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Kinjal
Kinjal

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Linux make install command

#linux #install #makefile #shellscript

While installing packages in linux, we come across the following command many times.

$ make install
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Let's understand this with a simple example.

install is a command that was written for software installation, but it can do more than that. make install will do whatever instruction is defined in makefile.

This example uses a sample hello world C program.

#include <stdio.h> int main() { printf("Hello, World!"); }
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Here is the directory structure of testapp which is created for this example.

$ ls testapp installer.sh makefile testapp testapp.c testapp.conf
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Let's take closer look at installer.sh

#!/bin/bash ROOTDIR=${1:-/opt/testapp} OWNER=${2:-testapp} GROUP=${3:-testapp} # Create bin and opt directories install -v -m 755 -o $OWNER -g $GROUP -d $ROOTDIR/bin $ROOTDIR/etc if [ "$?" -ne "0" ]; then echo "Install: Failed to create directories." exit 1 fi # install binary install -b -v -m 750 -o $OWNER -g $GROUP -s testapp $ROOTDIR/bin if [ "$?" -ne "0" ]; then echo "Install: Failed to install the binary" exit 2 fi # install configuration file install -b -v -m 600 -o $OWNER -g $GROUP testapp.conf $ROOTDIR/etc if [ "$?" -ne "0" ]; then echo "Install: Failed to install the config file" exit 3 fi echo "installation completed.."
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All the chown install ect commands are defined in installer.sh and insatller itself is wrapped up in makefile so that makefile can be kept clean.

Here is makefile

all: testapp.c $(CC) -o testapp testapp.c clean: rm -f testapp install: testapp ./installer.sh /opt/testapp kiwi kiwi purge: rm -rf /opt/testapp
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In the install command, kiwi refers to the username. You can have your custom name here.

And the content of sample conf file testapp.conf

$ cat testapp.conf testapp=testapp
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Finally, running it.

$ sudo make install ./installer.sh /opt/testapp kiwi kiwi 'testapp' -> '/opt/testapp/bin/testapp' (backup: '/opt/testapp/bin/testapp~') 'testapp.conf' -> '/opt/testapp/etc/testapp.conf' (backup: '/opt/testapp/etc/testapp.conf~') installation completed..
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testapp can be found in /opt directory if the installation is successful.

That's a very simple example. Here is one useful link for further reading.

Download the code here.

Reference:

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Cody Tilkins •

You should add a .so into the mix here.