How to Install Postman on Ubuntu 20.04

API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface, which is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other.

Each time you use an app like Facebook, send an instant message, or check the weather on your phone, you’re using an API.

Postman is an API ((Application Programming Interface)) platform for building, modify and using APIs. Almost any functionality that could be needed by any developer is encapsulated in this tool.

Postman simplifies each step of the API lifecycle and streamlines collaboration so you can create better APIs faster.

It is used by over 5 million developers every month to make their API development easy and simple.

It has the ability to make various types of HTTP requests(GET, POST, PUT, PATCH), saving environments for later use, converting the API to code for various languages(like JavaScript, Python).

Postman is available as a native app (built on Electron) for all major operating systems, including macOS, Linux, and Windows.

It also started as a Chrome browser extension and quickly became one of the most widely used API tools by developers all over the world.

Key Features of Postman:

Everyone is familiar with Postman as being a helpful tool for testing APIs. But people are often surprised when they discover the Postman platform’s true depth and wide breadth of capabilities beyond testing.

Here are few Postman features everyone should know.

• API Testing
• Data Security
• Orchestration
• Scalability
• App Integration
• Logs/Documentation
• API Monitoring
• Monetization
• Gateway
• Design Management
• Access Control
• Visibility

This article explains How to Install Postman on Ubuntu 20.04.

Installing Postman as a Snap Package

The easiest way is to install Postman on Ubuntu 20.04 is by using the snap packaging system.

A snap package is a type of universal Linux package that you can enjoy irrespective of the distro. Its an self-contained software packages that include the binary all dependencies needed to run the application.

All you need is the snap service pre-configured, In the case of Ubuntu 20.04, it comes with snap pre-installed.

If snapd package is not already installed then you can install it by running following command.

$ sudo apt install snapd

Note: Snap packages can be installed from either the command-line or via the Ubuntu Software application.

This is actually the Snap version of the Postman. It can be used on any Linux distribution that has Snap support.

Open your terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type the following command to install the Postman package.

$ sudo snap install postman

On successfull installation, you will get the following output.

Output:
postman 8.12.4 from Postman, Inc. (postman-inc✓) installed

That’s It. Now you can open the Postman application with the help of Activities search bar.

If you are not comfortable with the command line, open Ubuntu Software, search for “Postman” and install the application.

Starting Postman

In the Activities search bar type “Postman” and click on the icon to launch the application.

When you start Postman for the first time, a window like the following will appear asking you to log in or create a new account.

Since you’ve just installed the application, you’re either going to create an account or skip the sign-in process and try out the application first.

We’d suggest you create an account, to organize your work in Workspaces, create backups, and sync your data across multiple devices.

You can create account quickly with the help of Google Sign up.

Postman user interface:

The Postman Learning Center is a good starting point for learning how to create Postman workspaces, collections, environments, and more.

Learn the Postman fundamentals in this video course for beginners. Send and authorize a request, write test scripts, and chain requests together.

How to Uninstall Postman from Ubuntu 20.04

For some reason, If you want to uninstall Postman application, type the following command.

$ sudo snap remove postman

Conclusion

I hope that now you have a good understanding of How to Install Postman on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa.

If anyone does have any questions about what we covered in this guide then feel free to ask in the comment section below and I will do my best to answer those.