How to set up Appium on Linux
Appium is an open source automation framework to be used for the automation of native and hybrid mobile applications.
On Linux we install Appium using command line. There are a few steps to setting up Appium.
1- Install dependencies
In order to install dependencies for Appium, we need to run the following command
sudo apt-get install build-essential \
curl git m4 ruby texinfo libbz2-dev \
libcurl4-openssl-dev libexpat-dev libncurses-dev zlib1g-dev
2- Install Linuxbrew
We need Node js to install Appium, so first we have to install Linuxbrew
sh -c “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Linuxbrew/install/master/install.sh)"
3- Export the path variables
Just like in Windows, we have to set up path variables in Linux as well. Use the following:
vim ~/.bashrc
export PATH=”/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin:$PATH”
export MANPATH=”/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/man:$MANPATH”
export INFOPATH=”/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/info:$INFOPATH”
source ~.bashrc
Press shift + z to save and exit after adding this to the bashrc file.
4- Install gcc
Use linuxbrew to install gcc
brew install gcc
5- Install Node
brew update
brew install node
brew link node
Now we can use npm to install Appium
6- Install Appium
npm install -g appium
npm install wd
7- Run Appium
Type appium on terminal and click enter.
Appium will be launched.
8- Set path variables
vim ~/.bashrc
export ANDROID_HOME=~/Android/Sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/tools
export PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin
source ~/.bashrc
Click shift +z to save.
At this point, all the necessary steps have been carried out.
Since we execute by terminal, you will not be able to find Appium in applications.
However, in your Downloads there will be a file with a name such as “Appium-linux-1.18.0–1.AppImage” having .AppImage extension.
How to run .AppImage file
1- Right-click on the AppImage and click the ‘Properties’ entry
2- Switch to the Permissions tab
3- Click the ‘Allow executing file as program’ checkbox
4- Close the dialog
5- Double-click on the AppImage file to run
Now you can launch the emulator, enter your desired capabilities in Appium, and start the session.
