Py2deb

On the maemo platform, software is distributed using the Debian package system. If you don't develop in Scratchbox, but directly on the device, you need a tool to properly put together your software for distribution as such a .deb package. For this, you can either use PyPackager or py2deb, both developed by Khertan:

Use PyPackager to build a .deb package for redistribution in maemo.org/downloads, on your private homepage or wherever
Use Py2Deb to prepare a package structure suitable for autobuilder, so that users can later download it directly from the Extras repository using the Application Manager of the tablets.

Using PyPackager is quite easy and is covered in the linked article. The maemo fork of Py2Deb however is a bit trickier to use - this article explains my experience in repackaging mClock for the autobuilder.

1 Install py2deb
2 Prerequisites
3 Example /src folder structure
4 Setup the build_myapp.py code
5 Run your build_myapp.py code
6 Upload to autobuilder
7 Track autobuilder
8 Test your package
9 Promote your package
10 Future

Install py2deb

Install python2.5-py2deb (it can be found in the extras-devel repository)

Prerequisites

Create a folder /myapp under your /MyDocs folder (e.g. "/home/user/MyDocs/mclock"). Then add the following files and folders:

A subfolder /src that contains all your source files in a folder structure which represents the way your app files will install on the device (See mClock example in next section of this article) - and with the correct permissions set!
The icon for your software package (e.g. mclock.png, 26x26 pixels), the one that will be visible for your package in the application manager.
A copy of the "build_myapp.py" file, named and edited to your needs (e.g. build_mclock.py) as seen below

Example /src folder structure

Files needed for the Hildon desktop integration:

 /usr/share/applications/hildon/mClock.desktop
 /usr/share/dbus-1/services/mClock.service
 /usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/hildon/mclock.png
 /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/hildon/mclock.png

Files of the application itself:

 /usr/bin/mClock
 /usr/lib/mClock/mClock.py
 /usr/lib/mClock/sun.py
 /usr/share/mClock/img/0-Night.jpg
 /usr/share/mClock/img/1-Winter-January.jpg
 /usr/share/mClock/img/2-Spring-April.jpg
 /usr/share/mClock/img/3-Summer-July.jpg
 /usr/share/mClock/img/4-Fall-October.jpg
 /usr/share/mClock/img/sun.png

Setup the build_myapp.py code

Copy the following code to create your own build_myapp.py, then edit according to your needs:

 #!/usr/bin/python2.5
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 ## This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 ## it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published
 ## by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 only.
 ##
 ## This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 ## but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 ## MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 ## GNU General Public License for more details.
 ##
 import py2deb
 import os

 if __name__ == "__main__":
     try:
         os.chdir(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0]))
     except:
         pass
     print

     p=py2deb.Py2deb("mclock")   #This is the package name and MUST be in lowercase! (using e.g. "mClock" fails miserably...)
     p.description="A simple clock for maemo, incl. a day/night world map.\nPress D-Pad or bottom left to switch view mode.\nESC to exit.\nLeft/right D-Pad (or touching l/r border of screen)\nto change season."
     p.author="Tom Waelti"
     p.mail="twaelti@gmail.com"
     p.depends = "python2.5 (>= 2.5.1-1osso5),  python2.5-osso, python2.5-gnome (>= 2.18.0-1osso3), python2.5-pygame"
     p.section="user/other"
     p.icon = "/home/user/MyDocs/mclock/mClock.png"
     p.arch="all"                #should be all for python, any for all arch
     p.urgency="low"             #not used in maemo onl for deb os
     p.distribution="diablo"
     p.repository="extras-devel"
     version = "0.5.7"           #Version of your software, e.g. "1.2.0" or "0.8.2"
     build = "2"                 #Build number, e.g. "1" for the first build of this version of your software. Increment for later re-builds of the same version of your software.
                                 #Text with changelog information to be displayed in the package "Details" tab of the Maemo Application Manager
     changeloginformation = "Fixed (large) icon." 
    
     dir_name = "src"            #Name of the subfolder containing your package source files (e.g. usr\share\icons\hicolor\scalable\myappicon.svg, usr\lib\myapp\somelib.py). We suggest to leave it named src in all projects and will refer to that in the wiki article on maemo.org

     #Thanks to DareTheHair from ITT for this snippet that recursively builds the file list 
     for root, dirs, files in os.walk(dir_name):
         real_dir = root[len(dir_name):]
         fake_file = []
         for f in files:
             fake_file.append(root + os.sep + f + "|" + f)
         if len(fake_file) > 0:
             p[real_dir] = fake_file

     print p
     r = p.generate(version,build,changelog=changeloginformation,tar=True,dsc=True,changes=True,build=False,src=True)

When editing the .section, make sure to use an allowed section - otherwise autobuilder will give a warning.

Run your build_myapp.py code

Open "X Terminal" on your device and change directory into your folder (e.g. "cd /home/user/MyDocs/mclock"). Then run your code using "python ./buildmyapp.py" (e.g. "python /home/user/MyDocs/mclock/build_mclock.py") in Xterm. py2deb will now package your files. In the process, it might also ask about (or complain if its missing) your PGP/GPG passphrase so that it can sign your source package - this can however safely be ignored, as autobuilder doesn't require package signing anymore since late 2008. Once this is done successfully, your /MyDocs/myapp folder will contain three new files, e.g.

mclock_0.5.6-2.changes (the changelog)
mclock_0.5.6-2.dsc (the package description)
mclock_0.5.6-2.tar.gz (the packed source files)

Upload to autobuilder

The 3 files created can now be "fed" to the Autobuilder who will build the final debian package and then push your app into the Extras Devel repository.
Check this section to learn about uploading to autobuilder (Using the webbased assistant is probably the easiest way to get started).

Track autobuilder

After your upload, autobuilder will try to build your package. This will take about 5-10 minutes.
Once it has finished (or failed :-), you will get an email with the result of the autobuild as the subject (e.g. "[diablo]: mclock 0.5.6-2 OK") and some log details in the message body. It will also include a link to the detailed logs (e.g. for [ "https://garage.maemo.org/builder/diablo/mclock_0.5.6-2/" mClock]) so that you can learn more about any errors etc. Upon successfull build, it will take another few minutes for the application to show up in the Extras Devel repository.

Test your package

If your build was OK, you can now refresh your Application Manager (make sure that you did add and enable the extras-devel repository!) and install your application from there. Ask some friends in the maemo community (mailing lists, ITT, IRC) to test your package.

Promote your package

Once testing provided good results, you are ready to promote your package, meaning that it will now become available in the "real" extras repository.

Future

IMHO, the following features would be nice for py2deb:

Support for Pre-/Postinstall scripts (might already be hidden inside, but no info available)

Retrieved from "https://wiki.maemo.org/Py2deb"

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