Installing Apache JMeter on GNU/Linux [Update: OWASP ZAP]

Third Driver
2 min readJun 9, 2021

UPDATE 2021/07/12: JetBrains Toolbox: The best way to install IntelliJ IDEA on Linux

https://thirddriver.medium.com/jetbrains-toolbox-the-best-way-to-install-intellij-idea-on-linux-53c1070cd03b

Download Apache JMeter:

cd Downloads && wget https://dlcdn.apache.org//jmeter/binaries/apache-jmeter-5.4.3.tgz

  1. Open the Terminal. Change the directory first.

cd /opt

2. Then comes the extracting part. For example:

sudo tar -xvzf ~/Downloads/apache-jmeter-5.4.3.tgz

3. There should be no errors in extracting if you want to proceed to next steps. Use the “ll” command to find the name of the extracted directory. This optional step renames the directory to something easier to remember.

sudo mv apache-jmeter-5.4.3 jmeter

4. Create symbolic link (or Symlink). Just think of it as an advanced shortcut. Example:

sudo ln -s /opt/jmeter/bin/jmeter /usr/local/bin/jmeter

Finally, create the desktop file with your choice of text editor. Vim, if you’re a Jedi but I’m merely a Stormtrooper.

nano ~/.local/share/applications/jmeter.desktop

It will open a text editor and you can customize these details per application. Once done, save changes.

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Apache JMeter
GenericName=jmeter
Comment=Apache JMeter
Exec=/usr/local/bin/jmeter
Terminal=false
Icon=/opt/jmeter/docs/images/mstile-144x144.png
Type=Application

Apache JMeter with Plugins Manager on Fedora Xfce Spin

I found that JMeter have some issues when using themes. Therefore, on Options menu > Look and Feel section switch to a theme like system theme.

If you’re on an Arch based system, skip all of the hassle above and install from Arch User Repository (AUR).

yay -S jmeter

To use Apache JMeter Plugins Manager, download the JAR file and move it to lib/ext of jmeter folder.

cd ~/Downloads && wget https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/kg/apc/jmeter-plugins-manager/1.7/jmeter-plugins-manager-1.7.jar

Then…

sudo mv ~/Downloads/jmeter-plugins-manager-1.7.jar /opt/jmeter/lib/ext

Also, JMeter won’t have permission to install plugins. You can give permissions with the following:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /opt/jmeter

UPDATE: For OWASP ZAP, download the .sh file and run the command:

sudo bash ZAP_2_11_1_unix.sh

Easy!

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