How to create package from source tarball

Intro

vpackager is a GUI application, so using it is as easy as point and click. However, there are some specific procedures that must be followed if you will share your work with others, or contribute to the VectorLinux development by submitting your packages.

Building a package from source tarball

vpackager will can build most ordinary applications with no problem. As of version 1.0.11, vpackager also offers support for packaging python applications as well as CMake sources. These procedures should require no additional knowledge from you (the user). Basically, here is what vpackager does behind the scenes:

• Extract the source to a temporary location
• Determine the type of source
• Build and compile the source (create binaries)
• Place binaries in a package (.tlz or .tgz) so that it can be safely installed / uninstalled

What you need to do

When building from source tarball, vpackager will not download the source for you. So you would need to locate your source, and download it to your local hard drive. After you've downloaded the source code, this is the procedure:

• Locate and download the source tarball (.tar.gz or .tar.bz2) to your computer.
• Open vpackager from the VectorLinux main menu
• Click the "Create new package from source" button or click file > New package from source
• Click the "Browse" button and locate the source you downloaded.
• Set the build options

Most applications have on-line documentation were ou can find information about application-specifig build options to fine tune your installation or enable / disable extra features. The default build options and CFLAGS settings will work for most applications

• Provide Description file

If you have located a "slack-desc" file online for your application, then click the "Load ... " button to insert it into your package. If you would like to create a new description file for the package, click the "Create ... " button to create a new file using the built-in slack-desc creator tool. See how to use the slac-desc creator writer tool

• Click Next

You should now see the package extracting and the source building right before your eyes

If the build fails

If there are any errors at any point in the build process, the build will fail and vpackager will warn you that there have been errors during the build. At that point, you can look at the output, and see what the error was. You can also click the Save Output button to save the build log to a text file

If the build succeeds

vpackager will let you know the build process has successfully completed. Up to this point, no changes have been made to your system.

• Click the "Next" Button

At this point, vpackager will prompt you to install the package or not to install Choose "Install" to install the package to your system... or "Do not install" to simply save the package for later use.

At this point, the build and package processes are complete...

What happens to the packages created by vpackager?

Whether or you install the new package or not, vpackager will have the resulting binary package to the same location as your source tarball. For example,

You built

/home/<your_name>/foo-1.2.tar.bz2

Important Notes

• Description files

Description files are a must if you plan on submitting packages to the repositories. Enjoy!