Native Linux apps

This guide covers packaging pre-built Linux binaries distributed as tarballs, AppImages, RPMs or DEBs.

Generic tarballs

If upstream ships a "generic" .tar.gz or .tar.xz that works on most distributions, this is the easiest case:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<interface xmlns="http://zero-install.sourceforge.net/2004/injector/interface">
  <name>MyApp</name>
  <summary>does something useful</summary>
  <homepage>https://example.com/myapp</homepage>
  <icon href="https://example.com/myapp.png" type="image/png"/>

  <feed-for interface="https://example.com/myapp.xml"/>

  <group license="MIT">
    <command name="run" path="bin/myapp"/>

    <implementation arch="Linux-x86_64" version="{version}" released="{released}" stability="stable">
      <manifest-digest/>
      <archive href="https://example.com/downloads/myapp-{version}-linux-x64.tar.gz"/>
    </implementation>
    <implementation arch="Linux-aarch64" version="{version}" released="{released}" stability="stable">
      <manifest-digest/>
      <archive href="https://example.com/downloads/myapp-{version}-linux-arm64.tar.gz"/>
    </implementation>
  </group>
</interface>

arch="Linux-x86_64" covers AMD64 CPUs. Other common values are Linux-i486 (32-bit), Linux-aarch64 (ARM64) and Linux-armv7l (ARMv7).

Single-binary downloads

For tools shipped as a single executable (common for Go and Rust binaries), use <file> instead of <archive> and mark it executable:

<implementation arch="Linux-x86_64" version="{version}" released="{released}" stability="stable">
  <manifest-digest/>
  <file dest="myapp"
        executable="true"
        href="https://github.com/example/myapp/releases/download/v{version}/myapp-linux-amd64"/>
  <command name="run" path="myapp"/>
</implementation>

RPMs and DEBs

Zero Install can extract .rpm and .deb packages without installing them. The contents are unpacked into a per-user cache, so users without root can run them and the app must work outside /usr.

Tip

When upstream doesn't publish a generic tarball, an RPM often works on Debian (and vice versa). If several distro-specific packages are available, pick the one for the oldest distribution: packages built against an older glibc keep working on newer systems, but not the other way around.

<implementation arch="Linux-x86_64" version="{version}" released="{released}" stability="stable">
  <manifest-digest/>
  <archive href="https://example.com/downloads/myapp-{version}.x86_64.rpm"
           type="application/x-rpm"/>
  <command name="run" path="usr/bin/myapp"/>
</implementation>

The path is relative to the unpacked tree, so a binary that the package installs at /usr/bin/myapp is at usr/bin/myapp after extraction.

Attention

This only works if the binary is relocatable. Apps that hard-code paths like /usr/share/myapp will need either a binreloc-aware build or a <recipe> to patch the install. The original Inkscape RPM was recompiled with binreloc support specifically for this reason.

Shell-script launchers that cd to a hard-coded directory are the same problem in miniature. The cleanest fix is upstream (cd "$(dirname "$0")" is portable); if that's not an option, use a <recipe> to patch the script, and compute the post-patch implementation ID with 0install digest on the patched tree.

AppImages

AppImages are self-mounting ELF files; they cannot be unpacked with the built-in archive types. Either:

• Re-archive them as a tarball (./myapp.AppImage --appimage-extract && tar czf myapp.tar.gz squashfs-root/) and host the result yourself, or
• Ask upstream to publish a regular tarball alongside the AppImage.

Once re-archived, package as a regular tarball with command="run" path="AppRun" (the standard AppDir entry point).

Shared library dependencies

If your app links against shared libraries published as their own feeds, add a <requires> and bind the library directory into LD_LIBRARY_PATH:

<requires interface="https://example.com/somelibrary.xml">
  <environment name="LD_LIBRARY_PATH" insert="lib"/>
</requires>

For libraries provided by the host distribution (glibc, libc++, etc.), use <package-implementation> to declare the dependency without trying to repackage system libraries:

<package-implementation distributions="Debian Ubuntu" package="libcurl4"/>
<package-implementation distributions="RPM" package="libcurl"/>

See Distribution integration for the list of recognized distribution names.

Tip

Set <needs-terminal/> on console apps so GUI launchers open a terminal.