SOLVED: Installing Skype 8.10.0.4 on CentOS 7.4

[desertcat]

"And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call

"And call Alice, when she was just small

"When the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low

"Go ask Alice, I think she'll know...."

-- From White Rabbit, by Jefferson Airplane

This morning started like any morning, logged into my Workstation and checked on the news on the outbreak of Pneumonic Plague in Madagascar (which I have been following), and other trivial stuff.. and then... my computer froze!! Nothing could break the freeze which required a hard reboot. The computer came up and I started up all my apps including Skype 4.3 for Linux. I enter my Secret Sauce M$ email account, enter the Secret Sauce Password and then it says "Signing In then suddenly POOF!! It disappears!! I tried several attempts always with the same results. POOF!! I turned to Jaguar [aka the "Trashcan Monster still in configuration and testing mode] which had Skype 5.5 beta on it, I updated that machine since I had not done it in a week, but got the following ERROR Message: "Packages skipped due to dependency problems: skypeforlinux-8.10.0.4-1.x86_64 from skype-stable"."Skype for Linux Beta". "skypeforlinux-8.9.0.1-1.x86_64 (skype-stable). Requires: libstdc++.so.6 (GLIBCXX_3.4.20) (64bit). You could try using --skip-broken to work around the problem". I ran yum update --skip-broken so I could finish updating the machine. I then ran Skype, and it came came up. Checked the version and it still said Skype 5.5 beta.

I contacted my buddy and had him replicate my experiment to see if he got the same results or he was able to log in. Our Workstations are mirror images of each other, so this would eliminate or confirm if my problem was limited just to my machine or not. He got the EXACT same results, even though he has a Skype Name -- POOF!!!

I entered into the research phase now. I tried to UPDATE Skype. I now got the ERROR Message "Packages skipped due to dependency problems: skypeforlinux-8.10.0.4-1.x86_64 from skype-stable"."Skype for Linux Beta". "skypeforlinux-8.9.0.1-1.x86_64 (skype-stable). Requires: libstdc++.so.6 (GLIBCXX_3.4.20) (64bit). You could try using --skip-broken to work around the problem". This was where I started chasing every White Rabbit down every Rabbit Hole. "...And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call.." Most of them dead ended. Worse I discovered that I was not the only one. It seems out &%$#*$ over at M$ screwed the pooh. I had just used Skype last week, but it was not until I had to reboot my machine that I encountered the problem. In CentOS 7.4 the key to installing Skype 8.10.0.4 requires GLIBCXX_3.4.20. In CentOS 7.4, RHEL 7.4 and a few others it only goes up to GLIBCXX_3.4.19. In other words IF you had/have Skype for Linux 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, you will still get the annoying Error message, but if you were running Skype 4.3 for Linux you are so screwed. POOF!!! I continued Chasing White Rabbits down several Rabbit holes when I tripped over the following command:

rpm -Uvh skypeforlinux-64.rpm --nodeps

Don't ask me what Rabbit Hole I found this in, but to whomever found this solution and posted it THANK YOU!!! I can tell you the solution WORKS. My buddy and I spent an hour making sure we have two way communication from different devices all running Skype, he then installed the fix on his machine and we were able to call each other -- no problem.

Some Notes:

Note 1: The version of Skype is indeed 8.10.0.4 You can confirm this (after you run the rpm command) by going to HELP and then clicking on ABOUT SKYPE. Skype 8.10.0.4 is the LATEST version for Skype.

Note 2: The installation is unlike anything I've seen. My buddy and I basically clicked through and accepted the DEFAULT. This may or may NOT be a good idea.

Note 3: After you login and go through the Account login and the your Super Secret Sauce Password the Greeting Page is a bit Strange Looking.

Note 4: Making and Answering Skype Calls may require a bit of hunting and pecking to find.

CONCLUSION:

I had to chase a lot of rabbits and had to fall down many rabbit holes. By posting this solution hopefully it will save you some time, and remember:

"And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call

"And call Alice, when she was just small

"When the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low

"Go ask Alice, I think she'll know...."

desertcat

[TrevorH]

Note 1: The version of Skype is indeed 8.10.0.4 You can confirm this (after you run the rpm command) by going to HELP and then clicking on ABOUT SKYPE. Skype 8.10.0.4 is the LATEST version for Skype.

No, it's not. How about reading the rest of the thread before posting your essay? The 8.10 version is broken for CentOS as it's built against too new a glibc and the only way around that would be to install a private copy of newer glibc libraries which is going to eventually bite you on the rear. The real solution is to install the 8.11 version from the skype-unstable testing repo - which hopefully will be moved to the stabel repo sooner rather than later.

[desertcat]

Note 1: The version of Skype is indeed 8.10.0.4 You can confirm this (after you run the rpm command) by going to HELP and then clicking on ABOUT SKYPE. Skype 8.10.0.4 is the LATEST version for Skype.

No, it's not. How about reading the rest of the thread before posting your essay? The 8.10 version is broken for CentOS as it's built against too new a glibc and the only way around that would be to install a private copy of newer glibc libraries which is going to eventually bite you on the rear. The real solution is to install the 8.11 version from the skype-unstable testing repo - which hopefully will be moved to the stabel repo sooner rather than later.

Hi Trevor,

Just a few notes:

1) When I go to About Skype it says. " You're on the latest version of Skype". I have to assume that statement is TRUE.

2) 8.10 version may be broken, It took me several hours just to find anything that worked. I am currently testing it -- at the current time it works. Skype 4.3 for Linux no longer works -- after entering my account name and Password it says "Signing In' and then disappears. Installing Skype 5.3-5.5 can't be done. I tried. Could I have done something WRONG?!? Quite possible. Even with Skype for Linux Beta 5.5 installed running yum update wants to install 8.10.0.4. 8.10.0.4 requires GLIBCXX_3.4.20. CentOS 7.4 only goes as high as 3.4.19. In order for Skype 8.11, currently in Skype-Unstable Testing phase, to work in CentOS 7.4 that means it has to drop back to glibc 3.4.19. What are the odds of that happening?!?

3) So on one hand if you were using Skype 4.3 for Linux, that's toast unless you could tell us HOW to get it back up and running. On the other hand I was unsuccessful in getting Skype for Linux Beta 5.3 - 5.5 to install. Maybe it can be done, but in that case the hack is not widely known. I tried installing via 3 different means and they all failed. At the current time I am left with two options: 1) Do without Skype (or use Skype via a "backdoor" ie accessing it via hotmail or 2) Using the "Broken" version of Skype 8.10.0.4.

4) I have no idea what has happened within the last several days but this seems to be a problem experienced by a large number of people. IF you are lucky enough to be running Skype for Linux Beta (5.3-5.5) yum update wants to update you to 8.10.0.4. It doesn't work of course since glibc 3.4.20 is missing and in CentOS 7.4 we stop at 3.4.19, but at least you can still use it, OTOH if you are using Skype 4.3 for Linux you are out of luck. I was using 4.3. There are a fair number of people who are in the same boat I'm in. Skype 8.11.x.x. might be the future and hopefully when it is released it will be backwards compatible to glibc 3.4.19, because if not we are right back to where we are now.

[stevemowbray]

Yes, the new "unstable" version doesn't require the newer library version and just works.

[TrevorH]

at the current time it works. Skype 4.3 for Linux no longer works

They publicly announced that 4.3 was going to stop functioning at the start of March 2017. If you've been able to use it since then then you were very lucky. Everyone else needed to migrate to 5.x.

In order for Skype 8.11, currently in Skype-Unstable Testing phase, to work in CentOS 7.4 that means it has to drop back to glibc 3.4.19. What are the odds of that happening?!?

Not just good, a certainty. It works.

[desertcat]

at the current time it works. Skype 4.3 for Linux no longer works

They publicly announced that 4.3 was going to stop functioning at the start of March 2017. If you've been able to use it since then then you were very lucky. Everyone else needed to migrate to 5.x.

In order for Skype 8.11, currently in Skype-Unstable Testing phase, to work in CentOS 7.4 that means it has to drop back to glibc 3.4.19. What are the odds of that happening?!?

Not just good, a certainty. It works.

Now we are getting somewhere!!! OK

1) How do I get 8.11? Is there a specific version number ie Skype for Linux 8.1.x.y?

2) From where??

3) Does this use yum install xyz or is this an rpm file?

4) If this is a repo which repo do I need to install?

Yesterday morning was a BUMMER. And I was caught with my pants down so to speak, but it seems I was in good company as there were many other people who seem to have likewise been caught. M$ might have announced this several months back, but I must have missed it. My buddy uses it far more than I do.

Thanks for your help.

[desertcat]

Whoops that should have read ie, 8.11.x.y

[TrevorH]

One way to do it is to edit /etc/yum.repos.d/skype-stable.repo and change the baseurl from "stable" to "unstable", save and run yum update. After doing this I found I had a /etc/yum.repos.d/skype-unstable.repo file too so you may need to revert the change after the install and disable the unstable repo file (assuming that they're aiming to publish this as a stable update shortly).

[desertcat]

One way to do it is to edit /etc/yum.repos.d/skype-stable.repo and change the baseurl from "stable" to "unstable", save and run yum update. After doing this I found I had a /etc/yum.repos.d/skype-unstable.repo file too so you may need to revert the change after the install and disable the unstable repo file (assuming that they're aiming to publish this as a stable update shortly).

OK almost ready: I renamed /etc/yum.repos.d/skype-stable.repo to /etc/yum.repos.d/skype-unstable.repo, now all I have do is run yum update?!? Or do I need to list some version -- ie .Skype 8.11.x.y?

[TrevorH]

I renamed /etc/yum.repos.d/skype-stable.repo to /etc/yum.repos.d/skype-unstable.repo

That does absolutely nothing. you need to rename it back and change the baseurl= line inside it.