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my-linux-scripts

Short instruction on how to install an AppImage and create the desktop shortcut

On a linux based system.

Call this script with the appimage path and the new name the program (binary) should have afterwards. install-appimage.sh ~/Downloads/my-downloaded.AppImage installed-bin-name
On some ways on how to get this script on your computer see at the bottom of this page.

START_DIR=$(pwd)
APP_IMG_PATH=$1
echo "Selected AppImage path to install to: "$APP_IMG_PATH
APP_IMG_NAME=$(basename $1)
echo "Name of the AppImage: "$APP_IMG_NAME
NEW_NAME=$2
echo "New name to be installed as: "$NEW_NAME

if [ -z $APP_IMG_PATH ]; then
    echo "Please pass a path to the appimage as argument! - exiting"
    exit 1
fi
if [ -z $NEW_NAME ]; then
    echo "Please pass an installation name as argument! - exiting"
    exit 1
fi
printf "\n"

Making the appimage executable

echo "Executing: chmod +x $APP_IMG_PATH"
chmod +x $APP_IMG_PATH
printf "\n"

Move it to the temp directory and extract the appimage there

echo "Moving AppImage to: 'mv $APP_IMG_PATH /tmp'"
cp $APP_IMG_PATH /tmp
cd /tmp
echo "Executing: '$APP_IMG_NAME --appimage-extract'"
./$APP_IMG_NAME --appimage-extract
printf "\n"

Find the desktop file in the extracted directory

echo "Executing: DESKTOP_FILE=find squashfs-root -name \"*.desktop\""
DESKTOP_FILE=$(find squashfs-root -name "*.desktop" | head -n 1)
echo "Found '$DESKTOP_FILE'"
printf "\n"

DESKTOP_INSTALLED_DIR=~/.local/share/applications/
echo "Copy desktop file: 'cp $DESKTOP_FILE $DESKTOP_INSTALLED_DIR'"
cp $DESKTOP_FILE $DESKTOP_INSTALLED_DIR
DESKTOP_INSTALLED=$DESKTOP_INSTALLED_DIR$(basename $DESKTOP_FILE)
printf "\n"

Then rename to appimage and move it to the user binaries directory

INSTALLED_PATH=~/.local/bin/$NEW_NAME
echo "Move binary: 'mv $APP_IMG_NAME $INSTALLED_PATH'"
mv $APP_IMG_NAME $INSTALLED_PATH
printf "\n"

Use sed to replace the path of the executable in the desktop file

echo "sed -i -E s:Exec=.+\n:Exec=$INSTALLED_PATH: $DESKTOP_INSTALLED"
sed -i -E s:Exec=.+:Exec=$INSTALLED_PATH: $DESKTOP_INSTALLED
printf "\n"

Clean up extracted application temporary directory and go back to start dir

echo "Cleaning up"
rm -r /tmp/squashfs-root
cd $START_DIR
printf "\n"
echo "Finished installing $APP_IMG_NAME as $NEW_NAME!"

Now you are ready to start the application by looking for the desktop file or by using your terminal and entering the new application name and hitting enter.

If you do not want to copy the sections of this script to a .sh file to exectute
and instead want to run it directly from this page or install it on your computer permanently you
can use rnmd.

If you have pip (python modules installer) on your PC you can just do:
pip3 install rnmd

Or follow the instructions on the github page of the project:
rnmd github page

then you can run this page by:
rnmd https://www.github.com/MarkusPeitl/my-linux-scripts/docs/install-appimage.md --args ~/Downloads/my-downloaded.AppImage installed-bin-name

or install the script permanently to use it more often:

First time setup of rnmd:
rnmd --setup
and follow the instructions.

Then install the script.
rnmd www.github.com/MarkusPeitl/my-linux-scripts/docs/install-appimage.md --portableinstall appimageinstall

Then run the appimageinstall script whenever you need it:
appimageinstall ~/Downloads/my-downloaded.AppImage installed-bin-name

That was it i hope you liked this small guide.
If you have any more questions just send me an email to:
office@markuspeitl.com

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