Created EXE w/Linux Laz IDE- now how do I install? (Ubuntu)
lazarus / 32-Linux

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Sheepdog · 2024-06-10 10:09

I've created an .exe with Lazarus, on an Ubuntu box, using the
amd64.deb.

Now I'd like to "install" (wrong word?) that .exe on an Ubuntu
machine, so I can run it just like I run programs installed using the
Ubuntu... umm... "thing". (The newbie friendly... app store?... place
where I fetched, say, Firefox from to set it up on my Ubuntu system.)

Apologies for what is probably just a newbie-Linux-user question...
but maybe a Lazarus-created .exe has quirks that must be provided for?

(My program runs fine... when I run it from the IDE. It does nothing
particularly clever.)

If the answers for...

a) Install on an Ubuntu box with the Lazarus IDE installed
  ... and...
b) Install on an Ubuntu box which does NOT have the IDE

... would be different, the answer to "a" will suffice for present
wants.

(Broad hints about the extra "features" required for the second want
would be welcome.)

With thanks, Tom.  Longtime Lazarus-on-Windows programmer. New to all
aspects of Linux.

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Wallaby · 2024-06-10 11:14

Assuming by .EXE you mean a Linux ELF binary without additional
dependencies, it would simply run on any Linux machine.

If you want to create an installer, you would need to package that
binary as a .DEB and/or .RPM file, or a SNAP, or AppImage.

Otherwise you can simply compress it with into a TGZ file and will run
anywhere you copy it.

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Sheepdog · 2024-06-10 11:49

Ah. Thank you. Apologies for flaws in my question!

---
The ".exe" file seemingly had NO extension. (If I've got "Ubuntu
doesn't hide extensions except .desktop" and "Extensions aren't really
"a thing" in Linux" right! Other Linux newbies like me might find the
following helpful...

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1460676

---
The file I was calling "the .exe" had the name I assigned to the .lpi
file, i.e. the project name.

---
Thank you, Wallaby, for the several useful things in your answer.

I don't (yet!) aspire to an installer... unless it is needed for
something I will come to in a moment.

Is the TGZ compression a necessary thing, or an optional extra with
some obvious pros and cons?

---
I'm hoping that simply copying the file I was talking about to a
folder of my choice on a different machine would make it usable there?

I can open the "Files" app, drill down, and double-click, if that's
the least painful option.

I was hoping there is an uncomplicated way to create what Windows
would call a shortcut that could appear on desktop (simple, crude
answer), or someplace more sensible, so I can launch the program just
by clicking on that?

Is it complicated, once the file is on the system's storage, to get an
entry in the "Apps" list, i.e. the window full of icons-to-click which
comes up if I click on the "Show Apps" grid of dots in my "Dash"
("dashboard").

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Dzandaa · 2024-06-10 12:00

Hi,

Linux executable programs do not have an extension, as in Windows.
They are Linux ELF binary.

You can see the propriety of a program by running "file MyProgram" at
a command prompt.

You can run your program on another Linux computer of the same type
(32 or 64 Bits).
If you want to run it from everywhere on you Linux Machine, the best
directory you can copy it in is /usr/local/bin, assuming that
directory is in the PATH (in root mode).

B->

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MarkMLl · 2024-06-10 12:29

Quote from: Wallaby on June 10, 2024, 01:14:14 pmAssuming by .EXE you
mean a Linux ELF binary without additional dependencies, it would
simply run on any Linux machine.

If you want to create an installer, you would need to package that
binary as a .DEB and/or .RPM file, or a SNAP, or AppImage.

Otherwise you can simply compress it with into a TGZ file and will run
anywhere you copy it.

I'd suggest that more to the point:

* By convention, the executable doesn't have an "extension" which is a
Windows (nee DOS, CP/M etc.) thing.

* From the shell, you can run the binary by specifying its full path,
or using e.g. ./MyProgram if it is in the current directory.

* Remember that unix filesystems are case-preserving and case-
sensitive.

* You will find it more convenient to have a program on the path. By
convention, locally-compiled programs go into /usr/local/bin

* The normal user will probably not have permission to write to
/usr/local/bin, so will need to use sudo (qv) providing his own
password for authentication.

* Files can be copied using the cp command. It might be necessary to
use the -p option to preserve the executable mode (qqv).

* Installing a file into the computer's menu system depends on the GUI
(desktop environment etc.) in use.

* There's a standard program "install" which can handle executable
mode etc., but it won't solve the password issue or menu.

* If copying to a different machine (e.g. using sftp (qv)), you will
need to ensure that any prerequisite libraries are present. This is
particularly the case if one system is 32- and the other 64-bit.

* Stating the obvious, if you've used Lazarus to build a GUI-oriented
program it won't run on a system which doesn't have a GUI.

MarkMLl

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msintle · 2024-11-07 13:52

Especially if you're coming from the Windows world, you'll find this a
breeze:

https://www.installaware.com/installaware-multi-platform.htm

Builds the classic installation wizards that you know from Windows -
on Linux (and Mac).

They even "downscale" to run in character mode, when their setup GUI
fails to boot due to missing widgets.

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TRon · 2024-11-07 19:08

And because forcing some arbitrary windows method to other platforms
(so that you can circumvent all security measures) please do not
forget to especially implement an update function in your application
that automatically checks if there is a new version of the application
that which will automatically update itself when suited).

Also always run you applications as a user with admin rights otherwise
you would be prompted for passwords and that is very inconvenient (so
better skip it all together). Better yet, give all your users admin
rights from the get go.

What could possibly go wrong...

Some bold claims on that website (and I believe exactly none of them 
).

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msintle · 2024-11-07 19:36

Your belief is not required, as everything works exactly as
advertised.

Disclaimer: I am on that product team, and you may feel happy that the
product was built using Lazarus.

- While you haven't specified what arbitrary Windows method you're
referring to, we don't force anything; nothing is hard coded in setups
you create with IAMP. You can have a script that does absolutely
anything you like - entirely unrelated to installations if that be
your fancy.

- We of course cannot circumvent any security measures, but we do our
best to cooperate with them. Binaries are signed/notarized when the
underlying platform offers a means to do so. Elevation is supported on
each platform using native elevation routines.

- We do ship a fully customizable update script and update dialogs,
all built in IAMP itself so you may customize them to your heart's
content. You are able to easily target updates for your released
application versions and add additional targeting by
language/OS/bitness/etc.

- None of our toolchain requires admin rights, although you may, of
course, perform admin actions as part of your installation should you
choose to elevate.

I would request that you don't judge us by the mistakes of other
people who have absolutely nothing to do with us, and that you form
your own opinion of us after an actual product evaluation (which is
available for entirely free from our public website).

----------------------------------------------------------------------
TRon · 2024-11-07 20:16

Quote from: msintle on November 07, 2024, 08:36:07 pmYour belief is
not required, as everything works exactly as advertised.
First claim to dispute: "Support Linux, macOS, and Windows with zero
dependencies (no Java) - zero failures."

There simply can't be any zero dependencies. They are either present
or they aren't. If they are they are either statically linked in or
you can solve that by using some arbitrary method to access them.

Quote- While you haven't specified what arbitrary Windows method
you're referring to, we don't force anything; nothing is hard coded in
setups you create with IAMP. You can have a script that does
absolutely anything you like - entirely unrelated to installations if
that be your fancy.
The method of installing in general. Software on *nix system isn't
deployed using an installer rather with something like a package
manager or automation system (such as f.e. ansible). As a sysadmin I
do not have the time to use yet another installation method, making
all kind of choices, looking at pretty pictures  and/or press buttons.

Quote- We of course cannot circumvent any security measures, but we do
our best to cooperate with them. Binaries are signed/notarized when
the underlying platform offers a means to do so. Elevation is
supported on each platform using native elevation routines.
afaik, we will never know since it is a closed source project. So,
therefor the software can make all sort of claims that the software/
installation script can't do anything in particular.

Quote- We do ship a fully customizable update script and update
dialogs, all built in IAMP itself so you may customize them to your
heart's content. You are able to easily target updates for your
released application versions and add additional targeting by
language/OS/bitness/etc.
So can do any package manager.

Quote- None of our toolchain requires admin rights, although you may,
of course, perform admin actions as part of your installation should
you choose to elevate.
From that can only be concluded that the software and additional
(data)files and/or dependencies are not installed at the locations
that they are suppose to be located.

QuoteI would request that you don't judge us by the mistakes of other
people who have absolutely nothing to do with us, and that you form
your own opinion of us after an actual product evaluation (which is
available for entirely free from our public website).
No, thank you.

You are simply preaching to the wrong person here 

Nothing personal other than that I find it rather distasteful to
advertise such product in a generic discussion (edit: there is a
specific sub-forum for that).

----------------------------------------------------------------------
MarkMLl · 2024-11-07 21:33

Quote from: msintle on November 07, 2024, 08:36:07 pm- None of our
toolchain requires admin rights, although you may, of course, perform
admin actions as part of your installation should you choose to
elevate.

So presumably you're installing into ~/bin or similar. What if there's
multiple users on the system? Do they each have ~/lib, ~/etc and so
on, and where do common files go (e.g. a "simultaneous users"
counter)?

MarkMLl

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msintle · 2024-11-07 22:40

Quote from: TRon on November 07, 2024, 09:16:32 pmQuote from: msintle
on November 07, 2024, 08:36:07 pmYour belief is not required, as
everything works exactly as advertised.
First claim to dispute: "Support Linux, macOS, and Windows with zero
dependencies (no Java) - zero failures."

There simply can't be any zero dependencies. They are either present
or they aren't. If they are they are either statically linked in or
you can solve that by using some arbitrary method to access them.

Unless someone deletes core system files (like what would be the
equivalent of kernel32.dll on Windows), we don't have any extraenous
dependencies.

The widgets are the only exception to this. We currently support GTK2
and Qt5, as those are most mature kits Lazarus supports on Linux.

If you don't have the libraries for your chosen kit, then we display
your setup in pure character mode - showing you all your custom
dialogs as pure text.

So yes, our setups are 100% native code, and they really do work
everywhere with a single binary (as long as the platform bitness
matches [sadly, unlike Windows, Linux doesn't have a common
denominator subsystem like x86 which is supported on amd64 and aarch64
OS flavors]).

Quote from: TRon on November 07, 2024, 09:16:32 pmQuote- While you
haven't specified what arbitrary Windows method you're referring to,
we don't force anything; nothing is hard coded in setups you create
with IAMP. You can have a script that does absolutely anything you
like - entirely unrelated to installations if that be your fancy.
The method of installing in general. Software on *nix system isn't
deployed using an installer rather with something like a package
manager or automation system (such as f.e. ansible). As a sysadmin I
do not have the time to use yet another installation method, making
all kind of choices, looking at pretty pictures  and/or press buttons.

Fair enough, that's what silent installs are for. You can pass command
line parameters to customize packages and run them entirely non-
interactively. You can even force a GUI setup to run in character mode
should you so fancy.

Quote from: TRon on November 07, 2024, 09:16:32 pmQuote- We of course
cannot circumvent any security measures, but we do our best to
cooperate with them. Binaries are signed/notarized when the underlying
platform offers a means to do so. Elevation is supported on each
platform using native elevation routines.
afaik, we will never know since it is a closed source project. So,
therefor the software can make all sort of claims that the software/
installation script can't do anything in particular.

You don't need open source for that. Looking at the command palette of
the scripting language, you'll instantly get a sense of what the tool
can or cannot do.

Quote from: TRon on November 07, 2024, 09:16:32 pmQuote- We do ship a
fully customizable update script and update dialogs, all built in IAMP
itself so you may customize them to your heart's content. You are able
to easily target updates for your released application versions and
add additional targeting by language/OS/bitness/etc.
So can do any package manager.

Nice, can they also display custom dialogs that are designed in what
looks exactly like Lazarus's dialog editor with the exact control
properties afforded therein?

Quote from: TRon on November 07, 2024, 09:16:32 pmQuote- None of our
toolchain requires admin rights, although you may, of course, perform
admin actions as part of your installation should you choose to
elevate.
From that can only be concluded that the software and additional
(data)files and/or dependencies are not installed at the locations
that they are suppose to be located.

We don't have dependencies, since our toolchain is also native code,
thanks to Lazarus of course.

We treat Linux like any other first-class citizen in today's world of
client operating systems.

Meaning, the default installation folder for IAMP itself is somewhere
in the user profile folder:
/home/parallels/.local/share/InstallAware Multi Platform/

You can change that of course, and install it whereever you like.

Quote from: TRon on November 07, 2024, 09:16:32 pmQuoteI would request
that you don't judge us by the mistakes of other people who have
absolutely nothing to do with us, and that you form your own opinion
of us after an actual product evaluation (which is available for
entirely free from our public website).
No, thank you.

Of course, and  thank you for the opportunity to clarify core
misunderstandings.

Fact is, there's been so many crap (as in hard to use and easy to make
mistakes in) installers on Windows that all installers today get a bad
rap and the industry at large has moved to straitjacket package
managers which are very inflexible to use, hard to author for, and
proliferating like mushrooms.

We're not one of those.

Quote from: TRon on November 07, 2024, 09:16:32 pmYou are simply
preaching to the wrong person here 

Nothing personal other than that I find it rather distasteful to
advertise such product in a generic discussion (edit: there is a
specific sub-forum for that).

Touché.

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msintle · 2024-11-07 22:42

Quote from: MarkMLl on November 07, 2024, 10:33:57 pmQuote from:
msintle on November 07, 2024, 08:36:07 pm- None of our toolchain
requires admin rights, although you may, of course, perform admin
actions as part of your installation should you choose to elevate.

So presumably you're installing into ~/bin or similar. What if there's
multiple users on the system? Do they each have ~/lib, ~/etc and so
on, and where do common files go (e.g. a "simultaneous users"
counter)?

MarkMLl

We don't really have common files, and we don't install into protected
system folders.

For our own kit, we've adopted the position that admin rights must not
be required to install (or run) the product.

That's just our setup, you could install your stuff anywhere you like
- that's why we fully support OS native elevation scenarios.

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Diverod · 2024-11-13 22:23

Quote from: Sheepdog on June 10, 2024, 01:49:04 pmI was hoping there
is an uncomplicated way to create what Windows would call a shortcut
that could appear on desktop (simple, crude answer), or someplace more
sensible, so I can launch the program just by clicking on that?

I see this post is a little old but note you having the same struggle
as I did. A simple way that I found was to make a desktop launcher
file. I'll show an example of one I use to launch my basic deb package
maker: the name of the file is 'com.DesktopDebPkg.desktop' and the
content of the text file is listed below. (The DesktopDebPkg part of
the file name can be anything you like). Use a plain text editor to
make the file.
Code: Text  [Select][+][-]window.onload = function(){var x1 =
document.getElementById("main_content_section"); if (x1) { var x =
document.getElementsByClassName("geshi");for (var i = 0; i [Desktop
Entry]Type=ApplicationName=DesktopDebPkgPath=/home/rodg/Lazarus Projec
ts/DesktopDebPkg/Exec=DesktopDebPkgIcon=/home/rodg/Documents/DesktopDe
bPkg/Resources/DebPkg1.png
[Desktop Entry]          // This needs to be the 1st line.
Type=Application       // Leave this as is.
Name=MyLabel         // This will be the text displayed under the icon
on your desktop.
Path=                         // This should be the path to the
directory of where you placed your application.
Exec=                        // This is the application name.
Icon=                         // The full path and name of the image
you want to display on the desktop for your launcher.

When you first make the desktop launcher it will have a red X on it.
Right-mouse-key the icon and select 'allow launching' and you should
be all set. I use this on Ubuntu 24.04 and it does not show in the OS
menu system but is handy for me. Hope this helps.

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msintle · 2024-11-14 10:35

Quote from: Diverod on November 13, 2024, 11:23:51 pmQuote from:
Sheepdog on June 10, 2024, 01:49:04 pmI was hoping there is an
uncomplicated way to create what Windows would call a shortcut that
could appear on desktop (simple, crude answer), or someplace more
sensible, so I can launch the program just by clicking on that?

I see this post is a little old but note you having the same struggle
as I did. A simple way that I found was to make a desktop launcher
file. I'll show an example of one I use to launch my basic deb package
maker: the name of the file is 'com.DesktopDebPkg.desktop' and the
content of the text file is listed below. (The DesktopDebPkg part of
the file name can be anything you like). Use a plain text editor to
make the file.
Code: Text  [Select][+][-]window.onload = function(){var x1 =
document.getElementById("main_content_section"); if (x1) { var x =
document.getElementsByClassName("geshi");for (var i = 0; i [Desktop
Entry]Type=ApplicationName=DesktopDebPkgPath=/home/rodg/Lazarus Projec
ts/DesktopDebPkg/Exec=DesktopDebPkgIcon=/home/rodg/Documents/DesktopDe
bPkg/Resources/DebPkg1.png
[Desktop Entry]          // This needs to be the 1st line.
Type=Application       // Leave this as is.
Name=MyLabel         // This will be the text displayed under the icon
on your desktop.
Path=                         // This should be the path to the
directory of where you placed your application.
Exec=                        // This is the application name.
Icon=                         // The full path and name of the image
you want to display on the desktop for your launcher.

When you first make the desktop launcher it will have a red X on it.
Right-mouse-key the icon and select 'allow launching' and you should
be all set. I use this on Ubuntu 24.04 and it does not show in the OS
menu system but is handy for me. Hope this helps.

Not to beat a dead horse, but the Create Shortcut command in
InstallAware Multi Platform already takes care of this for you.

Based on which OS your are compiling it for - macOS/Linux/Windows -
the same and single Create Shortcut command in your setup script
creates shortcuts that work properly as intended - including
executable parameters, icons, startup folders, etc.

Believe it or not: This is quite a bit of a mess even just amongst
Linux flavors themselves, so something seemingly as trivial as this
ends up taking a ton of effort.

Let's also not forget Create File Type, which associates file types
(ex: .pdf) with handler applications (ex: Acrobat), again consistently
and successfully on all platforms (again including custom file type
icon support).

Needless to say, that was much worse of a nightmare than the venerable
Create Shortcut! Makes you think how much we often take for granted.

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Diverod · 2024-11-14 12:59

I only posted here because, to me, the OP was in search of knowledge
and I only saw a solution provided. I tried to provide some knowledge.
   Respectfully, I do not wish to participate in any discussion/debate
about a solution.
   Perhaps a moderator should just close this thread.

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TRon · 2024-11-14 13:10

Just for the record:
I refrain from further commenting here because I do not wish to
further indulge the advertisement.

After having had a look, all that I wrote still holds but the
discussion does not belong here not have I any interest in argumenting
against any unfounded claims and/or convenient wrong interpretation(s)
of my statements.

If you are a user of this product and appreciate it then by all means
keep appreciating it. Just don't bother clueless users (that is
something I will keep ventilating).

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msintle · 2024-11-15 11:28

The intent is really not to bother anyone or to spam the forum with
advertising, but to communicate that these are truly non-trivial
problems based on the experience I acquired working on said product's
team.

The desktop files are very fickle and work differently on almost all
Linux flavors, causing many endless pitfalls. This is the value in
using a tool whose job it is precisely to address and isolate you from
those differentials, so you can focus on what matters - your
application itself.

FWIW, you'd have better luck "reverse engineering" the tool by having
it create those desktop files for you on different Linux instances and
then comparing the differences, than to actually discover all those
nuances by yourself.

I respectfully submit the above to your consideration and thank you
very much for your understanding if, due to my previously disclosed
involvement with the product, I am not being an objective poster;
unbeknownst to myself.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
MarkMLl · 2024-11-15 11:53

Quote from: msintle on November 15, 2024, 12:28:25 pmThe intent is
really not to bother anyone or to spam the forum with advertising, but
to communicate that these are truly non-trivial problems based on the
experience I acquired working on said product's team.

I for one agree that there are issues, but the solution needs to be
thought out carefully while respecting unix tradition.

QuoteThe desktop files are very fickle and work differently on almost
all Linux flavors, causing many endless pitfalls. This is the value in
using a tool whose job it is precisely to address and isolate you from
those differentials, so you can focus on what matters - your
application itself.

No: they work differently with different Window Managers and in some
cases different versions of window manager, and when that happens it
should be reported as a bug and if necessary raised with
freedesktop.org which is responsible for their format. I'd
particularly highlight the OnlyShowIn= and NotShowIn= items, which are
honoured more in the breach than the observance.

Apart from that I agree that at the very least XDG-compatible desktop
files could usefully be created by the Lazarus IDE, in the same way
that Manifest and Application Bundle files are supported, and
/possibly/, that a shell script could be created to link to xdg-
desktop-menu. I'm sure that patches would be welcomed by some.

MarkMLl