Installing an Autopackage

So I've got myself a .package file - now what? See How to install Linux autopackages in 4 easy steps.

Where should I put it?

When installing a package, you can often choose which prefix to use. Most of the time, you should just leave this as the default. However, if you're curious then read on.

The prefix is similar to the installation path on Windows machines, in that it's the location in the file system where the program files are placed. However, virtually all Linux software shares the same structure, which is standardised in the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, so often packages are combined together into the same directory. This has a number of advantages, namely a smaller path, and it's also useful in networked scenarios. A quick guide to prefixes:

/ - used for system software
/usr - used for user software that is available via a network
/usr/local - used for user software that is available locally, or installed by yourself
/opt - not used much, in theory meant for "optional" software. Most of the time, /usr/local is used instead. Some use /opt for packages that needs its own folder, like many commercial applications.

If you're not on a network, then it doesn't really matter whether you use /usr/local or /usr.

Programs specific to a desktop environment such as KDE/GNOME are usually installed into the KDE/GNOME prefix if that isn't /usr or /usr/local (SuSE for instance places them in /opt/kde3 and /opt/gnome)

You should normally just accept the default, whatever that is. It's been chosen for you to minimize problems. Usually it'll be /usr for system wide installations or ~/.local for installs that only affect one user.

You choose the prefix by passing the --prefix argument to a package, like this:

Repairing it

Sometimes, programs break. It could be that you accidentally moved, or deleted a file that the program needs. It could be that a library was upgraded but it broke binary compatibility between minor versions (which is something that is frowned upon, but it does happen occasionally). Whatever the reason is, occasionally a program won't run anymore. If that happens, you can run :

Which will start the auto-repair process. This might not work, but it's your best shot.

Uninstalling it

As of version 1.0, Autopackage includes a tool similar to the "Add/Remove programs" utility found in Microsoft Windows. This tool can be used to uninstall software and see some basic information about the installed software.

You can also remove packages using the command line. Just run the following:

In the above command, "packagename" should be replaced with the name of your package. You can use the following command to get a list of installed packages: