snap and flatpak in Linux CLI - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Managing Software with Snap and Flatpak

📖 Scenario: You are a system administrator who needs to manage software packages on a Linux system. You want to list installed applications and check for updates using two popular package systems: snap and flatpak.

🎯 Goal: Build a simple script that collects installed snap and flatpak applications, checks for available updates, and displays the results clearly.

📋 What You'll Learn

Use the snap command to list installed snap packages

Use the flatpak command to list installed flatpak applications

Create variables to store the lists of installed packages

Create variables to store the output of update checks for both snap and flatpak

Print the lists of installed packages and available updates

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

System administrators often need to manage software packages on Linux systems using different package managers like snap and flatpak. This script helps quickly check installed software and available updates.

💼 Career

Knowing how to automate package management tasks with scripting is valuable for Linux system administrators and DevOps engineers to maintain system security and software currency.

1

List Installed Snap and Flatpak Packages

Create two variables called snap_installed and flatpak_installed. Use the commands snap list and flatpak list respectively to store the lists of installed packages as strings.

Linux CLI

# Create variables snap_installed and flatpak_installed to store installed packages
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use command substitution with $(command) to store command output in variables.

2

Check for Available Updates

Create two variables called snap_updates and flatpak_updates. Use the commands snap refresh --list and flatpak update --assumeno respectively to check for available updates and store the output as strings.

Linux CLI

# Create variables snap_updates and flatpak_updates to store update check results
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use --list with snap refresh to see available updates without applying them.

Use --assumeno with flatpak update to simulate update check without installing.

3

Prepare Summary of Installed Packages and Updates

Create a variable called summary that combines the installed packages and update information for both snap and flatpak. Format it as a multi-line string with clear section headers: Installed Snap Packages:, Installed Flatpak Applications:, Available Snap Updates:, and Available Flatpak Updates:. Use newline characters \n to separate sections.

Linux CLI

# Create a summary variable combining all information with headers
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use double quotes to allow variable expansion and \n for new lines inside the string.

4

Display the Summary

Use the echo command to print the summary variable to the terminal.

Linux CLI

# Print the summary variable
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use echo "$summary" to print the multi-line string with all information.