Wireshark-dev: [Wireshark-dev] Packaging automation (was: Re: PortableApps Wireshark feedback)
On Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 08:18:54PM +0100, Ulf Lamping wrote:
> Having a meta format to describe the required files seems a good idea.
> However, I don't think we currently have a tool to handle XML and I
> don't like the idea of adding another tool. As the number of tools a
> newbie needs to install to generate Wireshark is already very huge
> IMHO. Each new tool also adds the possibility of new problems.
>
> Maybe we can find a way to use the existing toolchain for this (e.g.
> like the version stuff using sed today)?
That is a good idea. I would prefer to stay away from XML files if
possible as they are a bit harder to read/edit by hand than plain-text
files.
BTW, I'm in the early stages of working on yet another packaging method,
this time for MacOS X :-). It copies Wireshark and needed
files/libraries into an Application Bundle (a single "file" - actually a
directory structure named Wireshark.app - that can be dropped into the
Applications folder with everything in it). I don't plan to even put it
in the SVN tree until I can automate it more.
It would be great to have *one* location to specify the current version,
an automated way to get SVN version info for all platforms, and a place
to list all files that are needed for installation. Perhaps this could
be extracted from the existing makefiles?
More details for those who are interested: My MacOS X packaging consists
of a single Perl script that calls some standard MacOS X tools to
determine library dependencies to copy in (otool -L) and modify the
paths of those libraries in Wireshark & dumpcap (install_name_tool). I
now need to make it copy in files like the radius dictionaries, SNMP
MIBs, AUTHORS-SHORT & COPYING (for the About menu), etc. My packaging
script needs to know what files are needed as well as figuring out the
current version & SVN version of Wireshark. The only thing it doesn't
need is WinPcap. So far, it gets Wireshark up and running just fine.
It can bundle either a GTK/X11 version or native GTK/Quartz (which works
almost perfectly these days!) version of Wireshark. Unfortunately, they
don't release pre-built binaries of GTK and friends like they do for
Windows, so those need to be compiled first.
Steve
