No more updates for Google Chrome 32-bit
Important information on how to install Chrome in Ubuntu 16.04 and 17.04 at the bottom !
This message is valid for Linux 32 bit systems only, 64 bit systems of course will stay supported. When you have the 32 bit version of Ubuntu installed, Google Chrome will not receive updates, starting from March 2016 - this already was announced by Google back on December 1st 2015.
Google: We will end support for Google Chrome on 32-bit Linux, Ubuntu Precise (12.04) ...
- Google Chromium-dev Dirk Pranke announced: Updates to Google Chrome Linux support
- OMG! UBUNTU! information: Google Chrome Axes Support for ALL 32-bit Linux Distros
- SOFTPEDIA: Google Decides to End Support for Google Chrome on 32-Bit Linux OSes
When you want to receive Chrome updates - you should switch to the 64 bit version of Ubuntu. Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS and Ubuntu 15.10 are recommended to download in 64 bit flavour anyway. The next Ubuntu LTS edition 16.04 Xenial Xerus will be released in April 2016, install it in 64 bit.
In the time frame from March to April you can use the pre-installed Firefox web browser instead. Alternatively you can install chromium-browser or epiphany-browser from Ubuntu repositories. Or you can install the 64 bit version of Ubuntu 14.04, but is this worth the effort? ... you decide ...
The five year support for Ubuntu LTS editions covers the system including official repositories. Google Chrome is not available in the official Ubuntu repositories and that is the reason why there is no five year LTS support for Chrome provided from the Canonical/Ubuntu developers.
Update information 2016-03-03: Google has removed the 32 bit version from their repository !
As you can see on the Google Chrome website, there is no 32 bit Linux edition offered anymore.
Running sudo apt-get update gives the following error:
Failed to fetch http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/dists/stable/Release
Unable to find expected entry 'main/binary-i386/Packages' in Release file
(Wrong sources.list entry or malformed file)
Some index files failed to download.
They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
As a workaround set the repositories specifically for 64 bit:
sudo sed -i -e 's/deb http/deb [arch=amd64] http/' "/etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list" "/opt/google/chrome/cron/google-chrome"
Reference: Fix "Failed to fetch" Google Chrome repository
Update information 2016-03-09: Google seems to have fixed the issue in version 49.0.2623.87 !
/opt/google/chrome/cron/google-chrome file now has these architecture relevant entries:
# sources.list setting for google-chrome updates.
REPOCONFIG="deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main"
REPOCONFIGREGEX="deb (\[arch=[^]]*\bamd64\b[^]]*\][[:space:]]*)?https?://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main"
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list file shows this architecture relevant entry:
### THIS FILE IS AUTOMATICALLY CONFIGURED ###
# You may comment out this entry, but any other modifications may be lost.
deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
Update information 2016-04-21: How to install the Google Chrome browser in Ubuntu 16.04
There currently is an issue to install Google Chrome by downloading from Google website. When clicking on the .deb file Ubuntu Software opens, but nothing happens when you click on Install. Install Google Chrome properly this way - open a terminal and execute the following commands:
echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
wget -q -O - https://dl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install google-chrome-stable
There is little new "weak signature" issue when updating the repositories - but it can be ignored:
W: http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/dists/stable/Release.gpg: Signature by key 4CCA1EAF950CEE4AB83976DCA040830F7FAC5991 uses weak digest algorithm (SHA1)
Update information 2017-04-13: How to install the Google Chrome browser in Ubuntu 17.04
The commands given above for Ubuntu 16.04 are still valid and the best working solution to install Google Chrome successfully. Note : the command apt can be used instead of apt-get as well.
What's happening is that the word "supported" in this message does not mean what you think it means. When Google says "this system will no longer be supported", what they say is "we will stop providing Chrome update for this system". On the other hand, when Canonical says "Ubuntu 14.04 will be supported for five years", what they say is "packages in the official repositories will receive upgrades for five years". Because the Chrome packages are not in the official Ubuntu repositories, there is no contradiction between the two.
EDIT: It appears as though Google has added the correct changes to the updates. So, simply fixing the repository line, then running the update should be good from now on.
Google stopped 32bit Chrome support for Linux. Interestingly enough, on Google Chrome download site, they still have the link to the 32bit version.
To fix it, make the following changes:
(Optional) First, remove Google Chrome and the repository file: Don't worry, your settings should still be safe.
sudo apt-get remove google-chrome-stable
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list*
Then update the system:
sudo apt-get update
Next, fix the Google Chrome repository file following commands:
Add the key: Only if this is a first time installation.
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -
Then add the changes to the repository:
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list'
If Google Chrome is already installed:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
If it is not installed:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install google-chrome-stable
Hope this helps!