This article goes over the steps to install Anbox on Linux Mint. Ever wondered how cool it would be to be able to run android applications on your Linux system? Well, Anbox helps you do exactly that.
Anbox is short for Android in a box and it is exactly what it sounds like! Anbox is a free and open-source environment that enables you to run Android applications on your Linux distribution.
It follows a container-based approach to run the android operating system on Linux.
Steps to Install Anbox on Linux Mint
Here’s a quick summary of the step to install Anbox on your Linux Mint:
- First, Install snapd
- Install the required kernel modules
- Install the Anbox package on Linux Mint
- Steps to uninstall Anbox from Mint
You can install Anbox on your system from the Snap Store. As of now, Snap is the only way to get Anbox. The organization does not officially support any other distribution method of Anbox at the moment.
In case you haven’t heard about Snaps, don’t worry. Snaps are just software packages that are simple to create and install.
1. Install Snap
Snap is available for the following releases of Mint :
- 18.2 (Sonya)
- 18.3 (Sylvia)
- 19 (Tara)
- 19.1 (Tessa)
- 20 (Ulyana)
To install Snap on Linux Mint 20, you need to remove /etc/apt/preferences.d/nosnap.pref first. The reason being, this file blocks the installation of snap.
This is done with the command :
sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/nosnap.pref
sudo apt update
To install snapd on your system use the apt command as shown below:
$ sudo apt install snapd
Alternatively, you can download it form the Software Manager application. Search for snapd and click Install.

2. Install Kernel Modules
Before installing Anbox, you need to install two kernel modules. This is necessary to support the mandatory kernel subsystems ashmem and binder for the Android container.
You can do this with the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:morphis/anbox-support
sudo apt update
sudo apt install linux-headers-generic anbox-modules-dkms
This will install anbox-modules-dkms package on your system.
After this, you need to manually load the kernel modules. This loading is a one-time thing. You can do this with the following commands:
sudo modprobe ashmem_linux
sudo modprobe binder_linux
This will add two new nodes in your system.
/dev/ashmen
/dev/binder
3. Install Anbox on Linux Mint
Now after installing Snaps and the necessary modules on your system, you can install Anbox on your system using :
sudo snap install --devmode --beta anbox

To update to a newer version use the command:
sudo snap refresh --beta --devmode anbox
To get information about the anbox snap use the command:
snap info anbox

4. Steps to Uninstall Anbox
If you need to uninstall Anbox, use the command :
$ snap remove anbox
After uninstalling anbox, you can also uninstall the kernel modules using :
$ sudo apt install ppa-purge
$ sudo ppa-purge ppa:morphis/anbox-support
Running these commands will successfully uninstall Anbox from your system.
That’s it!
In this tutorial, you saw how to install Anbox on your Linux Mint system. Do let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.
Please guide to install AnBox on Linux-Mint. After installing found two links 1. Anbox Application Manager and 2. Android Setting on my Mint Start screen but in both case if I start them a Starting screen pops-up and after 2-3 secs goes off. Not starting. Have followed all possible instructions but no wayout. Here the “snap info anbox” msg:
rudra@rudra-Satellite-C850:~$ snap info anbox
name: anbox
summary: Android in a Box
publisher: Simon Fels (morphis)
store-url: https://snapcraft.io/anbox
contact: https://anbox.io
license: unset
description: |
Runtime for Android applications which runs a full Android system
in a container using Linux namespaces (user, ipc, net, mount) to
separate the Android system fully from the host.
You can find further details in our documentation at
https://github.com/anbox/anbox/blob/master/README.md
commands:
– anbox
– anbox.android-settings
– anbox.appmgr
– anbox.collect-bug-info
– anbox.shell
services:
anbox.container-manager: simple, enabled, active
snap-id: Nr9K6UJaIOD8wHpDEQl16nabFFt9LLEQ
tracking: latest/edge
refresh-date: today at 12:40 IST
channels:
latest/stable: —
latest/candidate: —
latest/beta: 4-56c25f1 2020-01-02 (186) 391MB devmode
latest/edge: 4+gitrad377ff 2021-05-27 (213) 405MB devmode
installed: 4+gitrad377ff (213) 405MB devmode
rudra@rudra-Satellite-C850:~$
I’m very new to Linux, please guide me.
regards.
Nie można dalej działać bo w terminalu jest taki komunikat
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:morphis/anbox-support
Nie można dodać prywatnego archiwum pakietów: „’To PPA nie obsługuje focal’”
Linux Mint 20.1 Cinnamon
Cannot add PPA: ”This PPA does not support focal”
Doesn’t work with Mint 19.1: ERROR: could not insert ‘ashmem_linux’: Operation not permitted
doesn’t work at all for mint 20, because focal isn’t supported by that PPA.
when i try to install anbox iget this error. . what can i do?
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:morphis/anbox-support
Cannot add PPA: ”This PPA does not support focal”.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:morphis/anbox-support
Impossible d’ajouter le PPA : ”Ce PPA ne prend pas focal en charge”.
ERROR (dkms apport): kernel package linux-headers-5.4.0-45-generic is not supported
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 5.4.0-45-generic (x86_64)
From Mint 19.3
thanks i will try those free steps to install anbox