托管一个仓库🔗

备注

Flathub uses flat-manager to host its Flatpak repository. See https://github.com/flatpak/flat-manager

Flatpak Builder 这部分描述了如何生成仓库。生成的仓库可以托管到一个web服务器供用户使用。

重要的细节🔗

flatpak仓库使用archive-z2，意味着将所有文件打包成单个文件。拉取（译者注：pull）操作发起许多HTTP请求。因为新请求会很慢，所以在仓库所在web服务器开启HTTP keep-alive是很重要的。

Flatpak supports something called static deltas. These are single files that contain all the data needed to go between two revisions (or from nothing to a revision). Creating such deltas will take up more space on the server, but will make downloads much faster. This can be done with the flatpak build-update-repo --generate-static-deltas option.

.flatpckrepo 文件🔗

.flatpakrepo 文件是用户添加一个仓库的方便的方法。这些是包含仓库信息的简单描述文件。举个例子：Flathub的repo文件像这样:

[Flatpak Repo]
Title=Flathub
Url=https://dl.flathub.org/repo/
Homepage=https://flathub.org/
Comment=Central repository of Flatpak applications
Description=Central repository of Flatpak applications
Icon=https://dl.flathub.org/repo/logo.svg
GPGKey=mQINBFlD2sABEADsiUZUO...

你可以看到repo文件包含描述性的元数据，例如仓库名字、描述、图标和网站。也包含了需要添加到仓库的信息，一个下载URL和仓库的GPG密钥。

可以通过用命令行用 .flatpakrepo 文件添加仓库。举个例子，使用repo文件添加Flathub的命令是:

$ flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

使用 .flatpakrepo 文件不是添加仓库的唯一方法，添加一个仓库只是点击一个repo文件或者指向一个下载链接的问题。

备注

.flatpakrepo 文件应该包含base64-encoded GPG密钥版本，用于对仓库进行签名。可以通过如下命令获得:

$ base64 --wrap=0 < key.gpg

Hosting a repository on Gitlab/Github pages🔗

A Flatpak repository can be easily hosted through Gitlab or Github pages and distributed to users.

备注

Github or Gitlab may have pipeline quotas, storage and bandwidth limits. Please consult their documentation on this.

On Gitlab🔗

The instructions will use Gitlab.com.

  1. Create a new blank repository on Gitlab

  2. Clone the repository locally

git clone git@gitlab.com:your_user_name/repo_name.git && cd repo_name

  1. Create a .gitlab-ci.yml with the following contents.

备注

A worflow that builds for aarch64 and x86_64 is provided below.

variables:
  # Application id of the app, should be same as id used in flatpak manifest and MetaInfo
  APP_ID: tld.vendor.app_name
  # Location of the flatpak manifest, root of git repository
  MANIFEST_PATH: $CI_PROJECT_DIR/${APP_ID}.yaml
  # Name of flatpak bundle
  BUNDLE: "${APP_ID}.flatpak"
  # Docker image to use
  DOCKER_IMAGE: "ghcr.io/flathub-infra/flatpak-github-actions:freedesktop-23.08"
  SCHEDULE_TASK: default

stages:
  - setup
  - build
  - deploy

# This will check for updates using external data checker and send PRs to the repo
update-sources:
  stage: setup
  image:
    # https://github.com/flathub-infra/flatpak-external-data-checker
    name: ghcr.io/flathub/flatpak-external-data-checker
    # Open shell rather than the bin
    entrypoint: [""]
  before_script:
    - git config --global user.name "${GITLAB_USER_LOGIN}"
    - git config --global user.email "${GITLAB_USER_EMAIL}"
  script:
    - /app/flatpak-external-data-checker --update --commit-only $MANIFEST_PATH

    # Creates a merge request targetting the default repo branch and sets up auto merge when pipeline succeeds
    - git push -o merge_request.create -o merge_request.target=${CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH} -o merge_request.merge_when_pipeline_succeeds
      "https://${GITLAB_USER_NAME}:${CI_GIT_TOKEN}@${CI_REPOSITORY_URL#*@}" || true
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - $MANIFEST_PATH
    expire_in: 1 week
  rules:
    # Set up a pipeline schedule for this https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/pipelines/schedules.html
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule" || $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "trigger"
      when: always
    - when: never

flatpak:
  stage: build
  image: ${DOCKER_IMAGE}
  variables:
    # Stable Flathub repo
    RUNTIME_REPO: "https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo"
  script:
    # Set up an user as the docker image used here comes with none
    - |
      cat <<EOF > /etc/passwd
      root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
      EOF

      cat <<EOF > /etc/group
      root:x:0:
      EOF

    # Sets up the stable Flathub repository for dependencies
    - flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub ${RUNTIME_REPO}
    # Sets up GPG signing
    # Initialise GPG
    - gpg --list-keys --with-keygrip
    - echo "allow-preset-passphrase" >> ~/.gnupg/gpg-agent.conf
    - gpg-connect-agent reloadagent /bye
    - cat $GPG_PASSPHRASE | /usr/libexec/gpg-preset-passphrase --preset $GPG_KEY_GREP
    - gpg --import --batch ${GPG_PRIVATE_KEY}
    # Build & install build dependencies, branch can be unset too then it will default to master see man flatpak-manifest > branch
    - flatpak-builder build --user --install-deps-from=flathub --gpg-sign=${GPG_KEY_ID} --disable-rofiles-fuse --disable-updates --force-clean --repo=repo ${BRANCH:+--default-branch=$BRANCH} ${MANIFEST_PATH}
    # Generate a Flatpak bundle for testing in MRs
    - flatpak build-bundle --gpg-sign=${GPG_KEY_ID} repo ${BUNDLE} --runtime-repo=${RUNTIME_REPO} ${APP_ID} ${BRANCH}
    # flatpak-builder exports contents to repo folder after building
    # This generates summary, appstream refs and prunes the folder to keep the latest commit only in preparation for publishing
    - flatpak build-update-repo --gpg-sign=${GPG_KEY_ID} --generate-static-deltas --prune repo/
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - $BUNDLE
      # This artifact will be used when publishing to the static site
      - repo
    expire_in: 1 week
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"
      when: never
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
      when: on_success
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH != $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
      when: manual

# Deploys the generated package to Gitlab pages name.gitlab.io/repo_name
pages:
  variables:
    BUILD_OUTPUT_PATH: ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/repo
  stage: deploy
  image: alpine:latest
  before_script:
    - apk add rsync
    # replace html assets relative path with pages absolute path
    - find $BUILD_OUTPUT_PATH \( -type d -name .git -prune \) -o -type f -print0 | xargs -0 sed -i -e "s#href=\"\/#href=\"$CI_PAGES_URL/#g" -e "s#src=\"\/#src=\"$CI_PAGES_URL/#g"
  script:
    - mkdir public || true
    - rsync -av --exclude='public' --exclude='.git' $BUILD_OUTPUT_PATH/ public
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - public
    expire_in: 1 week
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"
      when: never
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
      when: on_success

  1. Create a new GPG key locally, to sign the repository.

  2. Go to https://gitlab.com/-/profile/personal_access_tokens and create a token for $CI_GIT_TOKEN. Note that the token is valid for a maximum of one year and you should renew it before it expires.

  3. Go to https://gitlab.com/your_user_name/repo_name/-/settings/ci_cd. Expand General and disable public pipeline. Click Save. Expand variables. Add the following variables necessary for the pipeline to run:

Type

Key

Value

Protected

Masked

Variable

GPG_KEY_GREP

Keygrip of GPG key

Yes

Optional

Variable

GPG_KEY_ID

Keyid of GPG key

Yes

Optional

File

GPG_PASSPHRASE

Passphrase of GPG Key

Yes

Optional

File

GPG_PRIVATE_KEY

ASCII armoured private key

Yes

Optional

Variable

CI_GIT_TOKEN

Token

Yes

Optional

To get the keygrip of the GPG key generated in step 4, run the following in your terminal and look at the Keygrip section:

gpg --list-secret-keys --with-keygrip

To find the keyid of the GPG key run the following in the terminal. The keyid should be in the first line starting with sec and algorithm/id. The id part is the required keyid.

gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format=long

The following will generate an ASCII armoured private key. Then paste the contents of that file in the CI variable settings.

gpg --output private.pgp --armor --export-secret-key <keyid or email>

  1. Create a app_name.flatpakref in the root of the git repo with the following contents.

[Flatpak Ref]
Title=<A pretty application or repo name>
Name=<Application id in tld.vendor.app_name format>
Branch=< branch of generated ostree refs, defaults to master>
Url=<Url of Gitlab page>
SuggestRemoteName=<A name for the flatpak remote>
Homepage=<URL of the homepage>
Icon=<Direct link to an icon>
RuntimeRepo=< Link to repo where runtime and other dependencies are eg. https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo>
IsRuntime=false
GPGKey=<base64 encoded GPG key>

You can find the Gitlab page in https://gitlab.com/your_user_name/repo_name/pages. Disable Use unique domain there and hit save. To generate the base64 encoded GPGKey, run the following and paste the string:

gpg --export <keyid> > example.gpg
base64 example.gpg | tr -d '\n'

  1. The root of the repository should contain the following files: .gitlab-ci.yml, app_name.flatpakref, the flatpak manifest tld.vendor.app_name.yaml and any other files/folders referenced in the manifest. git add these files, git commit and git push.

  2. If everything was set up correctly, the push will trigger the pipeline to build and deploy your application with flatpak.

  3. To install the build, you can run:

flatpak install --user https://gitlab.com/your_user_name/repo_name/-/raw/branch/app_name.flatpakref

This will set up a flatpak remote userwide, install the dependencies and the application. Updates will be fetched when running flatpak update if they are available.

  1. You can set up a pipeline schedule, optionally to automatically check for updates using flatpak-x-checker and send PRs to the repo.

Multi-architecture workflow🔗

This uses Gitlab.com's hosted aarch64 runners for building on aarch64.

variables:
  MANIFEST_PATH: $CI_PROJECT_DIR/${APP_ID}.yaml
  DOCKER_IMAGE: "ghcr.io/flathub-infra/flatpak-github-actions:freedesktop-23.08"
  SCHEDULE_TASK: default

stages:
  - setup
  - build-x86_64
  - build-aarch64
  - update-repo
  - deploy

.setup:
  stage: setup
  image: ${DOCKER_IMAGE}
  variables:
    RUNTIME_REPO: "https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo"
  before_script:
    # Set up an user as the docker image used here comes with none
    - |
      cat <<EOF > /etc/passwd
      root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
      EOF

      cat <<EOF > /etc/group
      root:x:0:
      EOF

    # Add the flathub repository for installing build dependencies
    - flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub ${RUNTIME_REPO}
    - gpg --list-keys --with-keygrip
    - echo "allow-preset-passphrase" >> ~/.gnupg/gpg-agent.conf
    - gpg-connect-agent reloadagent /bye
    - cat $GPG_PASSPHRASE | /usr/libexec/gpg-preset-passphrase --preset $GPG_KEY_GREP
    - gpg --import --batch ${GPG_PRIVATE_KEY}
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"
      when: never
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
      when: on_success
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH != $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
      when: manual
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - repo
    expire_in: 1 week

build-x86_64:
  variables:
    ARCH: x86_64
  extends: .setup
  script:
    # Build the app, ARCH should be host arch, BRANCH can be specified or if not it will default to master, see man flatpak-manifest > branch
    - flatpak-builder build --arch=${ARCH} --user --install-deps-from=flathub --gpg-sign=${GPG_KEY_ID} --disable-rofiles-fuse --disable-updates --force-clean --repo=repo ${BRANCH:+--default-branch=$BRANCH} ${MANIFEST_PATH}
  stage: build-x86_64

build-aarch64:
  variables:
    ARCH: aarch64
  extends: .setup
  script:
    - flatpak-builder build --arch=${ARCH} --user --install-deps-from=flathub --gpg-sign=${GPG_KEY_ID} --disable-rofiles-fuse --disable-updates --force-clean --repo=repo ${BRANCH:+--default-branch=$BRANCH} ${MANIFEST_PATH}
  stage: build-aarch64
  # https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/runners/hosted_runners/linux.html#machine-types-available-for-linux---arm64
  tags:
    - saas-linux-large-arm64
  dependencies:
    - "build-x86_64"

update-repo:
  stage: update-repo
  image: ${DOCKER_IMAGE}
  dependencies:
    - "build-aarch64"
  extends: .setup
  script:
    # The repo folder must have contents for both arches present, so they are chained one after another through dependencies
    # prune is run to keep the latest commit only
    - flatpak build-update-repo --gpg-sign=${GPG_KEY_ID} --generate-static-deltas --prune repo

pages:
  variables:
    BUILD_OUTPUT_PATH: ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/repo
  stage: deploy
  image: alpine:latest
  dependencies:
    - "update-repo"
  script:
    - apk add rsync
    - find $BUILD_OUTPUT_PATH \( -type d -name .git -prune \) -o -type f -print0 | xargs -0 sed -i -e "s#href=\"\/#href=\"$CI_PAGES_URL/#g" -e "s#src=\"\/#src=\"$CI_PAGES_URL/#g"
    - mkdir public || true
    - rsync -av --exclude='public' --exclude='.git' $BUILD_OUTPUT_PATH/ public
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - public
    expire_in: 1 week
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"
      when: never
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
      when: on_success

Credits🔗

The CI template is based on the work of Flatpak community member proletarius101.