The quick setup guide for robotpkg

Download

You can checkout the latest sources using git:

% git clone git://git.openrobots.org/robots/robotpkg

or, if you are behind a firewall that does filter the git:// protocol:

% git clone https://git.openrobots.org/robots/robotpkg.git

Bootstrap

First, make sure that you have the gnu-make software available on your system (version 3.81 or later required), as well as a working C compiler chain.

After downloading the sources, you need to choose where the packages will be installed. By default, robotpkg uses the /opt/openrobots prefix. If this location is convenient for you, installing the bootstrap kit should be as simple as:

% cd robotpkg/bootstrap
% ./bootstrap

Notes:

The bootstrap script will try to create the initial /opt/openrobots directory with your user id. If you are not allowed to do so, you should create the /opt/openrobots manually before calling bootstrap, or install to a different location as explained below.
If you need to install to a different prefix, pass the --prefix option to bootstrap. For instance, installing the packages in your home directory can be configured like this:
```
% ./bootstrap --prefix=${HOME}/openrobots
```
Make sure to read carefuly the instructions printed at the end of the bootstrap for configuring your shell environment. In particular the PATH variable must contain at least the sbin directory under the installation prefix.
It is strongly advised to keep the robotpkg directory outside the installation prefix. From the robotpkg standpoint, it will work in any case and robotpkg itself has no issue with this. But other unexpected side effects may arise with some software, and those issues may be hard to track down.

Configuring robotpkg

robotpkg has only one configuration file, located in the installation prefix in the etc/robotpkg.conf directory. The file contains a lot of comments that explain the the most useful configuration directives.

You don't have to configure anything for robotpkg to work, i.e. the default settings are fine for a standard usage.

Building packages

Before installing your first package, robotpkg must have been boostraped (see above). Once bootstraping is done, installing a package can be done by changing to the directory (in the robotpkg hierarchy) of the package to be installed and doing make update:

% cd robotpkg/category-name/package-name
% make update

Some packages provide configuration options. You can always review the available options for a package by using the make show-options command. The command will also display the necessary instructions for configuring a given option.

% cd robotpkg/category-name/package-name
% make show-options

A more extensive and largely incomplete (!) documentation is also available online, or as a package in the doc/robotpkg directory of robotpkg.

Keeping up-to-date

robotpkg is a living thing, and updates to the packages are made perdiodicaly. In order to get the most recent packages, you should keep your robotpkg copy up-to-date by regularly running "git pull" in it.

If you want to be informed of package additions and updates, a robotpkg@laas.fr mailing list is available for your reading pleasure. Go to https://sympa.laas.fr/sympa/info/robotpkg for more information, archives and subscription.