On the subject of the binary package deal codecs, Debian is king. Out of all of the software program on the market, the DEB file format enjoys probably the most consideration from builders. In consequence, Linux working programs primarily based on Debian often get new stuff earlier than anybody else. Steam, Spotify, Google Chrome, Skype, and the checklist goes on. Redhat-based Linux working programs take pleasure in an analogous type of consideration from builders, however not practically as a lot as Debian ones. It’s due to this, many flip to discovering methods to de-compile, and reverse engineer Debian applications. There are various other ways to do that, however by far one of the simplest ways to transform a Debian program to Redhat on Linux is through the use of the Alien package deal converter.
Conditions
Alien is a program that’s written with Perl programming language. As a way to run this terminal app in your PC, you’ll first want to put in varied Perl packages. On some Linux distributions, Pearl could already be put in. On this information, we’ll be going over how you can convert Debian packages to the Redhat package deal format. It’s due to this, we’ll solely go over how you can get Pearl on Fedora, and Open SUSE.
To test and see for those who’ve already received the instruments in your Linux set up to run Alien, open a terminal window and do the next:
perl --help
Operating this command on a Linux PC that has the Pearl instruments already put in and able to go will present a assist immediate. This immediate particulars every part the person must know concerning the language, how you can use it and and so on. If nothing occurs if you run this command, the Pearl instruments aren’t put in.
Set up Perl for Fedora
sudo dnf set up perl-core
Set up Perl for OpenSUSE
Perl is on the market within the OBS. Go here, and click on the “Direct Install” button to get it working.
Constructing Alien
Constructing this program is kind of easy, and solely takes three steps. To begin off, grab the source code from official Source Forge page. Then, open a terminal window. On this terminal, do the next actions.
First, go to the obtain listing the place the Alien supply code is.
cd ~/Downloads
Then, extract the contents of the archive, with the tar command.
tar xvfJ alien_8.95.tar.xz
When the tar archive finishes, enter the code listing utilizing the cd command.
cd alien_8.95
First, use Perl to create a MakeFile. That is essential, as a result of with out this file, your PC will don’t know how you can construct the software program.
perl Makefile.PL
Now, use the newly created make file to “make” the software program.
make
Alien is constructed and able to use. Now all that’s left is to maneuver the software program from the supply code listing to the proper place in your PC. That is performed with the “make install” command. Not like the opposite two instructions, make set up MUST be run with sudo privileges. It is because it is going to be transferring software program to essential, system directories.
sudo make set up
When the make set up command finishes, run Alien by way of the terminal with: alien
Changing Packages From Debian To Redhat
To convert a package deal from the Debian format to the Redhat format, first obtain a package deal. As DEB’s are the preferred Linux binary format, they shouldn’t be too laborious to seek out. Undecided what to do? Take a look at our checklist on how you can discover lacking software program on Ubuntu.
While you’ve received a Debian package deal file, open a terminal. Then, cd to the downloads folder.
cd ~/Downloads
Convert this system from DEB to RPM with the -r change.
sudo alien -r *.deb
Operating this command will more than likely end in Alien producing an RPM package deal. Please needless to say this will likely not all the time work. Some Debian packages have lots of specialised information in them, and because of this could refuse to transform.
Different Alien Options
The Alien package deal converter can do greater than convert from Debian to RPM. Right here’s how you can use them.
RPM To DEB
The -d change, customers can convert an RPM to a Debian file.
sudo alien -d file.rpm
Convert To Slackware package deal
Utilizing the -t change, customers can convert any package deal to a Slackware Linux package deal.
sudo alien -t file
Convert To Solaris package deal
Simply convert any package deal format with Alien to the Solaris package deal format, utilizing the -p change.
sudo alien -p file
Repair Permissions
Typically changing from one binary package deal format to a different can mess up particular person permissions. It’s due to this, Alien has a characteristic that may repair completely different permission points. Use the –fixperms flag to iron out errors.
sudo alien file --fixperms
Take a look at Generated Packages
It’s doable to check new packages generated with Alien. To check a generated package deal, use the –check flag.
sudo alien file --test
