[snap] chromium-browser fails to install the snap because snapd is not running

[ralphb]

Since I need Chrome, I installed chromium-browser and snapd in aptitude.

But Chrome didn't appear in the menu, and launching it from the console yields

cassiopeia ~ > chromium-browser

Command '/usr/bin/chromium-browser' requires the chromium snap to be installed.
Please install it with:

snap install chromium

cassiopeia ~ > snap install chromium
error: cannot communicate with server: Post http://localhost/v2/snaps/chromium: dial unix /run/snapd.socket: connect: no such file or directory

I would have thought that chromium-browser does install the chromium snap. So what does it mean, and how do I fix it?

[Olivier Tilloy (osomon)]

Starting with Ubuntu 20.04, chromium-browser indeed is a transitional package that installs the chromium snap. But for some reason snapd doesn't appear to be running on your system.

Can you share the output of the following commands?

    systemctl status snapd.service

    systemctl start snapd.service

[ralphb (dev-endlos)]

Ah, I see.

cassiopeia:~# systemctl status snapd.service
● snapd.service
     Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit snapd.service is masked.)
     Active: inactive (dead)
TriggeredBy: ● snapd.socket

Is there something relevant in /etc that is _not_ provided by snapd package?

[Olivier Tilloy (osomon)]

What is the output of `systemctl start snapd.service` ?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for chromium-browser (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]