AppImage

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AppImages are portable software that do not require root permission to be run. They can be run without root permission:

user $chmod +x ExamplePackage.AppImage

user $./ExamplePackage.AppImage

Dependency

Most AppImages require sys-fs/fuse on slot 0:

user $./ExamplePackage.AppImage

dlopen(): error loading libfuse.so.2

AppImages require FUSE to run. 
You might still be able to extract the contents of this AppImage 
if you run it with the --appimage-extract option. 

See https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageKit/wiki/FUSE for more information

This error can be solved by installing sys-fs/fuse in slot 0. Slot 0 has version 2 of fuse required by most AppImages. Whereas sys-fs/fuse in slot 3 which has version 3 of fuse. The highest version available is installed by default, currently in slot 3, if no slot is specified and doesn't solve the dependency problem.

root #emerge --ask sys-fs/fuse:0

Create AppImage

This guide provides instructions for creating an AppImage of ripgrep, a line-oriented search tool that recursively searches directories for a specified pattern. The AppImage allows you to run ripgrep on compatible Linux systems without the need for installation.

Usage: Follow the steps below to create the ripgrep AppImage:

Step 1: Set up your build environment

Make sure you have the necessary tools and dependencies installed on your system, including gcc, cmake, pkg-config, and appimagetool.

Step 2: Clone the ripgrep repository

root #git clone https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep.git

Step 3: Navigate to the ripgrep directory

root #cd ripgrep

Step 4: Build ripgrep

root #cargo build --release

Step 5: Install the AppStream CLI (optional)

If you want to include AppStream metadata in your AppImage, you can install the appstreamcli tool. This step is optional but recommended.

Step 6: Create the AppDir

Create the AppDir using appimagetool with the following command:

root #appimagetool --appimage-extract

Step 7: Copy ripgrep files

Copy the ripgrep binary and any necessary files to the appropriate locations within the AppDir. Use the following commands:

root #cp target/release/rg squashfs-root/usr/bin/rg

Step 8: Create an AppRun file

Create a file named AppRun within the AppDir and make it executable. Add the following content to the file:

FILE AppRunAppRun

#!/bin/sh
exec "$(dirname "$0")"/squashfs-root/usr/bin/rg "$@"

Step 9: Set permissions

Ensure that the AppRun file is executable by running the following command:

root #chmod +x squashfs-root/AppRun

Step 10: Generate the AppImage

Finally, generate the AppImage using appimagetool with the following command:

root #appimagetool squashfs-root

After following these steps, you will have an AppImage file named something like ripgrep-x.x.x-x86_64.AppImage, where x.x.x represents the version number of ripgrep.

This AppImage can be distributed and run on compatible Linux systems without the need for installation.

References

• Reddit