Step-by-Step Guide to Install Microsoft Edge and Visual Studio Code on Fedora

There was a time when installing Microsoft software on Fedora meant wrestling with binaries and hoping for the best. Those days are over: Microsoft publishes official repositories for Fedora, which means installing Edge and Visual Studio Code is as close to painless as Linux package management gets. In this guide, I’ll walk you through both installs with the official repos, which also means you get automatic updates through dnf like any other package.

Step 1: 🔑 Import Microsoft GPG Key

To ensure the packages you download are authentic, you need to import Microsoft’s GPG key. Open your terminal and execute the following command:

sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

This key is what lets dnf verify that every package in Microsoft’s repos was signed by Microsoft and not tampered with in transit. Skip it and the install will refuse to trust the packages, which is the system working as intended.

Step 2: 📦 Add the Microsoft Edge and Visual Studio Code Repositories

You need to add the repositories for both Microsoft Edge and Visual Studio Code. Execute the following commands to add these repositories:

Add Microsoft Edge repository:

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/edge/

Add Visual Studio Code repository:

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/vscode/

Both commands register a .repo file with dnf, so from now on these apps update through your normal system updates.

Step 3: 🔄 Refresh the Metadata Cache

After adding the repositories, refresh the metadata cache to ensure that your system is aware of the new packages available. Run the following command:

sudo dnf update --refresh

This pulls the latest package lists, so the fresh repositories show up in dnf before you try to install anything from them.

Step 4: 🌐 Install Microsoft Edge

Now that the repository has been added and the cache is refreshed, you can install Microsoft Edge. Use the following command to install Microsoft Edge Stable:

sudo dnf install microsoft-edge-stable

You can also install the beta or dev channels (microsoft-edge-beta, microsoft-edge-dev) if you want to test the latest features, but for daily use the stable channel is the right choice.

Step 5: 💻 Install Visual Studio Code

Similarly, install Visual Studio Code by running the following command:

sudo dnf install code

Yes, the package is simply called code, which is the same name you will type in the terminal to launch it.

🧠 Final Thoughts

You’ve successfully installed Microsoft Edge and Visual Studio Code on Fedora! You can launch these applications from your applications menu or by typing microsoft-edge or code in the terminal.

The nicest part of using the official repos is what you do not have to do: no manual downloads, no chasing version numbers, no .rpm files piling up in your Downloads folder. Just install once, and both apps update themselves the next time you run dnf update. Happy coding! 🎉

This guide should help you get started with using Microsoft Edge and Visual Studio Code on your Fedora system. Enjoy!