I know others may have their own script to install their default set of applications when they install a new distro, (I’m sure I’ve heard Ryan mention this). I have my own script that I’ve tinkered with for a while that has worked on the distros I’ve tried so far, Arch based, Debian based and 2 RPM based.
I run this script after doing any initial software update.
I call it InstallList, but call it what you want and it displays what you call it in the help message.
It can have a built in list of packages (see the variable TO_INSTALL at the top of the script file, and/or it will load a list of packages from a file called defaults.list in the same directory as the script file. The latest bit of over engineering is to accept a file on the command line.
e.g.
$ InstallList extras.list
All packages in any or all of these places will be filtered so any duplicates will be removed from the packages it will try and install. Any packages that are already installed will just end up being skipped by the install command for the base distro type, so no harm.
The script will ask for the base type of the distro (Arch, Debian or RPM) and prompt for the sudo passwork as needed. As I only need to run this once I do the installs one by one, it may take longer but makes the output easier to look back at and see what happened for each package.
Not all distros call application packages the same (chromium or chromium-browser) and sometimes the application I want isn’t in their repo so I add an alternative, which can sometimes lead to both being installed (KeePassXC and KeePassX) but on the whole this doesn’t bother me, if it bothers you adjust the list first or remove the unwanted after the event.
The script uses colours in the messages to try and help readability of the output.
InstallList
#!/bin/bash
#
_BASENAME_="${0##*/}" # basename of this script file
# ###################################################
#
# 1) as standard, the following list of packages, listed in the varable
# "_TO_INSTALL_" will be attempted to installed
#
# 2) as well as these, if there is a file called "defaults.list" in the
# same directory as this script file it will be assumed to be a list
# of default packages (additional to any listed in "_TO_INSTALL_".
#
# 3) optionally you can specify another file containing yet more
# packages as a command line argument
#
# e.g. InstallList extras.list
#
# NOTE: the script filters out duplicates before attempting to install
# any packages.
#
# #### embedded list of packages to install as defaults ####
_TO_INSTALL_="
bluefish build-essential chromium
chromium-browser cppcheck featherpad
geany geany-plugins gnome-mahjongg
gnome-system-monitor gparted gufw
guvcview keepassx keepassxc
kpat kpatience ksudoku
leafpad less mousepad
neofetch openshot orage
pluma quiterss rsync
shellcheck simplescreenrecorder
"
# #### define colour strings for display messages ####
#
_RED_='\e[1;31m'
_GREEN_='\e[1;32m'
_YELLOW_='\e[1;33m'
#_BLUE_='\e[1;34m'
#_MAGENTA_='\e[1;35m'
_CYAN_='\e[1;36m'
_WHITE_='\e[1;37m'
_RESET_='\e[m'
# #### Version String ####
_VERSION_="2019-09-25 v1.25 : (CC0) Creative Commons"
show_version() {
echo -e "\\n${_YELLOW_}${_BASENAME_} :\\n\\n\\t${_CYAN_}${_VERSION_}${_RESET_}\\n"
}
# #### simple help message string ####
_HELP_="
A simple script to add a selection of default packages to a new Linux distro
installation.
It works on distro based on Arch or Debian, and that use RPM packages.
USAGE :
${_YELLOW_}${_BASENAME_} ${_WHITE_}[${_CYAN_}<package.list>${_WHITE_}]${_RESET_}
${_CYAN_}<package.list>${_RESET_} - is an optional file containing a list of
additional packages"
show_help() {
echo -e "\\n${_YELLOW_}${_BASENAME_} :\\n\\t${_CYAN_}${_VERSION_}${_RESET_}\\n\\t${_HELP_}\\n"
}
# ###################################################
# if there was an external file of additional
# packages add each line from that file
#
add_extras() {
_TO_INSTALL_="${_TO_INSTALL_}
${1}"
}
# ###################################################
# read any packages from file with additional packages
#
read_list_file() {
echo -e "\\n${_YELLOW_}**** Reading external package list file ****\\n**** File: ${_CYAN_}${1}${_RESET_}\\n"
while IFS= read -r line
do
if [ "${line}" != "" ]; then add_extras "${line}"; fi # ignore empty lines
done < "${1}"
}
# ###################################################
# build a list of unique packages
# start with an empty list of unique packages
#
_UNIQUES_=""
is_unique() {
for pu in ${_UNIQUES_}
do
if [ "${1}" == "${pu}" ]; then return; fi
done
_UNIQUES_="${_UNIQUES_}
${1}"
}
# ###################################################
# filter out duplicate packages
#
check_unique() {
echo -e "${_YELLOW_}**** Filtering out duplicate packages ****${_RESET_}"
for p in ${_TO_INSTALL_}; do is_unique "${p}"; done
}
# ######################################################
# requires 2 arguments :-
# ${1} = ${_COMMAND_} - depends on base distro type
# ${2} = ${_PACKAGE_} - name of package to install
install_package() {
echo -e "\\n${_CYAN_}\\n**** Installing package '${2}' BEGIN ****\\n****${_RESET_}"
_INSTALL_CMD_="sudo ${1} ${2}"
echo -e "${_YELLOW_}${_INSTALL_CMD_}${_RESET_}\\n"
if ! ${_INSTALL_CMD_}; then
echo -e "${_RED_}****\\n**** Installing package '${2}' FAILED ****\\n${_RESET_}"
else
echo -e "${_GREEN_}****\\n**** Installing package '${2}' SUCCESS ****\\n${_RESET_}"
fi
}
##################################################################
#
# start here, see if version info or help was requested ...
#
##################################################################
case "${1}" in
"-v" | "--version")
show_version
exit
;;
"-h" | "--help")
show_help
exit
;;
*)
;;
esac
##################################################################
#
# version or help NOT requested so ask what distro type you want
# to install,
#
# a[rch]
# d[ebian]
# r[pm]
#
# or
#
# q[uit]
#
##################################################################
_DISTRO_TYPE_=""
while [ "${_DISTRO_TYPE_}" == "" ]
do
read -er -n 1 -p "[A]rch. [D]ebian, [R]PM or q[uit] ? [a/d/r/q] : " -s choice
case "${choice^^}" in
"A")
echo -e "${_YELLOW_}A${_RESET_}rch base selected"
_DISTRO_TYPE_="pacman -S --noconfirm"
;;
"D")
echo -e "${_YELLOW_}D${_RESET_}ebian base selected"
_DISTRO_TYPE_="apt install -yy"
;;
"R")
echo -e "${_YELLOW_}R${_RESET_}PM base selected"
_DISTRO_TYPE_="dnf install -yy"
;;
"Q")
echo -e "\\n${_RED_}**** Quitting ****${_RESET_}\\n"
exit 1
;;
*)
echo -e "\\n${_RED_}**** Unknown base distro ****${_RESET_}\\n"
;;
esac
done
# #### read the standard "defaults.list" package list ####
_DEFAULT_LIST_="$( dirname "${0}" )/defaults.list"
if [ -f "${_DEFAULT_LIST_}" ]; then read_list_file "${_DEFAULT_LIST_}"; fi
# #### read any extra package list from command line file ####
if [ "${1}" != "" ]; then read_list_file "${1}"; fi
# #### check for unique package names, discard duplicates ####
check_unique
# #### start processing the list of packages, including any from ####
# #### external file(s) with additional packages ####
echo -e "\\n${_YELLOW_}**** '${_BASENAME_}' Starting ****${_RESET_}"
sudo ls >/dev/null
# #### now, process each unique package name and try to install it ####
for p in ${_UNIQUES_}
do
install_package "${_DISTRO_TYPE_}" "${p}"
done
echo -e "${_YELLOW_}**** '${_BASENAME_}' Finished ****${_RESET_}\\n"
exit
##################################################################
An example of a defaults.list file I could use rather than having the packages in the TO_INSTALL variable would be
defaults.list
bluefish build-essential chromium
chromium-browser cppcheck featherpad
geany geany-plugins gnome-mahjongg
gnome-system-monitor gparted gufw
guvcview keepassx keepassxc
kpat kpatience ksudoku
leafpad less mousepad
neofetch openshot orage
pluma quiterss rsync
shellcheck simplescreenrecorder
If anyone has suggestions for improvements please let me know, I’m far from being a bash script expert.
