A small utility for packing files in a flatpak.
npm install @malept/flatpak-bundlerInstall @malept/flatpak-bundler.
``shell`
$ npm install @malept/flatpak-bundler
Build a flatpak with a Node script.
Install and run it!
`shell`
$ flatpak install --user --bundle hello.flatpak
$ flatpak run org.world.Hello
Hello, world!
Under the hood, this is just a wrapper for the flatpak-builder
tool with some extra sugar added.
With flatpak-builder, you specify a runtime, sandbox permissions and software
modules to build into your application, and build a flatpak from start to finish.
This module provides a few additional features:
- Supports auto installing flatpak runtime and app dependencies
- Supports exporting directly to the a single file flatpak bundle
- Supports easy copying files and creating symlinks directly in /app
The latter is particularly useful for Electron and
nw.js style Node applications, which often create packages
from prebuilt binaries and do not attempt to follow an autotools-like
build api.
This module should make it easy to plug flatpak support into an Electron or nw.js
app packaging phase.
Used to translate a Node-style arch (e.g., x64) into a Flatpak-compatible arch (e.g., x86_64).
If the arch is unknown, it will pass through the input value.
Takes an app manifest and a build options object. It returns a Promise.
Both the manifest and options objects support both camelCase and dash-separated
variants of any option.
The promise is returned with a finalBuildOptions value. It contains the buildworkingDir
options after default values have been applied. Useful to read out the, for example.
#### Manifest
This matches the format for flatpak-builder app, with a few extra
manifests
options added and camelCase variants supported.
- id: Required. The application id.
- runtime: Required. The runtime for your flatpak application.
- sdk: Required. The sdk for your flatpak application.
- base: An app to inherit from. Use the app as a "base" for /app
contents.
- finishArgs: The arguments to pass to . Use this to
add sandbox permissions. See the Electron app example for
some common app permissions.
- modules: If you need to build other software modules into you flatpak app
(anything not already in your runtime or base app), you can specify them
here.
#### Build Options
- bundlePath: Output location for a single file version of the flatpak. If
non supplied, the single file flatpak will not be created.
- arch: The architecture for the flatpak bundle. x86_64, i386 or arm.
- workingDir: The working directory to call flatpak-builder from.${workingDir}/build
Defaults to a new tmp directory.
- buildDir: The directory to build the application in. Defaults to
- repoDir: The directory for a flatpak repo, can be used to publish to an
existing repo. Defaults to
- cleanTmpdirs: Cleanup any tmp directories created during the build on
process exit. Defaults to true. Set false for easier debugging.
- autoInstallRuntime: Install/update the runtime while building. Defaults
to true if runtimeFlatpakref is set in the manifest.
- autoInstallSdk: Install/update the sdk while building. Defaults
to true if sdkFlatpakref is set in the manifest.
- autoInstallBase: Install/update the base app while building. Defaults
to true if baseFlatpakref is set in the manifest.
- gpgSign: The gpg key to use to sign the flatpak repo and bundle file.
- gpgHomedir: The gpg homedir to use when signing.
- subject: The single line subject to use for the flatpak repo commit
message.
- body: The description to use for the flatpak repo commit message.
- files: Files to copy directly into the app. Should be a list of [source,
dest] tuples. Source should be a relative/absolute path to a file/directory
to copy into the flatpak, and dest should be the path inside the app install
prefix (e.g. )
- symlinks: Symlinks to create in the app files. Should be a list of
[target, location] symlink tuples. Target can be either a relative or
absolute path inside the app install prefix, and location should be a
absolute path inside the prefix to create the symlink at.
- extraExports: Files to export outside of the flatpak sandbox, in addition
to the application desktop file, icons and appstream. File basename must
be prefixed with the app id. Should not be needed for common use.
- runtimeFlatpakref: A pathname or url to a flatpakref file to use to auto
install the runtime.
- sdkFlatpakref: A pathname or url to a flatpakref file to use to auto
install the sdk.
- baseFlatpakref: A pathname or url to a flatpakref file to use to auto
install the base app.
- bundleRepoUrl: Repo url for the single file bundle. Installing the bundle
will automatically configure a remote for this URL.
- extraFlatpakBuilderArgs: List of extra arguments to pass to the
flatpak-builder command.
- extraFlatpakBuildExportArgs: List of extra arguments to pass to the
flatpak build-export command.
- extraFlatpakBuildBundleArgs: List of extra arguments to pass to the
flatpak build-bundle command.
`shell`
DEBUG=flatpak-bundler npm run my-flatpak-command
`javascript
const flatpakBundler = require('@malept/flatpak-bundler')
const fs = require('fs-extra')
// Write a hello world script to disk
await fs.writeFile('hello',
#!/bin/bash
echo "Hello, world!", { mode: 0o755 })
// Make a flatpak with it!
try {
await flatpakBundler.bundle({
id: 'org.world.Hello',
runtime: 'org.freedesktop.Platform',
runtimeVersion: '1.4',
sdk: 'org.freedesktop.Sdk',
}, {
bundlePath: 'hello.flatpak',
files: [
['hello', '/bin/hello']
],
runtimeFlatpakref: 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/endlessm/flatpak-bundler/master/refs/freedesktop-runtime-1.4.flatpakref'
})
console.log('Flatpak built successfully')
} catch (error) {
console.error('Error building flatpak', error)
}
`
`javascript
const flatpakBundler = require('@malept/flatpak-bundler')
try {
const finalBuildOptions = await flatpakBundler.bundle({ // Manifest
id: 'org.world.Hello',
base: 'io.atom.electron.BaseApp', // Electron base application
runtime: 'org.freedesktop.Platform', // Use the freedesktop runtime
runtimeVersion: '1.4',
sdk: 'org.freedesktop.Sdk',
finishArgs: [
'--share=ipc', '--socket=x11', // Allow app to show windows with X11
'--socket=pulseaudio', // Allow audio output
'--filesystem=home', // Allow access to users home directory
'--share=network', // Allow network access
'--device=dri' // Allow OpenGL rendering
],
renameDesktopFile: 'hello.desktop', // Rename the desktop file to agree with the app ID so flatpak will export it
renameIcon: 'hello' // Rename the icon to agree with the app ID so flatpak will export it
}, { // Build options
arch: 'x86_64',
baseFlatpakref: 'https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/electron-flatpak.endlessm.com/electron-base-app-master.flatpakref', // So we can auto install the runtime
bundlePath: 'dist/hello_x86_64.flatpak',
files: [
[ 'static/linux', '/share/' ], // Desktop file and icons
[ packagedFileDir, '/share/bar' ] // Application binaries and assets
],
gpgSign: '1234ABCD', // GPG key to sign with
runtimeFlatpakref: 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/endlessm/flatpak-bundler/master/refs/freedesktop-runtime-1.4.flatpakref',
symlinks: [
[ '/share/bar/Bar', '/bin/Bar' ] // Create a symlink in /bin to to app executable
]
})
console.log('Flatpak built successfully.')
console.log(Build dir and repo in ${finalBuildOptions.workingDir})``
} catch (error) {
console.error('Error building flatpak', error)
}