mbpk

Minimal Binary Package Kit

What is mbpk?

mbpk is a dead-simple binary package manager, primarily developed for Yerba Linux.

Core functions are handled in libmbpk, whereas the commands themselves are simply wrappers around the library.

Package Format

A package is a .tar.zst archive with the file extension .mpk.

Structure

pkgname-1.2.3.mpk
-> pkg.ini  # Metadata
-> _install.tar.zst  # This will be extracted to /
-> post-install  # Optional, runs after install
-> pre-remove  # Optional, runs before remove

pkg.ini

name = pkgname 
version = 1.2.3 
desc = testing testing 123, i like chicken nuggets, not 3 
deps = dep1 dep2 dep
maintainer = French Hacker <[email protected]>
license = WTFPL

Scripts

post-install: Runs after _install.tar.zst is extracted
pre-remove: Runs before files are removed

If they don't exist, mbpk simply ignores them.
If they do exist, they are executed at their respective times.
Failure to execute these scripts will be ignored and the package manager will continue, warning the user.

Repositories

Repository configuration is stored in /etc/mbpk-repos.ini.

Configuration format is as follows:

# Example repository configuration for mbpk 
# Format: name = url

[core]
url = https://yerba.arslaancodes.com/repo/core

[extra]
url = https://yerba.arslaancodes.com/repo/extra

Repos will be synchronized by copying them into /var/lib/mbpk-repo/. For example, the repos from the previous configuration example would be at the following locations: - /var/lib/mbpk-repo/core - /var/lib/mbpk-repo/extra

Structure

Repository structure is as follows:

core/  # Example repository name
-> repo.ini  # Repository metadata
-> pkg/
   -> pkgname.ini  # Package metadata
   -> pkgname2.ini  # More package metadata
-> files/
   -> pkgname-1.2.3.mpk  # Example package file

repo.ini

name = core 
desc = Core repo for Yerba Linux
url = https://yerba.arslaancodes.com/repo/core
packages = pkgname pkgname2 (...)

pkg/pkgname.ini

name = pkgname 
version = 1.2.3 
desc = testing testing 123, i like chicken nuggets, not 3 
url = https://yerba.arslaancodes.com/repo/core/files/pkgname-1.2.3.mpk
deps = dep1 dep2 dep3
maintainer = French Hacker <[email protected]>
license = WTFPL

Database & Package Installation/Removal

The database is dead-simple.

Upon installing a package, the .mpk file will first be extracted to /var/lib/mbpk/<package-name>. From there, the package manager will continue to extract _install.tar.zst to /.

This installation flow ensures that the package database is automatically handled, because /var/lib/mbpk itself acts as a database of all packages.

Removal of a package is simple: - Read package metadata from the database - Check for pre-remove, and run if it exists - Use libarchive to list all files in _install.tar.zst and remove them respectively

Usage

mbpk is not one standalone command-line tool, it is actually a combination of many binaries wrapping the libmbpk library.

mbpk-install <pkgname>: installs a package from a repository
mbpk-install-local <pkgname>: installs a local package file
mbpk-remove <pkgname>: removes a package
mbpk-list: lists all installed packages
mbpk-update: updates package repositories
mbpk-upgrade <pkgname>: upgrades the specified package
mbpk-search <term>: searches repositories for a specified term
mbpk-info <pkgname>: shows metadata of a requested installed package