Building the Flatpak Yourself

For Advanced Users Only

This is for advanced users who are comfortable going through the build process themselves, such as those who want to build on top of the changes I have made. For regular users, please install using the Installation Section.

Prerequisites

1. A linux operating system (can of course use a VM via VMWare, virtual box, WSL2, etc.)

2. The following packages (install instructions separated by Linux distribution below):

   1. gpg

   2. curl

   3. flatpak

   4. flatpak-builder

   Ubuntu/DebianRHEL/CentOSArch LinuxSteam OS

   sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y gnupg curl flatpak flatpak-builder
   

   sudo yum update && sudo yum install -y gnupg curl flatpak flatpak-builder
   

   sudo pacman -Syy && sudo pacman -S gnupg curl flatpak flatpak-builder
   

   Note

   Steam OS is a read-only filesystem so you will need to temporarily disable this to install flatpak-builder. Additionally, keep in mind that your installed packages may get wiped during a system update and need to be reinstalled following this process again in the future.

   1. Disable read-only mode

      sudo steamos-readonly disable
      

   2. Init keyring

      sudo pacman-key --init
      

   3. Populate keyring with Arch Linux keys

      sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux
      

   4. Populate keyring with Holo keys

      sudo pacman-key --populate holo
      

   5. Install dependencies

      sudo pacman -Syy && sudo pacman -S flatpak-builder
      

   6. Re-enable read-only mode

      sudo steamos-readonly enable
      

3. Flathub, the default flatpak repository

   flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
   

Building the Flatpak

Get Flatpak Dependencies

1. Install the necessary flatpak runtime, associated sdk, and base app.

   flatpak install -y flathub org.kde.Platform//6.7 flathub org.kde.Sdk//6.7
   

2. Create a directory for your build files and switch into it

   mkdir -p ~/build-chiaki4deck-flatpak && cd ~/build-chiaki4deck-flatpak
   

3. Get the flatpak manifest file for chiaki4deck

   curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/streetpea/chiaki4deck/main/scripts/flatpak/chiaki4deck.yaml
   

Create gpg Key for Signing your Builds and Repositories

1. Create the gpg key pair

   gpg --quick-gen-key chiaki4deck-diy
   

2. Export public key (private key stays on your machine in your gpg directory) [~/.gnupg by default].

   gpg --export chiaki4deck-diy > chiaki4deck-diy.gpg
   

Create Flatpak

1. Build the flatpak for chiaki4deck

   flatpak-builder --repo=chiaki4deck-diy --force-clean build chiaki4deck.yaml --gpg-sign chiaki4deck-diy
   

   How long will this take?

   This build process is compiling first the dependencies and then Chiaki itself with the updates included in chiaki4deck. This will take a long while (read: 15+ minutes depending on the resources of the build system itself) the first time it runs. However, since flatpak caches builds, if you make changes to just the chiaki4deck repo code and then run a new build, it will import the dependencies from cache and only start building from scratch when it detects the first change in the stack. This results in subsequent builds going much faster than the first build you make.

2. Update static deltas (makes upgrading require less downloaded data for end-users)

   flatpak build-update-repo chiaki4deck-diy --generate-static-deltas --gpg-sign=chiaki4deck-diy
   

Adding your Own Remote and Installing from It

1. Add the repository you built as a local remote repository

   flatpak --user remote-add --gpg-import chiaki4deck-diy.gpg chiaki4deck-diy ~/build-chiaki4deck-flatpak/chiaki4deck-diy
   

2. Install your self-built chiaki4deck flatpak from your new remote

   flatpak --user install chiaki4deck-diy io.github.streetpea.Chiaki4deck
   

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Last update: June 11, 2024
Created: September 1, 2022