Is possible to make "deb" and "rpm" on Mac OSX?

[douglasjunior]

• I have read the contribution documentation for this project.
• I agree to follow the code of conduct that this project follows, as appropriate.
• I have searched the issue tracker for an issue that matches the one I want to file, without success.

Please describe your issue:

I'm trying to use electron-forge make to distribute my application with Mac OSX High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D102).

I'm be able to make for "darwin" and "win32", but I cant do it for "deb" and "rpm".

For "darwin", I just run electron-forge make --platform=darwin.

For "win32", I installed wine and mono-mdk with homebrew, and then electron-forge make --platform=win32 --arch=ia32,x64.

For "linux", I installed dpkg and rpm with homebrew, and then electron-forge make --platform=linux --arch=ia32,x64. But I receive this error:

$ electron-forge make --platform=linux --arch=ia32,x64
✔ Checking your system
✔ Resolving Forge Config
We need to package your application before we can make it
✔ Preparing to Package Application for arch: ia32,x64
✔ Preparing to Package Application for arch: ia32,x64
✔ Compiling Application
✔ Compiling Application
✔ Preparing native dependencies
✔ Preparing native dependencies
✔ Packaging Application
Making for the following targets:
✖ Making for target: deb - On platform: linux - For arch: ia32

An unhandled error has occurred inside Forge:
An error occured while making for target: deb
Cannot read property 'toString' of undefined
TypeError: Cannot read property 'toString' of undefined
    at spawn.then.catch.err (/Users/douglas/projetos/Electron/learning-electron/node_modules/electron-installer-debian/src/spawn.js:30:113)
    at <anonymous>
    at process._tickCallback (internal/process/next_tick.js:188:7)

My package.json is like that:

{
  "name": "learning-electron",
  "productName": "learning-electron",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "My Electron application description",
  "main": "src/index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "electron-forge start",
    "package": "electron-forge package",
    "make": "run-s make:mac make:linux make:windows",
    "make:mac": "electron-forge make --platform=darwin",
    "make:linux": "electron-forge make --platform=linux --arch=ia32,x64",
    "make:windows": "electron-forge make --platform=win32 --arch=ia32,x64",
    "publish": "electron-forge publish",
    "lint": "eslint --cache --color --ext .jsx,.js src"
  },
  "keywords": [],
  "author": "dougl",
  "license": "MIT",
  "config": {
    "forge": {
      "make_targets": {
        "win32": [
          "squirrel"
        ],
        "darwin": [
          "dmg"
        ],
        "linux": [
          "deb",
          "rpm",
          "zip"
        ]
      },
      "electronPackagerConfig": {
        "packageManager": "yarn"
      },
      "electronWinstallerConfig": {
        "name": "learning_electron"
      },
      "electronInstallerDebian": {},
      "electronInstallerRedhat": {},
      "github_repository": {
        "owner": "",
        "name": ""
      },
      "windowsStoreConfig": {
        "packageName": "",
        "name": "learningelectron"
      }
    }
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "electron-compile": "6.4.2",
    "electron-devtools-installer": "2.2.3",
    "electron-squirrel-startup": "1.0.0",
    "react": "16.2.0",
    "react-dom": "16.2.0",
    "react-hot-loader": "3.1.3"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "babel-eslint": "8.2.2",
    "babel-plugin-transform-class-properties": "6.24.1",
    "babel-preset-es2015": "6.24.1",
    "babel-preset-react": "6.24.1",
    "electron-forge": "5.1.1",
    "electron-installer-debian": "0.8.0",
    "electron-installer-redhat": "0.5.0",
    "electron-prebuilt-compile": "1.8.2",
    "electron-wix-msi": "1.3.0",
    "eslint": "4.18.0",
    "eslint-config-airbnb": "16.1.0",
    "eslint-plugin-import": "2.8.0",
    "eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y": "6.0.3",
    "eslint-plugin-react": "7.7.0",
    "npm-run-all": "4.1.2"
  }
}

Here is the project that I am using for testing: https://github.com/douglasjunior/learning-electron

node v8.9.4
npm v5.6.0

[malept]

To answer the question in your issue title: yes, it's possible to make .deb and .rpm packages on macOS. You're probably missing fakeroot (per the docs in both Electron Forge and electron-installer-debian.

That being said, there's a bug in electron-installer-debian where it doesn't tell you what's wrong, so I've filed an issue there: electron-userland/electron-installer-debian#129

Additionally, you don't need to add electron-installer-debian and electron-installer-redhat to your devDependencies, as it should be pulled in by Electron Forge.

[douglasjunior]

Works, thanks!

[malept]

That being said, there's a bug in electron-installer-debian where it doesn't tell you what's wrong, so I've filed an issue there: electron-userland/electron-installer-debian#129

The bug has been fixed in electron-installer-debian 0.8.1, if you update the dependencies of Electron Forge, you should get the new version.

[douglasjunior]

No problem, thank you for the great job in this tool.

[JensDebergh]

Hey there!

I'm having similar issues on 6.0.0-beta.43.

I tried running the make command on my macbook during lunch break and keep getting following error:

I have both fakeroot and dpkg installed on machine.

I did notice that @electron-forge/make-deb has follow snippet of code on 6.0.0 ensuring it will never run on any other platform then linux.

https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-forge/blob/master/packages/maker/deb/src/MakerDeb.ts#L22

Is support dropped? Or did this just slip in?

[malept]

This has been fixed in 6.0.0 beta 44.