dosbundle

dosbundle is a DOS-to-desktop bundler for macOS and Linux.

The project goal is to take:

• a directory tree that will become the emulated C:\
• a dosbox configuration file
• a DOS batch file or executable to launch

and produce a distributable application.

Warning

This project was vibe coded in just a few hours. The code is fairly benign, but use your judgement. You're free to not use it, but it works for me.

License

The project is MIT licensed. I figured this is the most flexible as it allows use of the bundler with commercial software and not require the commercial software to become GPL.

Build

The project uses CMake as the portable build definition. Ninja is the recommended generator, although any suitable CMake generator can be used.

cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja
cmake --build build
./build/dosbundle --help
./build/dosbundle bundle examples/bundle.toml
./build/dosbundle launch artifacts/Screamr2-stage --dry-run
./build/dosbundle package artifacts/Screamr2-stage artifacts/Screamr2-sfx
./artifacts/Screamr2-sfx --dry-run --extract-root /path/to/extract-root

Optional user configuration can be placed in ~/.config/dosbundle.conf or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/dosbundle.conf:

dosbox_path=/usr/local/bin/dosbox-staging
tar_path=/usr/bin/tar
extract_root=/tmp/dosbundle

Current Staged Layout

The bundle command currently writes a directory tree like:

<output>/
├── dosbox/
│   └── dosbox.conf
├── manifest/
│   ├── bundle.toml
│   ├── launch.properties
│   └── summary.txt
├── payload/
│   └── c/
└── startup/
    └── <startup file>

Self-Extracting Format

The package command produces a single executable by:

• copying the launcher binary
• appending a tar.gz archive of the staged bundle
• appending a small binary footer with archive metadata

When the packaged executable is run directly, it:

• extracts the embedded bundle into a temporary directory
• discovers dosbox-staging
• launches the extracted bundle through the normal launcher path
• removes the temporary extraction directory on exit

Use --extract-root <path> to force extraction under a specific directory, which makes it possible to point extraction at a RAM disk later. If no CLI override is provided, DOSBUNDLE_EXTRACT_ROOT is used as a fallback.

Configured defaults are loaded before fallback discovery:

• dosbox_path overrides dosbox-staging discovery
• tar_path overrides the tar executable used for package/extract steps
• extract_root sets the default extraction directory