kinst Version 0.1.25 README
1. Creating an Installation
Creating a "ready-to-publish" installation to use with kinst is
very easy. A basic installation consists of two major files,
the control file and the actual program package (either TGZ or
RPM at the moment). More complex installations can contain other
files (will be described later). All files of an installation
set can also be packed into one file to provide e.g. one file
to download with full-featured GUI installation (if you decide
to generate a selfextracting installer the downloader not even
needs a kinst executable).
To create a usable installation set, you can now use a GUI tool
called "kcreateinst" which is supplied with this distribution
(tools/kcreateinst). [ Note that you could still use the textbased
createinst application in tools/createinst, but it is
considered obsolete since the GUI tool is available. It is no
more installed, and I strongly suggest using kcreateinst. ]
Here's the format of a control file:
[KDE Install Information]
Every control file (KIF file) has to contain this header.
PROGRAMNAME=kapplication
The actual program name.
CHECKPRIORFILE=kapplicationexecutable
kinst will check the existance of this file first. This is used to check if a package is already installed. The file path is relative to the chosen installation folder.
CHECKPRIORRPM=
kinst will check the existance of this RPM entry first. Used to detect an existing installation.
SOURCEFILETYPE=tgz
File type of the main program package. Can be TGZ and RPM at the moment.
SOURCEFILE=example.tar.gz
The program package.
READMEFILE=readme.txt
The README file to be shown. Strongly recommended to override the
"standard" output...
The README file has to be supplied outside of your TGZ or RPM package,
its position is relative to the dir where the KIF file is located.
GRAPHICSFILE=
The main window contains an image on the left side. If you specify a new file here it will be used instead. Size should be 120x260. Relative to the dir where the KIF file is located.
ICONFILE=
This file will be the program's icon. Relative to chosen target dir.
EXECBINARY=kapplicationexecutable
The application's executable. Relative to chosen target dir.
KDELNKADDITIONS=
Optional additions to the kdelnk generated by kinst. May contain locale
additions, mime-types etc.
Relative to chosen target dir.
DEFAULTINSTALLPATH=/opt/kapplication
The default target dir to be proposed.
RELOCATABLEPACKAGE=YES
Indicates if the package can be installed in another directory than
specified in DEFAULTINSTALLPATH (and will work there).
(e.g. certain RPM packages cannot be installed in other dirs than those
they originally were designed to.)
Please specify YES or NO in capitals.
DEFAULTMENUENTRY=Applications
kinst will create the kdelnk in this dir (relative to the usual KDE trees).
It should now be possible to enter the menu name in the language of the
set locale.
The actual menu entry itself is constructed by ProgramName + .kdelnk
PREINSTALLSCRIPT=
The given script (or app) will be run before the installation. Relative to the KIF file directory.
DONEINSTALLSCRIPT=
Script to be run after the installation. Relative to chosen target dir.
RECOMMENDREBOOT=no
Should our program propose to reboot the system? No, you never have to reboot Linux... :-) Setting this option to yes will cause the installer to display a message box stating that a system reboot is recommended.
LIBRARYDIR=/libdir
A directory in your package that contains needed shared libraries. The installer will check the status of these libraries (version sufficient?, available on the system?) and install them as needed. It expects classic shared library filenames such as libneedthis.so.3.1.2
The URL setting will allow the user of the installer to get to the program´s homepage by pressing a single button. The button is not displayed when this option is empty.
As you can see a basic installation contains e.g. the following:
[KDE Install Information]
PROGRAMNAME=fooapp
CHECKPRIORFILE=fooappexe
CHECKPRIORRPM=
SOURCEFILETYPE=tgz
SOURCEFILE=fooapp.tar.gz
READMEFILE=
GRAPHICSFILE=
ICONFILE=
EXECBINARY=fooappexe
KDELNKADDITIONS=
DEFAULTINSTALLPATH=/opt/fooapp
RELOCATABLEPACKAGE=YES
DEFAULTMENUENTRY=Applications
PREINSTALLSCRIPT=
DONEINSTALLSCRIPT=
RECOMMENDREBOOT=no
LIBRARYDIR=
URL=http://www.applicationshome.com
Note that I didn't test what happens if you don't include at least every entry before the equal signs... remember... alpha software...
The kinst package itself should contain a hack called "kipack". It's very ugly in it's source-code, so ... But it does it's job and helps you to create an "all-in-one" installation package. Note that the first file in such a package must be the KIF file to be used.
Please note that if you decide to use "kcreateinst", most of the things here won´t bother you, so I REALLY recommend using it.
For new releases and info, visit the kinst homepage at http://members.xoom.com/stevedany/steffen/kinst_1_en.htm
Please mail constructive suggestions as well as bug reports to:
ssobiech@cityweb.de <Steffen Sobiech>