PHPStorm is a popular integrated development environment (IDE) for the PHP programming language developed by JetBrains. The program gained such popularity due to its user-friendly interface, numerous built-in features, and automatic code refactoring capabilities that are not available in other IDEs.
To use the program, you need to purchase a license, but it still has a 30-day trial period. In this article, we will look at how to install PHPStorm in Ubuntu 24.04 or 24.10 using Jetbrains ToolBox and Snap.
Table of Contents
- Installing PHPStorm in Ubuntu 24.04 and 24.10
- PHPStorm Configuration
- How to Uninstall PHPStorm
- Conclusions
Installing PHPStorm in Ubuntu 24.04 and 24.10
First of all, the program can be installed from AppCenter or in the terminal using Snap. This package is officially released by JetBrains and therefore can be considered the recommended installation method in Ubuntu. Here you can choose the desired version of the program using channels. However, isolation is disabled for the package (classic confinement is used), which means the program will have full access to the system.
And the second option is Jetbrains Toolbox, which allows you to select the desired version of PHPStorm. The program will automatically monitor updates and manage all JetBrains product licenses, all through a graphical interface.
1. AppCenter
To install PHPStorm using AppCenter, open the application and type PHPStorm in the search:
After that, click on the found program to go to its page. If you want to install the latest stable version offered by developers, simply click the Install button:
If you need one of the previous versions, you can select one from the available snap channels list, and then click Install:
After installation, the program can be launched from the main menu.
2. Snap
The same can be done in the terminal. To see the exact package name, execute the search command:
snap search phpstorm
To install the latest stable version, execute the following command:
snap install phpstorm --classic
The --classic option is required here because this is a package with disabled isolation. If you want one of the previous versions, you can view the list of available channels using the info command:
snap info phpstorm
To install a package from a specific channel, simply pass the --channel option with the channel name:
snap install phpstorm --channel=2023.3/stable --classic
After that, you will need to go through the standard license activation procedure and project creation. Everything else requires no additional configuration. If you need any SDKs, you just need to install them in the system, and they will become available for PHPStorm.
3. JetBrains Toolbox
The JetBrains Toolbox installer can be downloaded from the official website. It's an AppImage package, so you'll need to install the libfuse2 library to run it:
sudo apt install libfuse2t64
Next, unpack the downloaded tar.gz archive using the command:
tar -xvzf jetbrains-toolbox-2.5.4.38621.tar.gz
Of course, you need to adjust the filename according to the version of the program you downloaded. In the directory with the unpacked program, you will find an AppImage file that needs to be executed to install the program:
./jetbrains-toolbox-2.5.4.38621/jetbrains-toolbox
The program will be installed in the ~/.local/share/JetBrains/Toolbox directory and will open a window in the upper right corner. In the first window, you need to check the box next to "Agree to the JetBrains User Agreement" to accept the license and click the Start button:
Next, a list of applications that can be installed using Toolbox will open, select PHPStorm. Again, you can install the latest version by clicking Install:
Or select the required version by choosing Available Versions in the context menu:
After installation, the program will appear in the Installed section and can be launched from there or from the main menu.
JetBrains ToolBox adds itself to autostart, so the program will always run and its icon will be located in the system tray. By default, programs will be installed in the home folder, specifically in ~/.local/share/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps.
PHPStorm Configuration
On the first launch, you will need to activate your license or start a trial period. In the first window, the program will ask if it can share usage data with JetBrains:
Next, you need to select a license:
After that, you can open or create a new project:
When opening the project, you might encounter the Embedded Browser is Suspended error. You can read more about it here. In short, AppArmor doesn't allow launching the embedded browser (JCEF) with sandbox support. To fix this, you need to create an AppArmor profile.
To do this, simply click the Enable Browser... button and then Install Profile:
After that, PHPStorm will restart, and a file named phpstorm-null with similar content will appear in the /etc/apparmor.d/ directory:
# This profile is autogenerated by PhpStorm to allow running sandboxed JCEF
abi <abi/4.0>,
include <tunables/global>
profile /home/serhii/.local/share/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/phpstorm/bin/phpstorm flags=(unconfined) {
userns,
include if exists <local/chrome>
}
After that, the program should work as intended.
How to Uninstall PHPStorm
To remove PHPStorm installed via AppCenter or Snap, execute the following command:
snap remove phpstorm
As for the program installed in JetBrains Toolbox, you need to uninstall it through the context menu by clicking the Uninstall button:
JetBrains Toolbox itself is not easy to remove, and that's what I don't like about it. There is no automatic uninstall script, you need to manually delete the program directory and its shortcuts:
rm ~/.local/share/JetBrains/Toolbox/bin/jetbrains-toolbox
rm ~/.config/autostart/jetbrains-toolbox.desktop
~/.local/share/applications/jetbrains-toolbox.desktop
In the future, the location and names of program files may change.
Conclusions
Now you know how to install PHPStorm on Ubuntu 24.04 using either Snap or JetBrains Toolbox. As you can see, it's quite straightforward. I prefer the Snap method since the package manager handles the program files, and if needed, everything can be easily removed. Although I use Flatpak on my system, I'll tell you more about that in my article about Fedora.
