Add support for your Linux distro

    if you managed to get Wails working for your desktop please consider making a Pull Request. For more details see the development section.

    Wails uses cgo to bind to the native rendering engines so a number of platform dependent libraries are needed.

    • npm -
    • gcc
    • gtk
    • webkitgtk

    gtk, webkit

    Locate the appropriate equivalent libraries for your distribution.

    NOTE: if your distro is a derivative and not a major distribution there are good chances all necessary dependendancies to be the covered .

    Gather system’s information

    Wails uses for identification. In a terminal window run cat /etc/os-release.

    We are interested in NAME and ID fields. Then identify which of the bellow two commands returns gcc’s full version . This is needed for better support when filling tickets via wails issue.

    1. gcc -dumpversion
    2. gcc -dumpfullversion
    1. $ gcc -dumpversion
    2. 8
    3. $ gcc -dumpfullversion
    4. 8.3.0

    linuxdb.yaml lives in wails/cmd/linuxdb.yaml.

    Use the NAME and ID fields of the previous step.

    If your are on derivative distro that shares libraries and software with it’s major a new entry would look like (linux mint sample):

    1. linuxmint:
    2.     id: linuxmint
    3.     releases:
    4.       default:
    5.         version: default
    6.         name: Linux Mint
    7.         gccversioncommand: *gccdumpversion
    8.         libraries: *debiandefaultlibraries

    If you are adding a previously unspported major release a new entry would like (centOS entry sample)

    1.   centos:
    2.     id: centos
    3.     releases:
    4.       default:
    6.         name: CentOS Linux
    7.         gccversioncommand: *gccdumpversion
    8.         programs:
    9.           - name: gcc
    10.             help: Please install with `sudo yum install gcc-c++ make` and try again
    11.           - name: pkg-config
    12.             help: Please install with `sudo yum install pkgconf-pkg-config` and try again
    13.           - name: npm
    14.             help: Please install with `sudo yum install epel-release && sudo yum install nodejs` and try again
    15.         libraries:
    16.           - name: gtk3-devel
    17.             help: Please install with `sudo yum install gtk3-devel` and try again
    18.           - name: webkitgtk3-devel
    19.             help: Please install with `sudo yum install webkitgtk3-devel` and try again

    Mewn

    After you are done editing run mewn inside wails/cmd directory.

    As a result cmd-mewn.go should have been re-generated adding your DB entry.

    • add a new constant with your distro’s name (use whatever is returned under NAME field two steps back)
    • and a new switch case (case "ID":)
    1. switch osID {
    2.     case "fedora":
    3.         result.Distribution = Fedora
    4.     case "centos":
    5.     case "arch":
    6.         result.Distribution = Arch
    7.     case "debian":
    9.     (...)
    10.     case "newdistroID":
    11.         result.Distribution = NewDistroName
    12.   }

    When adding a major distro you need to also add a new function to support your distro’s specific package manager.

    Here is a sample for dpkg.

    1. // DpkgInstalled uses dpkg to see if a package is installed
    2. func DpkgInstalled(packageName string) (bool, error) {
    3.     program := NewProgramHelper()
    4.     dpkg := program.FindProgram("dpkg")
    5.     if dpkg == nil {
    6.         return false, fmt.Errorf("cannot check dependencies: dpkg not found")
    7.     }
    8.     _, _, exitCode, _ := dpkg.Run("-L", packageName)
    9.     return exitCode == 0, nil
    10. }

    Edit system.go

    Finally you have to edit package manager’s switch case in wails/cmd/system.go to also include your distro.

    For example if your are on a Debian derivative you would

    If you are adding a major distro with it’s own package manager you have to make a new case entry.

    1. // Linux has library deps
    2.     if runtime.GOOS == "linux" {
    3.         (...)
    4.         switch distroInfo.Distribution {
    5.         case NewDistroName:
    6.             libraryChecker = NewPackageManagerInstalled
    7.         (...)
    8.         }

    cd in directory wails/cmd/wails and install the updated Wails by running go install.