This article offers a concise, under‑ten‑minute walkthrough for installing GitKraken on Ubuntu 20.04 using the official .deb package. It starts by listing straightforward prerequisites—sudo access and an internet connection—and reminds readers to keep their system updated before grabbing the 64‑bit build from GitKraken’s website with wget. The core instruction is a single apt command that installs the local .deb file and automatically resolves dependencies, which the guide stresses is safer than using dpkg directly. After launch, the user signs into their preferred Git hosting service, can immediately confirm connectivity by cloning a repository, and the piece also highlights common pitfalls such as downloading the wrong architecture or failing to run apt update that could otherwise cause installation errors.

Install GitKraken on Ubuntu 20.04: A Quick, No‑Fuss Guide

If you’re looking for a slick GUI to wrap your head around git without diving into the command line every time, GitKraken is a solid pick. This article walks through getting it up and running on Ubuntu 20.04 in under ten minutes—no fancy scripts or hidden dependencies.

Why GitKraken?

GitKraken gives you visual commit history, drag‑and‑drop branch management, and built‑in merge conflict resolution. I’ve seen developers who were once chained to the terminal suddenly start using pull requests for the first time after installing it. If that sounds good, let’s get this on your machine.

Prerequisites

• A user with sudo access
• An active internet connection (yes, GitKraken is not a flat‑pak or snap by default)

If you’re on 20.04, you’ll want to keep the system updated first:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

That guarantees the libraries needed for the .deb package are present.

Download the .deb Package

The easiest route is to grab the official Debian installer from GitKraken’s website. Open a terminal and run:

wget https://release.gitkraken.com/linux/gitkraken-amd64.deb -O gitkraken.deb

This pulls the latest 64‑bit build straight into your current directory. If you prefer the browser, just hit “Download for Linux” and pick the .deb file.

Install via Terminal

Installing a Debian package is one line of magic:

sudo apt install ./gitkraken.deb

The ./ tells apt to treat it as a local file. Apt will automatically resolve missing dependencies, so you don’t have to rummage through the web for “libqt5” or anything else.

Why this matters: Using apt instead of dpkg -i ensures dependency checks. If you skip that step, you’ll end up with a broken installation and an unusable program—something I’ve seen happen when folks ignore the dot slash part.

Common Pitfalls

• Wrong architecture: If you accidentally download the 32‑bit package on a modern machine, apt will complain about unmet dependencies. Stick to the “amd64” version.
• Repository misconfiguration: Some users add GitKraken’s repo to sources.list and then forget to run sudo apt update. The result? A “404 Not Found” error during install. I’ve seen that a lot; just use the .deb method unless you’re comfortable managing repos.
• Old Ubuntu releases: 20.04 ships with libgtk‑3‑0 3.24, which is fine for GitKraken. If you’re on 18.04 or earlier, you’ll need to upgrade those libraries manually.

Verify Installation

After the install finishes, launch it from the app launcher or via terminal:

gitkraken

The first run will ask you to sign in with your GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket account—just follow the prompts. Once logged in, try cloning a repo to confirm everything is wired up correctly.

That’s all there is to it: download, install, launch. If you hit a snag, drop a comment; I’ve been around Ubuntu long enough to know where the bumps hide.