How to Install Skype on CentOS 7

Skype is one of the most popular communication applications in the world that allows you to make free online audio and video calls, and affordable international calling to mobiles and landlines worldwide.

Skype is not an open-source application and it is not included in the CentOS repositories.

This tutorial explains how to install the latest version of Skype on CentOS 7.

Prerequisites #

The user you are logged in as must have sudo privileges to be able to install packages.

Installing Skype on CentOS #

Perform the following steps to install Skype on CentOS.

1. Download Skype #

Open your terminal and download the latest Skype package using the following wget command :

wget https://go.skype.com/skypeforlinux-64.rpm

2. Install Skype #

Once the download is complete, install the Skype rpm package by running the following command as a user with sudo privileges:

sudo yum localinstall ./skypeforlinux-64.rpm

That’s it. Skype has been installed on your CentOS desktop.

3. Start Skype #

Now that Skype has been installed, you can start it either from the command line by typing skypeforlinux or by clicking on the Skype icon (Applications -> Internet -> Skype).

When you start Skype for the first time, a window like the following will appear:

From here, you can sign in to Skype with your Microsoft Account and start chatting and talking with your friends and family.

Updating Skype #

During the installation process, the official Skype repository will be added to your system. Use the cat command to verify the file contents:

/etc/yum.repos.d/skype-stable.repo

[deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main]([skype-stable]
name=skype (stable)
baseurl=https://repo.skype.com/rpm/stable/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://repo.skype.com/data/SKYPE-GPG-KEY)

This ensures that your Skype installation will be updated automatically when a new version is released through your desktop standard Software Update tool.

Conclusion #

In this tutorial, you’ve learned how to install Skype on your CentOS 7 desktop.

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