabled rpmfusion-free

Disable the Non-Free Updates Repository

sudo dnf config-manager --set-disabled rpmfusion-nonfree

For users curious to see if this works, a quick way is to use the dnf repo | grep command as follows.

dnf repolist | grep rpmfusion

Nothing should be returned, and if they are still present, you will see a printout of the repositories.

Flatpak Remove Method

flatpak remove  --delete-data org.telegram.desktop -y

Next, run the following command for any leftover clean-ups required, similar to the autoremove command described for the dnf remove example command.

flatpak remove --unused

How to Disable RPM Fusion Testing Updates

For users that enable testing RPM Fusion, you can disable it with the following commands.

Disable the Free Testing Updates Repository

sudo dnf config-manager --set-disabled rpmfusion-free-updates-testing

Disable the Non-Free Testing Updates Repository

sudo dnf config-manager --set-disabled rpmfusion-nonfree-updates-testing

Comments and Conclusion

In the tutorial, you have learned how to add the official Telegram client on your Fedora 36 desktop using DNF with RPM Fusion or the Flatpak third-party package manager.

Telegram is an excellent choice for those looking for an encrypted messaging client with more privacy than WhatsApp. It has a large user base, and its cloud storage capabilities make it a good choice for saving or downloading files. While there are some disadvantages to using Telegram, the pros outweigh them if you are looking for a more private communication experience.