Package Builder

Command-line utility that builds a package from composer project.

What it does

1. PackageBuilder creates a package for your current OS (in fact, for your distributive): deb (for Debian-based) or rpm (for Fedora-based). You can install it package or share to other people.
2. All files of your package will be installed in /usr/lib/[package name] folder.
3. To all binaries (specified in `bin` section of `composer.json`) will be made symbolic links and placed in /usr/local/bin/. That way you will be able use them like any other system program.

Package type

By default, utility uses os detection to decide what format of package should be used.

For now, it supports following package formats: deb* - uses automatically on Debian installation. You can force using this format by adding --type deb in console. rpm* - uses automatically on Fedora installation. You can force using this format by adding --type rpm in console.

How to package your project

1. Create clean and lite version of your package. For this manual let's take a mythical package `taifun/tornado`:
   mkdir package-build && cd package-build
   composer create-project --prefer-dist --no-dev taifun/tornado .
   

2. Install Package Builder globally. Skip this step if you have done this before.
   composer global require wapmorgan/package-builder
   

3. Add another path of autoloader in your binaries. All files of your package will be placed in /usr/lib/[package name]/ folder, so composer autoloader will be available by /usr/lib/[package name]/vendor/autoload.php path. [package name] is not the same as composer package name. You can use any that is not used in your system. For demonstrating purposes let's use `simplepackage`.
   $paths = [
       __DIR__.'/../vendor/autoload.php',
       __DIR__.'/../autoload.php',
       __DIR__.'/../../../autoload.php',
       '/usr/lib/simplepackage/vendor/autoload.php', // this line added
       ];
   
   function init_composer(array $paths) {
       foreach ($paths as $path) {
           if (file_exists($path)) {
               require_once $path;
               return true;
           }
       }
       return false;
   }
   
   if (!init_composer($paths)) die('Run `composer install` firstly.'.PHP_EOL);
   

4. Launch a Packaging Wizard. It will ask for additional information and finally build a package and store it in one-level above directory.
   pbuilder build .
   

A resulting ready-to-install deb or rpm-package will be stored in file ../simplepackage-version.deb or ../simplepackage-version-release.rpm.

FAQ

1. Why do I need to package php scripts?

   May be you want to take control of all files on your PC and just like your package manager.

2. What preinstalled steps is needed to build a package?

   * On Debian-based:

   - Install packages: ```sh build-essential ```

   * On Fedora-based:

   - Install build packages: - @development-tools - fedora-packager - rpmdevtools - Create build tree: ```sh rpmdev-setuptree ```

3. Can I build a package with different type than my OS uses?

   No, PackageBuilder uses system commands like `dpkg` and `rpmbuild` to create a package.