pacur: simple packaging

Pacur allows building packages for multiple linux distributions with a consistent package spec format. Currently deb, rpm and pacman packages are available for several linux distributions. Builds are done on Docker containers without needing to setup any virtual machines or install any software other than Docker. All packages are built using a simple format that is similar to PKGBUILD from ArchLinux. Each distribution is different and will still require different build instructions, but a consistent build process and format can be used for all builds. Docker only supports 64-bit containers, pacur can't be used to build 32-bit packages. Pacur will also create a deb, rpm and pacman signed repository that can be used on ArchLinux, CentOS, Fedora, Debian and Ubuntu to distribute the packages. A tutorial on creating a project is available on medium.

initialize

It is recommended to build the docker images locally instead of pulling each image from the Docker Hub. A script is located in the docker directory to assist with this. Always run the clean.sh script to clear any existing pacur images. Building the images can take several hours.

cd ~/go/src/github.com/pacur/pacur/docker
sh clean.sh
sh build.sh

format

key="example string"
key=`example "quoted" string`
key=("list with one element")
key=(
    "list with"
    "multiple elements"
)
key="example ${variable} string"
key:ubuntu="this will apply only to ubuntu builds"

builtin variables

key	value
`${srcdir}`	`Source` directory where all sources are downloaded and extracted
`${pkgdir}`	`Package` directory for the root of the package

spec

key	type	value
`targets`	`list`	List of build targets only used for projects. Prefix a `!` to ignore target.
`pkgname`	`string`	Package name
`pkgver`	`string`	Package version
`pkgrel`	`string`	Package release number
`pkgdesc`	`string`	Short package description
`pkgdesclong`	`list`	List of lines for package description
`maintainer`	`string`	Package maintainer
`arch`	`string`	Package architecture, can be `all` or `amd64`
`license`	`list`	List of licenses for packaged software
`section`	`string`	Section for package. Built in sections available: `admin` `localization` `mail` `comm` `math` `database` `misc` `debug` `net` `news` `devel` `doc` `editors` `electronics` `embedded` `fonts` `games` `science` `shells` `sound` `graphics` `text` `httpd` `vcs` `interpreters` `video` `web` `kernel` `x11` `libdevel` `libs`
`priority`	`string`	Package priority, only used for debian packages
`url`	`string`	Package url
`rpmopts`	`list`	List of lines to add to RPM spec
`depends`	`list`	List of package dependencies
`optdepends`	`list`	List of package optional dependencies
`makedepends`	`list`	List of package build dependencies
`provides`	`list`	List of packages provided
`conflicts`	`list`	List of packages conflicts
`sources`	`list`	List of packages sources. Sources can be url or paths that are relative to the PKGBUILD
`hashsums`	`list`	List of `md5`/`sha1`/`sha256`/`sha512` hex hashes for sources, hash type is determined by the length of the hash. Use `skip` to ignore hash check
`backup`	`list`	List of config files that shouldn't be overwritten on upgrades
`build`	`func`	Function to build the source, starts in srcdir
`package`	`func`	Function to package the source into the pkgdir, starts in srcdir
`preinst`	`func`	Function to run before installing
`postinst`	`func`	Function to run after installing
`prerm`	`func`	Function to run before removing
`postrm`	`func`	Function to run after removing

build targets

target	value
`archlinux`	All archlinux releases
`almalinux`	All almalinux releases
`amazonlinux`	All amazonlinux releases
`centos`	All centos releases
`debian`	All debian releases
`fedora`	All fedora releases
`oraclelinux`	All oraclelinux releases
`ubuntu`	All ubuntu releases
`almalinux-8`	AlmaLinux 8
`almalinux-9`	AlmaLinux 9
`amazonlinux-1`	Amazonlinux 1
`amazonlinux-2`	Amazonlinux 2
`amazonlinux-2023`	Amazonlinux 2023
`centos-7`	Centos 7
`centos-8`	Centos 8
`debian-buster`	Debian buster
`debian-bullseye`	Debian bullseye
`debian-bookworm`	Debian bookworm
`fedora-38`	Fedora 38
`fedora-39`	Fedora 39
`oraclelinux-7`	Oraclelinux 7
`oraclelinux-8`	Oraclelinux 8
`oraclelinux-9`	Oraclelinux 9
`ubuntu-xenial`	Ubuntu xenial
`ubuntu-bionic`	Ubuntu bionic
`ubuntu-focal`	Ubuntu focal
`ubuntu-jammy`	Ubuntu jammy
`ubuntu-mantic`	Ubuntu mantic

directives

directive	value
`apt`	All deb packages
`pacman`	All pkg packages
`yum`	All rpm packages
`archlinux`	All archlinux releases
`almalinux`	All almalinux releases
`amazonlinux`	All amazonlinux releases
`centos`	All centos releases
`debian`	All debian releases
`fedora`	All fedora releases
`oraclelinux`	All oraclelinux releases
`ubuntu`	All ubuntu releases
`almalinux-8`	AlmaLinux 8
`almalinux-9`	AlmaLinux 9
`amazonlinux-1`	Amazonlinux 1
`amazonlinux-2`	Amazonlinux 2
`amazonlinux-2023`	Amazonlinux 2023
`centos-7`	Centos 7
`centos-8`	Centos 8
`debian-buster`	Debian buster
`debian-bullseye`	Debian bullseye
`debian-bookworm`	Debian bookworm
`fedora-38`	Fedora 38
`fedora-39`	Fedora 39
`oraclelinux-7`	Oraclelinux 7
`oraclelinux-8`	Oraclelinux 8
`oraclelinux-9`	Oraclelinux 9
`ubuntu-xenial`	Ubuntu xenial
`ubuntu-bionic`	Ubuntu bionic
`ubuntu-focal`	Ubuntu focal
`ubuntu-jammy`	Ubuntu jammy
`ubuntu-mantic`	Ubuntu mantic

Directives are used to specify variables that only apply to a limited set of build targets. All variables can use directives including user defined variables. To use directives include the directive after a variable separated by a colon such as pkgdesc:ubuntu="This description will only apply to Ubuntu packages". The directives above are sorted from lowest to the highest priority.

example

First create a directory for the PKGBUILD file. This directory should only contain the PKGBUILD file and any other files needed such as patches. Then create a PKGBUILD the package directory. After creating the PKGBUILD build the package with docker.

$ mkdir httpserver
$ cd httpserver
$ nano PKGBUILD
$ podman run --rm -t -v `pwd`:/pacur pacur/ubuntu-xenial

targets=(
    "archlinux"
    "centos"
    "debian"
    "ubuntu"
)
pkgname="httpserver"
pkgver="1.0"
pkgrel="1"
pkgdesc="Http file server written with Go"
pkgdesc:centos="Http file server written with Go for CentOS"
pkgdesc:debian="Http file server written with Go for Debian"
pkgdesc:fedora="Http file server written with Go for Fedora"
pkgdesc:ubuntu="Http file server written with Go for Ubuntu"
pkgdesclong=(
    "Quick http file server written with Go"
    "using directory listing similar to apache"
)
rpmopts=(
    "AutoReqProv: no"
)
maintainer="Example <example@pacur.org>"
arch="all"
license=("GPLv3")
section="utils"
priority="optional"
url="https://github.com/pacur/${pkgname}"
sources=(
    "${url}/archive/${pkgver}.tar.gz"
)
hashsums=(
    "3548e1263a931b27970e190f04b74623"
)

build() {
    mkdir -p "go/src"
    export GOPATH="${srcdir}/go"
    mv "${pkgname}-${pkgver}" "go/src"
    cd "go/src/${pkgname}-${pkgver}"
    go install
    go build -a
}

package() {
    cd "${srcdir}/go/src/${pkgname}-${pkgver}"
    mkdir -p "${pkgdir}/usr/bin"
    cp ${pkgname}-${pkgver} ${pkgdir}/usr/bin/${pkgname}
}

project example

A project can be created with the cli tools which can be installed using go install. The packages can be built and added to the repo. An example project is available in the example directory. The pull command should be run before all builds to update the docker images used for builds.

$ go install github.com/pacur/pacur@latest
$ cd example
$ pacur pull
$ pacur project init
$ pacur project build
$ pacur project repo
$ go install github.com/pacur/httpserver@latest
$ cd mirror
$ httpserver --port 80

After the repo has been created and is hosted on a server the following commands can be used to add the repo to the package manager for yum and apt. For the debian repo the bullseye should be replaced with the debian/ubuntu release name. The pacur repo name and filenames can be change to suite the name of your software.

$ nano /etc/pacman.conf
[pacur]
Server = http://HTTP_SERVER_IP/arch

$ pacman-key --keyserver hkp://pgp.mit.edu -r KEYID
$ pacman-key --lsign-key KEYID
$ pacman -Sy
$ pacman -S httpserver

$ nano /etc/yum.repos.d/pacur.repo
[pacur]
name=Pacur Repository
baseurl=http://HTTP_SERVER_IP/yum/centos/7/
gpgcheck=1
enabled=1

$ gpg --keyserver hkp://pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys KEYID
$ gpg --armor --export KEYID > key.tmp; rpm --import key.tmp; rm -f key.tmp
$ yum install httpserver

$ nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pacur.list
deb http://HTTP_SERVER_IP/apt bullseye main

$ apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://pgp.mit.edu --recv KEYID
$ apt-get update
$ apt-get install httpserver

signing

Packages in the repository can also be signed by adding a sign.key in the project directory. The signing key cannot use a passphrase. To export a key first get the key id then export the key with the commands below.

$ gpg --list-secret-keys
$ gpg -a --export-secret-keys KEYID > sign.key

tyilo/pacur