Building Packages

Datui can be packaged for Debian/Ubuntu (.deb), Fedora/RHEL (.rpm), and Arch Linux (AUR).

Prerequisites

• Rust: Install via rustup
• Python 3: For running the build script
• Cargo packaging tools: Install as needed:

cargo install cargo-deb           # For .deb packages
cargo install cargo-generate-rpm  # For .rpm packages
cargo install cargo-aur           # For AUR packages

Building Packages

Run from the repository root:

# Build a .deb package (Debian/Ubuntu)
python3 scripts/build_package.py deb

# Build a .rpm package (Fedora/RHEL)
python3 scripts/build_package.py rpm

# Build AUR package (Arch Linux)
python3 scripts/build_package.py aur

The script automatically:

1. Runs cargo build --release
2. Generates and compresses the manpage
3. Invokes the appropriate cargo packaging tool
4. Reports the output file locations

Options

• --no-build: Skip cargo build --release (use when artifacts already exist)
• --repo-root PATH: Specify repository root (default: auto-detected via git)

# Example: build .deb without rebuilding (artifacts must exist)
python3 scripts/build_package.py deb --no-build

License and metadata

All packages include the MIT license as required:

• deb: [package.metadata.deb] sets license-file = ["LICENSE", "0"]; cargo-deb installs it in the package.
• rpm: [[package.metadata.generate-rpm.assets]] includes LICENSE at /usr/share/licenses/datui/LICENSE.
• aur: [package.metadata.aur] files includes ["LICENSE", "/usr/share/licenses/datui/LICENSE"].
• Python wheel: python/pyproject.toml uses license = { file = "LICENSE" } and sdist-include = ["LICENSE"]. CI and release workflows copy the root LICENSE into python/LICENSE.

Output Locations

CI and Releases

The same script is used in GitHub Actions:

• CI (ci.yml): Builds and uploads dev packages (.deb, .rpm, .tar.gz) on push to main
• Release (release.yml): Attaches .deb, .rpm, and Arch .tar.gz to GitHub releases

Arch Linux Installation

Arch users can install from the release tarball:

# Install runtime dependency (required for terminal rendering)
sudo pacman -S fontconfig
# Download the tarball from a release, then extract and install
tar xf datui-X.Y.Z-x86_64.tar.gz
sudo install -Dm755 datui /usr/bin/datui
sudo install -Dm644 target/release/datui.1.gz /usr/share/man/man1/datui.1.gz
sudo install -Dm644 LICENSE /usr/share/licenses/datui/LICENSE

Or use the included PKGBUILD with makepkg (it declares fontconfig as a dependency).

AUR Release Workflow

To update the AUR package when you release a new version:

1. Checkout the release tag and build the AUR package:

   git checkout vX.Y.Z
   cargo build --release --locked
   python3 scripts/build_package.py aur --no-build
   

2. Generate .SRCINFO and copy to your AUR repo:

   cd target/cargo-aur
   makepkg --printsrcinfo > .SRCINFO
   cp PKGBUILD .SRCINFO /path/to/aur-datui-bin/
   

3. Commit and push to the AUR:

   cd /path/to/aur-datui-bin
   git add PKGBUILD .SRCINFO
   git commit -m "Upstream update: X.Y.Z"
   git push
   

Use stable release tags only (e.g. v0.2.11); the AUR package fetches the tarball from the GitHub release. Dev builds are available from the dev release tag.

Automated AUR updates (GitHub Actions)

The release workflow can push PKGBUILD and .SRCINFO to the AUR automatically when you push a version tag. It publishes to the datui-bin AUR package (per AUR convention for pre-built binaries). It uses KSXGitHub/github-actions-deploy-aur: the action clones the AUR repo, copies our PKGBUILD and tarball, runs makepkg --printsrcinfo > .SRCINFO, then commits and pushes via SSH.

Required repository secrets (Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions):

If these secrets are not set, the “Publish to AUR” step will fail. To disable automated AUR updates, remove or comment out that step in .github/workflows/release.yml.

More Information

For detailed information about packaging metadata, policies, and AUR submission, see plans/packaging-deb-rpm-aur-plan.md.