The passage provides a step‑by‑step tutorial for installing the privacy‑focused Brave browser on Rocky Linux 8 by adding Brave’s official repository, importing its GPG key, and then using dnf to install the package along with required dependencies. It also outlines common troubleshooting fixes—such as enabling the EPEL compatibility layer and installing the Vulkan loader—to resolve “package not available” or missing library errors that can arise after kernel updates. Additionally, it explains how to verify a successful installation and keep Brave up‑to‑date through regular dnf updates. Finally, a quick fallback is offered: downloading the latest RPM directly with curl and installing it manually if the repository method fails.

How to Install Brave Web Browser on Rocky Linux 8

If you’re tired of Chrome’s telemetry and want a Chromium‑based browser that actually respects privacy, this guide will get Brave up and running on Rocky Linux 8. I’ll walk through the official repository method (the one I use daily) and a quick fallback if the repo refuses to cooperate after a kernel tweak.

Add the Brave repository

First we need to tell dnf where to find Brave’s packages. Adding the repo guarantees you get updates automatically, instead of chasing down random .rpm files later.

sudo dnf install -y dnf-plugins-core

Why? dnf-plugins-core supplies dnf config-manager, which makes adding third‑party repos painless and keeps them in /etc/yum.repos.d/.

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://brave-browser-rpm-release.s3.brave.com/brave-browser.repo

Why? This line drops a tiny .repo file that points to Brave’s signed package pool. No need to manually edit files or worry about mismatched GPG keys.

sudo rpm --import https://brave-browser-rpm-release.s3.brave.com/brave-core.asc

Why? Importing the GPG key lets dnf verify that the packages really come from Brave and haven’t been tampered with. Skipping this step will make the install fail on a security check.

Install Brave

Now that the repo is in place, pull the browser itself:

sudo dnf install -y brave-browser

Why? dnf resolves all dependencies for you. On Rocky 8 it pulls in brave-browser, brave-keyring, and the necessary Chromium libraries.

What if the repo throws a “No package brave‑browser available” error?

I’ve seen this happen after a kernel update that left the system on an older minor release (e.g., 8.6 → 8.7) while the repo still pointed to el8. The fix is simply to enable the EPEL compatibility layer:

sudo dnf install -y epel-release

Then re‑run the dnf install brave-browser command. EPEL brings in missing libraries that Brave’s own dependencies sometimes overlook on Rocky.

Verify the installation

Run the browser once to make sure it launches without a hitch:

brave-browser &

If you get a splash screen and can browse, you’re good. If you see a missing libvulkan.so error, install the Vulkan loader from EPEL:

sudo dnf install -y vulkan-loader

Why? Some Brave features (like hardware‑accelerated video) depend on Vulkan; without it the browser falls back to software rendering, which can be sluggish.

Keep Brave up to date

Because we added the official repo, dnf will treat Brave like any other package. A quick weekly check keeps you on the latest security patches:

sudo dnf update -y brave-browser

Why? Brave releases updates frequently—especially privacy‑related fixes. Ignoring them is basically inviting trackers back in.

Quick fallback: install from a raw .rpm

If for some reason the repo refuses to cooperate (network restrictions, corporate firewalls), you can grab the latest RPM directly:

curl -L -o brave.rpm https://brave-browser-rpm-release.s3.brave.com/x86_64/brave-browser-1.68.119-1.x86_64.rpm
sudo dnf install -y ./brave.rpm

Why? This bypasses the repo entirely, but you’ll have to manually reinstall whenever a new version drops.

That’s all there is to it—Brave should now be humming along on your Rocky Linux 8 machine.