Bash terminal utility for installing curated Flatpak packages by the 42 Paris team on 42 Paris dumps

Why this?

I have a startup script that automatically sets up dumps whenever I log into them - and that includes installing packages I use automatically. I'd like to make it easy for everyone to do the same thing. To be honest, most people just keep binaries around, but if we have a whole package manager at our hands, might as well use it!

How do I use it?

Git clone the latest release and run it like this:

./ftpkg_cli

Here are all the options you can use:

$ ./ftpkg_cli
ftpkg_cli v0.3 - terminal utility for installing curated Flatpak packages by the 42 Paris team on 42 Paris dumps
Copyright (C) 2023 Denise BITCA
This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; see LICENSE file for more.

Usage: ftpkg_cli [OPTION]...
Formatting options (combining possible):
        --no-header                     Hide license header (default: false)
        --no-color                      Disable color output (default: false)
        --script-friendly               Stable formatting for usage in scripts (default: false)
General options (only one at a time):
        -q, --query                     Get list of available packages
        -i, --install <package_name>    Install package
        -u, --uninstall <package_name>  Uninstall package
Query options (for -q, --query):
        --installed                     Filter packages that are not installed (default: false)
Install/uninstall options (for -u, -i, --install, --uninstall):
        --password <password>           Password for the ftpkg server (default: none)

./ftpkg_cli -q looks like this:

(...)
[not installed] eclipse JavaScript
        Package name: org.eclipse.Javascript
        Version: 0.15.1
        Description: The essential tools for any JavaScript developer, including JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, XML, Yaml, Markdown languages support
[installed] Neovim
        Package name: io.neovim.nvim
        Version: 0.8.0
        Description: Vim-fork focused on extensibility and usability
[not installed] Ghidra
        Package name: org.ghidra_sre.Ghidra
        Version: 10.2.2
        Description: Ghidra Software Reverse Engineering Suite
[installed] Postman
        Package name: com.getpostman.Postman
(...)

For now, you will need the package name (in java format) in order to run install or uninstall operations.

What password? ftpkg server? Huh?

The program automatically gets the password for you when running operations that require the password - don't think about it.

If you're on a Mac dump, it might be faster for you to keep the password somewhere and run the command with the password.

To obtain said password on a Dell dump:

cd cli_utils
docker build -q -t ftpkg:v0.3 ./docker
docker run -v "/usr/bin/ftpkg:/mnt/ftpkg" ftpkg:v0.3

To use the password on a Mac dump:

./ftpkg_cli --install <package name> --password <password>

Are we allowed to use this on dumps?

I'm not sure - part of the process is literally reverse engineering an executable in order to obtain a hardcoded password. Guess we'll find out!

NOTE: DO NOT POST THE PASSWORD IN ISSUES OR LEAVE IT IN PULL REQUESTS

How does it work?

ftpkg is composed of a client (the executable you run) and a server communicating via HTTP over TCP.

For example, here is how the ftpkg executable gets the list of packages that you can install/uninstall/update.

sequenceDiagram
  Client->>+Server: GET /status
  Server->>-Client: {json file}

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A package is usually formatted like this:

{
  "name": "Android Studio",
  "package_name": "com.google.AndroidStudio",
  "category": "Development",
  "icon": "<app icon in base64>",
  "version": "2021.3.1.17",
  "description": "Integrated development environment for Google's Android platform",
  "state": "0"
}

Note: "state": "0" means "this package is not installed" and "state": "1" means "this package is installed".

Here is an example of what installing a program looks like:

sequenceDiagram
  Client->>+Server: GET /install/<password>/com.google.AndroidStudio
  Server->>-Client: OK

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The expected password is hardcoded inside the ftpkg executable.

How do I contribute?

Feel free to drop an issue or a pull request, especially if you like using the Mac dumps (because I haven't tested this on them). If your campus uses ftpkg and this doesn't work, you are more than encouraged to drop an issue.