Packaging

📦 Packaging & Distribution

This guide covers how to generate installers, packages, and Docker images for RClone Manager.

⚠️ Important Cross-Compilation Note: Tauri cannot cross-compile native installers.

• To build a Windows (.exe) installer, you must be on Windows.
• To build a macOS (.dmg) installer, you must be on macOS.
• To build Linux packages (.deb, .rpm), you must be on Linux.

For automated cross-platform builds, see the CI/CD section.

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🪟 Windows Packaging

Standard Installer (NSIS & MSI)

Generates a standard setup wizard and a Microsoft Installer.

npm run tauri build

• Output: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/*.exe
• Output: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/msi/*.msi

Portable Standalone

Generates a single .exe that does not require installation and saves config locally.

npm run tauri build -- --features portable --no-bundle

• Output: src-tauri/target/release/rclone-manager.exe

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🐧 Linux Packaging

The Linux bundler uses the assets located in src-tauri/linux/ (desktop files, icons) to generate distribution packages.

Universal Bundles (.deb, .rpm, .AppImage)

By default, running the build command on Linux generates all configured formats in tauri.conf.json.

npm run tauri build

• Output: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/deb/*.deb (Debian/Ubuntu)
• Output: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/rpm/*.rpm (Fedora/RHEL)
• Output: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/appimage/*.AppImage (Universal)

Flatpak

Packaging for Flathub requires a specific manifest and the flatpak feature flag to ensure path compliance.

1. Build Binary: npm run tauri build -- --features flatpak
2. Builder: Use flatpak-builder with the manifest located in the root (or src-tauri/linux).

Portable Standalone

Generates a single binary that does not require installation and saves config locally.

npm run tauri build -- --features portable --no-bundle

• Output: src-tauri/target/release/rclone-manager

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🍎 macOS Packaging

DMG & App Bundle

Generates the standard Apple disk image and Application bundle.

npm run tauri build

• Output: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/dmg/*.dmg
• Output: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/macos/RClone Manager.app

Code Signing & Notarization

To avoid "App Damaged" or "Unidentified Developer" warnings, you must sign the app.

• Set APPLE_SIGNING_IDENTITY and APPLE_CERTIFICATE environment variables.
• The build script will automatically attempt to sign if these are present.

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🌐 Headless & Docker Packaging

The headless version is packaged differently since it serves a web UI instead of opening a window.

1. Build the Headless Binary

First, compile the binary with the web-server feature.

npm run tauri build -- --config src-tauri/tauri.conf.headless.json --features web-server,updater

• Output: src-tauri/target/release/rclone-manager-headless (Linux) or .exe (Windows). I only build for linux but headless mode works as well on Windows and MacOS to.

2. Build the Docker Image

Once the binary is built, you can package it into a container.

# From the project root
docker build -t rclone-manager:latest -f headless/Dockerfile .

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🤖 CI/CD Automation

We utilize GitHub Actions to automate packaging for all platforms.

1. Desktop Releases

• Workflow: .github/workflows/release.yml
• Trigger: Manual (workflow_dispatch).
• Actions: Builds Windows, macOS, and Linux assets simultaneously and uploads them to the release page.

2. Headless Releases

• Workflow: .github/workflows/release-headless.yml
• Trigger: Manual (workflow_dispatch).
• Tag Naming: Releases are prefixed with headless-v*.
• Architecture: Builds binaries for both x86_64 (Intel/AMD) and aarch64 (ARM/Raspberry Pi) using a matrix strategy.
• Command:

args: >-
  --config src-tauri/tauri.conf.headless.json
  --features web-server,updater
  --target ${{ matrix.arch }}-unknown-linux-gnu

3. Docker Registry

• Workflow: .github/workflows/docker-build-push.yml
• Registry: ghcr.io (GitHub Container Registry).
• Architectures: Multi-arch builds for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64.
• Process:

1. Builds images for each architecture.
2. Pushes temporary tags (e.g., :latest-amd64).
3. Creates a Manifest List to merge them under a single tag (:latest), allowing users on any architecture to pull the same image name.