checkinstalldebinstall-from-sourcepackaging
I have always had a problem installing and removing compiled software, so I have decided I would like to build software from source into a .deb package for easier installation/removal.
I would like to know of an easy and short way to build source into a .deb package, as an end user.
I have tried:
gdebi installs a deb package and its dependencies. To use it run:
sudo gdebi package.deb
In newer versions of Ubuntu, this is not installed by default, so you will need to install it from the repositories.
See man gdebi for a full list of options.
gdebi is the command line equivalent to the graphical tool of the same name that used to be included by default in Ubuntu. The command for the graphical tool is gdebi-gtk and has similar functionality:
The tutorial you have linked uses a low level approach for building a package. Such an approach is not usually recommended and may lead to all sorts of issues when not done carefully.
Creating a .deb for a script is very simple once you understand packaging basics. In a nutshell:
# Configure your paths and filenames
SOURCEBINPATH=~
SOURCEBIN=myscript.sh
DEBFOLDER=~/somescripts
DEBVERSION=0.1
DEBFOLDERNAME=$DEBFOLDER-$DEBVERSION
# Create your scripts source dir
mkdir $DEBFOLDERNAME
# Copy your script to the source dir
cp $SOURCEBINPATH/$SOURCEBIN $DEBFOLDERNAME
cd $DEBFOLDERNAME
# Create the packaging skeleton (debian/*)
dh_make -s --indep --createorig
# Remove make calls
grep -v makefile debian/rules > debian/rules.new
mv debian/rules.new debian/rules
# debian/install must contain the list of scripts to install
# as well as the target directory
echo $SOURCEBIN usr/bin > debian/install
# Remove the example files
rm debian/*.ex
# Build the package.
# You will get a lot of warnings and ../somescripts_0.1-1_i386.deb
debuild
Adding more scripts requires them to be copied to the directory and added to the debian/install file -- then just re-run debuild. You should also check and update the debian/* files as required .
You should read the man pages for: dh_make, dh_install, and debuild
Best Answer
checkinstall does what you want to achieve: it will monitor which files get installed and put them into a .deb package, which can then be installed and removed
Install it with
then you do the normal install from source procedure, replacing 'sudo make install' with 'sudo checkinstall':
Reference: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CheckInstall