====== Installing Lpkg on the OSD ======

[[:projects:lpkg]] is a package manager, a program to help you add/remove applications (packages) on your OSD. If you already use Linux on your PC then you have probably encountered this concept before.

===== Package management concepts =====

==== Packages ====
A package is an application that has been packed up in a certain way, which makes it possible for Lpkg to download and install that application automatically in a matter of seconds.

==== Repositories ====
Lpkg packages are available from the internet, from repositories. A repository is a collection of packages managed by one person or group, and hosted on the internet at a particular place. It is from these repositories that Lpkg will directly download and install packages for you.

==== Feeds ====
All Lpkg repositories all have a feed, a file which tells Lpkg about the packages contained in that repository.

It is necessary every so often for you to re-fetch the feed from a repository, to see if anything has changed (new packages made, or new versions released).

===== Installing Lpkg =====

In preparation you should create a folder on your OSD (on storage attached to your OSD, or on a network share). This folder will be where all installed applications live. If you create this folder on a USB drive, that drive *must* be plugged in for Lpkg and the applications it installs to work. The same applies if you use a network share, it must be connected for you to use any of the applications you install using Lpkg. Whatever this directory is, I will call it your 'osdroot' (for historical reasons, and because the name is short and easy :-) )

Download the latest version of Lpkg from http://matthewwild.co.uk/projects/Neuros/lpkg/lpkg1.1.lpkg and save it into your osdroot on your OSD.

If you haven't already, use [[http://wiki.neurostechnology.com/index.php/OSD_Telnet|telnet]] to log into your OSD.

In the telnet session, do the following:

  cd /path/to/your/osdroot  

Your osdroot could be 
  /media/USB/osdroot
or 
  /media/network/MYDESKTOP/osdroot
for example.
You should now be in the same folder that you saved lpkg1.1.lpkg to. You can check with the 'ls' command (which lists files in the current folder).

Now to unpack Lpkg, run:
  tar xf lpkg1.1.lpkg

Lpkg is now installed, but before you use it you need to run:
  . ./setup.sh   

:!: there are 2 dots at the start, separated by a space.

:!: You also need to run the above command every time you wish to use Lpkg in a new telnet session (and you must change directory to your osdroot when you run it) (none of this will not be necessary when [[http://bugzilla.neurostechnology.com/show_bug.cgi?id=4134|this Neuros bug]] is fixed, and you will be able to run Lpkg and installed programs with no hassle)

To test that all is installed and functioning well, type:
  lpkg
You should see some short usage information. If you don't then re-read the instructions above, and double-check that you typed everything *exactly* as it appears here.

Assuming you want to add my repository of packages, you can now run the following command:
   lpkg addfeed http://matthewwild.co.uk/projects/Neuros/packages.lpf

Now to download that feed, and get the list of packages in my repository, run:
   lpkg refresh

All being well, you should now see a list of available packages when you run:
   lpkg list

To install one of those packages run:
   lpkg install packagename

I have listed some of the main packages available on this page: [[packages]].