Linux packaging (AppImage + deb) and self-update

[fylorn]

Linux distribution: AppImage + deb for x86_64 and aarch64, and self-update for both.

Packaging

• src-tauri/tauri.linux.conf.json: appimage + deb targets; Linux icons 32/128/256/512 (256 and 512 newly rendered by icons/render.py; existing icons are byte-identical after re-rendering).
• The bundler already writes Depends: libayatana-appindicator3-1, libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0, libgtk-3-0 (tauri-cli interface/rust.rs, from the tray-icon feature) and the x-scheme-handler/thinkwatch MimeType from the deep-link config. dpkg-shlibdeps on the built app + twcore lists only libraries those three pull in transitively.
• src-tauri/linux/main.desktop (deb desktopTemplate, also used for the AppImage): the bundler's default has Exec=thinkwatch-lite with no field code, so GLib appends %f and drops non-file URLs (gdesktopappinfo.c expand_application_parameters / expand_macro 'f'). The template uses Exec=thinkwatch-lite %u and terminates the MimeType list. Desktop file name stays ThinkWatch Lite.desktop.
• The bundler names the deb package think-watch-lite (kebab-case of the product name, no config key). release.yml repacks it as thinkwatch-lite before signing (control file only; payload untouched).
• AppImage bundling needs /usr/bin/xdg-mime when deep links are configured, so CI installs xdg-utils.
• fetch-core.sh: the two *-unknown-linux-gnu twcore assets. Core has not published them yet, so a Linux tauri build fails at the fetch step until the next core release includes them.

Finding the bundled core

bundled_core() gets a Linux branch: when tauri::utils::platform::bundle_type() is set (the bundler binary-patches it per package type), the only candidate is <exe>/../lib/<productName>/twcore (deb: /usr/lib/ThinkWatch Lite/, AppImage: same path under the mount). Missing → the existing "bundle is missing twcore" error; no dev/env/PATH fallback. Derived from the executable rather than resource_dir(), which falls back to $APPDIR from the environment.

Self-update

• update::kind() on Linux reads bundle_type(): AppImage (and $APPIMAGE set) → Standalone; deb → new Install::Deb; anything else (cargo run, extracted AppImage, rpm) → Dev.
• AppImage: the updater plugin replaces $APPIMAGE in place; app.restart() relaunches $APPIMAGE (tauri process::current_binary). An unwritable location gets a specific message with the releases link.
• deb: plugin download() (verifies the signature before returning bytes), then pkexec /usr/bin/apt-get install -y <file> from a fresh 0700 dir. The plugin's install() is deliberately not used: it falls back to prompting for the password via zenity/kdialog and piping it to sudo. Core is stopped before installing; on failure (126 cancelled, 127 not authorized, apt error) the gateway is resumed via the shared resume_after_failed_update (now cfg(any(windows, linux))).
• Update window: deb gets one sentence saying installation requires administrator authorization.

Release pipeline

• New linux matrix job on ubuntu-22.04 / ubuntu-22.04-arm (label listed for public repos in GitHub's hosted-runner reference), so the glibc floor is 2.35.
• Looks inside both packages: app + twcore present and of the right ELF arch, the package's own bundle-type marker, highest GLIBC_ ≤ 2.35, twcore --version, desktop-file-validate, MimeType and %u; deb Package/Version/Architecture/Depends.
• Signs AppImage and deb; manifest.py requires linux-{x86_64,aarch64}-{appimage,deb} (the plugin looks up <os>-<arch>-<installer> first) and rejects a file with the wrong extension for a key.

Verified in an Ubuntu 22.04 aarch64 container

• tauri build → AppImage + deb; the "Name the packages" and "Look inside" steps extracted from this release.yml pass on them.
• deb: apt-get install pulls nothing unexpected; twcore runs from /usr/lib/ThinkWatch Lite/twcore; gio open thinkwatch://… reaches the running instance with the URL in argv; WM_CLASS is thinkwatch-lite = StartupWMClass; with twcore removed the app logs the missing-bundle error and does not run a twcore from THINKWATCH_CORE_BIN or PATH; apt-get remove cleans up.
• AppImage self-update, end to end: two builds with a throwaway key, local latest.json: auto-check finds the update, the update window installs it, the plugin rewrites $APPIMAGE, core stops, the app relaunches from $APPIMAGE as the new version (new file hash, new PID, .updated-from consumed).
• Not verifiable in a container (acceptance list): pkexec dialog + deb self-update on a real desktop, Wayland app_id, AppImage under FUSE on Ubuntu 24.04.

Needs a rehearse/** run before the next tag, after core publishes the Linux twcore assets.

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