Zoom is a cloud-based app using which you can collaborate with others through video meetings, webinars, and group calls. You can use Zoom on the web, but it’s better to download its desktop client for your Linux computer. It has more features and is faster to access. This article will show you the installation procedure of Zoom on Arch Linux.

Contents:

• How to Download and Install Zoom on Arch Linux?
• Install Zoom Using TAR File (Recommended)
• Install Zoom Using the AUR Package
• Directly Install Zoom Using an AUR Helper (Yay)
• Install Zoom Using Flatpak
• Install Zoom Using Software Manager
• Conclusion

How to Download and Install Zoom on Arch Linux?

Installing Zoom on Arch Linux can be done in different ways, you can either directly download the TAR file or install the Zoom AUR package using any AUR helpers. However, if you don’t want to play with the terminal, then you can use the GUI-based software managers. Such as in my system I have a GNOME desktop environment installed, so you can use the GNOME software manager.

We will now proceed to give a detailed explanation of each method.

1. Install Zoom Using TAR File (Recommended)

To install Zoom using a TAR file on Arch Linux, you need to download the Zoom package from the Zoom Download Center and then use the Pacman command to install it. You can also directly install Zoom from the TAR file using the Software Installer.

We recommend you use this method, the TAR file you download is the most updated and stable one. Also, you don’t have to rely on any external packages. You can easily download Zoom from its official website.

1.1. Using Terminal

To install Zoom using its TAR file through the terminal, first download the Zoom TAR file.

Visit the Zoom Download Center, select Arch Linux distro from the dropdown menu, and click Download.

Now open the download directory in the console. You can either right-click and select the Open in Console option or use the cd command to navigate to your download directory:

cd Downloads

List the download directory content using the ls command. The file name should be something like zoom_x86_64.pkg.tar.xz.

To install Zoom using its TAR file, use the pacman command followed by the Zoom TAR file name:

sudo pacman -U zoom_x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

Pacman will also download and install the required dependencies for Zoom.

You can now launch Zoom by typing zoom in the terminal.

Zoom can also be started from the application menu.

Removing Zoom Using Pacman Command

To remove the Zoom package installed using the TAR file, run the following command:

sudo pacman -R zoom

1.2. Using Software Installer

Another way to install Zoom through its TAR file is by using the software installer. For that, first download the TAR file. After that, select the TAR file and select Open With Software Installer option.

A summary of all the packages that are going to be installed will be prompted. Select Apply to continue.

Zoom installation will begin, once completed Close the installer.

Zoom video communication is ready to use.

2. Install Zoom Using the AUR Package

To install Zoom using the AUR package, first, you install some dependencies git and base-devel. After that, clone the Zoom AUR repository and install the Zoom meeting using the makepkg command.

Follow the commands to get the Zoom AUR package on your system:

1. First, make sure that you have git and base-devel installed on your system. Or install them using the following command:

sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel git

2. Clone the Zoom AUR repository using the git clone command:

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/zoom.git ~/zoom

The git clone command creates a copy of a specific repository or branch within a repository. In this case, the command will create a copy of the Zoom repository from the URL and place it in the directory ~/zoom. The ~ symbol is for the home directory.

3. Change to the zoom directory using the cd command. After that, build and install the package using the makepkg command.

cd ~/zoom

makepkg -si

The makepkg command will download and validate the source files specified in the PKGBUILD file. It also checks and installs the dependencies required for building the package.

The Zoom AUR package is successfully installed on your Arch system. To launch Zoom, type the zoom command in the terminal.

Removing the Zoom AUR Package

To remove Zoom installed during the AUR package, simply use the pacman command with the -Rs flag:

sudo pacman -Rs zoom

To delete the Zoom folder from your app data, run:

rm -rf ~/zoom

This will remove the Zoom files that you cloned from the git repository.

If you want, you can also remove the base development tools and git packages that you installed:

sudo pacman -Rs base-devel git

This will free up some disk space. However, it’s not recommended, as you will need these dependencies in the future for other installations of AUR packages.

3. Directly Install Zoom Using an AUR Helper (Yay)

You can also use an AUR helper program like Yay, Paru, Trizen, and Pamac to install Zoom from the AUR more easily. An AUR helper is a tool that can automate the AUR package installation. You can search and resolve dependencies between AUR packages and install them automatically. You can also retrieve and build AUR packages with a single command.

Here I am going to use the Yay AUR helper. It is one of the widely used AUR helpers.

To directly install the Zoom AUR package, first setup Yay on your Arch system:

pacman -S --needed git base-devel

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git

cd yay

makepkg -si

To install the Zoom AUR package directly using the Yay, run the following command in consoles:

yay -S zoom

This command will use Yay to search and install Zoom from the AUR. Yay has the same syntax as Pacman.

Zoom is ready to use on your Arch system. Run it either through the terminal or the software center.

Removing Zoom Installed Using Yay

To remove Zoom using YAY, run:

yay -Rns zoom

The above command will remove the Zoom package and its dependencies not required by any other installed package. It will also delete the configuration files associated with the package.

4. Install Zoom Using Flatpak

To install Zoom using Flatpak on Arch Linux, first install the Flatpak on your system. To install Flatpak, you can use the Pacman command. After that, you can install Zoom as a Flatpak through the Flathub repository.

First, install Flatpak using the default package manager pacman:

sudo pacman -S flatpak

Then, install Zoom using the flatpak command:

sudo flatpak install zoom

You should reboot your system after installing Flatpak.

After installation, you can run Zoom using the command:

flatpak run us.zoom.Zoom

You can also launch it from the application menu by searching for Zoom.

Remove the Zoom Meeting Flatpak Package

To remove the Zoom meeting installed using Flatpak, run the command:

flatpak uninstall us.zoom.Zoom

To remove any unused runtime libraries that Zoom may have installed, you can run:

flatpak uninstall --unused

Another way to remove the flatpak Zoom Meeting package is to use the software center. I have a GNOME desktop environment with a GNOME software manager that installs applications from Flathub. Therefore, I can directly remove Zoom by searching for it in the installed applications section.

5. Install Zoom Using Software Manager

If you’re a GUI kind of person and prefer the graphical method over the terminal one, then you can also install Zoom Meeting using the software center on your Arch Linux system. The software center you are using depends upon the desktop environment you have.

For example, I have GNOME installed on my Arch Linux system, so I can use its software center to manage applications. Similarly, we can also use this to install Zoom on our system.

First, open the Software Centre from the application menu.

Click the search icon and type Zoom.

Click on the Install button.

Zoom is successfully installed using the software center. Simply Click Open to launch Zoom.

Uninstall Zoom Using the Software Centre

You can easily uninstall or remove Zoom from your system. To do this, click the Delete button.

Confirm whether you completely want to remove the Zoom or keep its settings for future installation.

Once done, Zoom will be removed from your system.

Conclusion

To sum it up, installing Zoom on Arch Linux is easy, and you’ve multiple choices to do that. You can use a direct method with the TAR file to install Zoom or download it through the AUR Repository. To download the AUR package of Zoom, you can also use any AUR helper. These AUR helpers can make the installation process smoother.

However, if you prefer GUI methods, you can get Zoom directly using the software center. The Software Centre depends upon the desktop environment you have on your system. Of all these methods, the TAR file method is recommended. This installation process will give you the most updated and stable Zoom Meeting package on your system.