this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2024
47 points (98.0% liked)

Linux

48452 readers
475 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Hi all,

I am about to do a bit of a distro hop, and I am looking at Fedora and its spins, after years on Debian / POP.

I am not looking forward to setting it all up again, it's a drag.

I wonder, is there a tool that lets me script installs?

I'll want to check if application exists, and if so, update, otherwise, install. That kind of thing.

Things like:

  • Telegram
  • Joplin
  • Docker
  • Firefox
  • Ungoogle Chromium
  • Sublime Text
  • VSCodium
  • Keepass
  • Thunderbird
  • DBeaver
  • Gimp
  • Inkscape
  • KDENLive
  • Syncthing
  • Steam
  • VLC
  • Localsend
  • Flameshot
  • Element
  • Cherrytree
  • Calibre
  • Anydesk

I show the list, only to give an idea of what might be involved.

I'm new to Fedora, so not sure how it differs beyond the package manager. But, thought I'd ask.

Does such a tool exist, and is it worth my time? I can practice on a VM before trying on the final install/s.

Thank you

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Using ansible will help you on your 2nd, 3rd , nth install.

But getting ansible to do what you want (plus testing) for the first time would takes 10x longer than manual install.

I think there's xkcd about that.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Just installing applications is pretty easy though.

***
- hosts: localhost
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: Install required software
      dnf:
        state: latest
        name:
          - firefox
          - telegram
          - calibre

ansible-playbook install.yml

Something like that (untested)

[–] timbuck2themoon 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I distinctly remember yum/dnf should be using a loop. Forget why but it's recommended. Here's a snippet from my playbook. Simply make the vars as you need and run.

  - name: Install flathub as remote
    ansible.builtin.shell:
      cmd: flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
    tags:
      - apps

  - name: Install flatpak apps
    community.general.flatpak:
      name: "{{ item }}"
      state: present
    loop: "{{ flatpaks }}"
    tags:
      - apps

  - name: Remove some default unused packages
    ansible.builtin.dnf:
      name: "{{ item }}"
      state: absent
      update_cache: no
    loop: "{{ remove }}"
    ignore_errors: true
    tags:
      - apps

  - name: Install our packages
    ansible.builtin.dnf:
      name: "{{ item }}"
      state: present
      update_cache: yes
    loop: "{{ rpms }}"
    ignore_errors: true
    tags:
      - apps```

On mobile. Apologies if formatting is off.