https://github.com/appimage/appimagetool
A low-level tool to generate an AppImage from an existing AppDir
https://github.com/appimage/appimagetool
Last synced: 12 months ago
JSON representation
A low-level tool to generate an AppImage from an existing AppDir
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/appimage/appimagetool
- Owner: AppImage
- License: other
- Created: 2023-06-25T19:21:42.000Z (over 2 years ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-03-10T23:34:10.000Z (about 1 year ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-03-28T20:05:40.338Z (12 months ago)
- Language: C
- Homepage:
- Size: 115 KB
- Stars: 164
- Watchers: 4
- Forks: 22
- Open Issues: 25
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# appimagetool  [](https://web.libera.chat/#AppImage) [](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ZT9CL8M5TJU72)
## Usage
`appimagetool` is used to generate an AppImage from an existing `AppDir`. Many community-provided higher-level [tools for deploying applications in AppImage format](https://github.com/AppImageCommunity/awesome-appimage/blob/main/README.md#appimage-developer-tools) use it internally. A precompiled version can be downloaded on [GitHub Releases](../..//releases), but in most cases you will be better off using one of the higher-level tools instead of using `appimagetool` directly.
Usage in a nutshell, assuming that you already have an [AppDir](https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageSpec/blob/master/draft.md#appdir) in place:
```
ARCH=x86_64 ./appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage some.AppDir
```
Detailed usage:
```
Usage:
appimagetool [OPTION...] SOURCE [DESTINATION] - Generate AppImages from existing AppDirs
Help Options:
-h, --help Show help options
Application Options:
-l, --list List files in SOURCE AppImage
-u, --updateinformation Embed update information STRING; if zsyncmake is installed, generate zsync file
-g, --guess Guess update information based on environment variables set by common CI systems (GitHub actions, GitLab CI)
--version Show version number
-v, --verbose Produce verbose output
-s, --sign Sign with gpg[2]
--comp Squashfs compression
-n, --no-appstream Do not check AppStream metadata
--exclude-file Uses given file as exclude file for mksquashfs, in addition to .appimageignore.
--runtime-file Runtime file to use
--sign-key Key ID to use for gpg[2] signatures
--sign-args Extra arguments to use when signing with gpg[2]
```
### Environment variables
Some of the parameters above can alternatively be specified as environment variables. Also, some additional environment variables are available, too.
- `ARCH`: Needs to be set whenever appimagetool cannot automatically determine the architecture of the binaries inside the AppDir to choose a suitable runtime (e.g., when binaries for multiple architectures or just shell scripts are contained in there).
- `APPIMAGETOOL_APP_NAME`: If no destination is set by the user, appimagetool automatically generates a suitable output filename, using the root desktop entry's `Name` field. With this environment variable, this value can be set explicitly by the user.
- `APPIMAGETOOL_FORCE_SIGN`: By default, if signing fails, appimagetool just logs a warning but will not abort immediately. If this environment variable is set, appimagetool exits with a non-zero return code.
- `APPIMAGETOOL_SIGN_PASSPHRASE`: If the `--sign-key` is encrypted and requires a passphrase to be used for signing (and, for some reason, GnuPG cannot be used interactively, e.g., in a CI environment), this environment variable can be used to safely pass the key.
- `VERSION`: This value will be inserted by appimagetool into the root desktop file and (if the destination parameter is not provided by the user) in the output filename.
## Building
To build for various architectures on a local machine (or on GitHub Codespaces) using Docker:
* For 64 bit Intel, run `ARCH=x86_64 bash ./ci/build-in-docker.sh`
* For 32 bit Intel, run `ARCH=i686 bash ./ci/build-in-docker.sh`
If you are on an Intel machine and would like to cross-compile for ARM:
* Prepare the Docker system for cross-compiling with `docker run --rm --privileged multiarch/qemu-user-static --reset -p yes`, then run
* For 64 bit ARM, run `ARCH=aarch64 bash ./ci/build-in-docker.sh`
* For 32 bit ARM, run `ARCH=armhf bash ./ci/build-in-docker.sh`
## Changelog
* Unlike previous versions of this tool provided in the [AppImageKit](https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageKit/) repository, this version downloads the latest AppImage runtime (which will become part of the AppImage) from https://github.com/AppImage/type2-runtime/releases. If you do not like this (or if your build system does not have Internet access), you can supply a locally downloaded AppImage runtime using the `--runtime-file` parameter instead.