= Luapak Jakub Jirutka https://github.com/jirutka[@jirutka] :toc: macro :toc-title: // custom :proj-name: luapak :gh-name: jirutka/{proj-name} :gh-branch: master :appveyor-id: qmkkk86ldwvkvdc9 :ldoc-url: https://jirutka.github.io/{proj-name}/ldoc/
ifdef::env-github[] image:https://travis-ci.org/{gh-name}.svg?branch={gh-branch}["Build Status", link="https://travis-ci.org/{gh-name}"] image:https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/{appveyor-id}/branch/{gh-branch}?svg=true["Windows Build Status", link="https://ci.appveyor.com/project/{gh-name}"] image:https://img.shields.io/badge/ldoc-docs-blue.svg["LDoc", link="{ldoc-url}"] endif::env-github[]
Luapak is a command-line tool that offers complete, multi-platform (Linux, macOS, and Windows), adjustable, all-in-one (yet modular) solution for building a standalone, zero-dependencies, possibly statically linked (only on Linux) executable for (almost) any Lua program. It Just Works!
. Resolves, builds and installs project’s Lua dependencies (declared in rockspec) from https://luarocks.org/[LuaRocks].
Lua/C modules (aka native extensions) are built as static libraries (.a
archive files), so they can be statically linked into resulting executable.footnote:[Luapak includes LuaRocks package manager with rewritten https://github.com/luarocks/luarocks/wiki/Rockspec-format#builtin[builtin build backend] and modified settings to build Lua/C modules as static libraries. Other backends (make, cmake, …) are not supported in the sense that Luapak cannot alter build process to produce static libraries; it’s up to the user to ensure that.]
. Resolves actually required Lua and Lua/C modules (.lua
and .a
files) using static code analysis of the project and its dependencies (recursively).
. Merges all required Lua modules into a single Lua script.
. Minifies the Lua script (i.e. removes unnecessary characters to shrink its size) using https://github.com/jirutka/luasrcdiet[LuaSrcDiet].
. Compresses the Lua script using https://github.com/jibsen/brieflz[BriefLZ] algorithm.
. Embeds the Lua script into a generated C wrapper.
. Compiles the C wrapper and links it with Lua interpreter (PUC Lua 5.1–5.3 and LuaJIT supported) and Lua/C libraries (aka native extensions) into a standalone executable.
All these steps can be run with single command luapak make <rockspec>
, or separately if you need more control.
You can discover available commands and their options in section <
[discrete] == Table of Contents
toc::[]
== Commands
=== luapak make
// include:help-make:start // This is a generated content, do not edit it! // Note: AsciiDoc supports includes, but it's not enabled on GitHub. ++++
Usage: luapak make [options] [PACKAGE...] luapak make --help Makes a standalone executable from Lua package(s). This is the main Luapak command that handles entire process from installing dependencies to compiling executable.
Arguments: PACKAGE Lua package to build specified as <source-dir>:<rockspec>. :<rockspec> may be omitted if the <source-dir> or <source-dir>/rockspec(s) contains single rockspec, or multiple rockspecs for the same package (i.e. with different version). In the further case rockspec with the highest version is used. <source-dir>: may be omitted if the <rockspec> is in the project's source directory or rockspec(s) subdirectory. If no argument is given, the current directory is used as <source-dir>. Options: -s, --entry-script=FILE The entry point of your program, i.e. the main Lua script. If not specified and the last PACKAGE defines exactly one CLI script, then it's used. -e, --exclude-modules=PATTERNS Module(s) to exclude from dependencies analysis and the generated binary. PATTERNS is one or more glob patterns matching module name in dot notation (e.g. "pl.*"). Patterns may be delimited by comma or space. This option can be also specified multiple times. -g, --debug Enable debug mode, i.e. preserve line numbers, module names and local variable names for error messages and backtraces. -i, --include-modules=PATTERNS Extra module(s) to include in dependencies analysis and add to the generated binary. PATTERNS has the same format as in "--exclude-module". --lua-impl=NAME The Lua implementation that should be used - "PUC" (default), or "LuaJIT". This is currently used only as a hint to find the correct library and headers when auto-detection is used (i.e. --lua-incdir or --lua-lib is not specified). --lua-incdir=DIR The directory that contains Lua (or LuaJIT) headers. If not specified, luapak will look for the lua.h (and luajit.h) file inside: Luarock's LUA_INCDIR, ./vendor/lua, ./deps/lua, /usr/local/include, and /usr/include. If --lua-version is specified, then it will also try subdirectories lua<version> and lua-<version> of each of the named directories and verify that the found lua.h (or luajit.h) is for the specified Lua (or LuaJIT) version. --lua-lib=FILE The library of Lua interpreter to include in the binary. If not specified, luapak will try to find library with version corresponding to the headers inside Luarock's LUA_LIBDIR, ./vendor/lua, ./deps/lua, /usr/local/lib, /usr/local/lib64, /usr/lib, and /usr/lib64. --lua-version=VERSION The version number of Lua (or LuaJIT) headers and library to try to find (e.g. "5.3", "2.0"). -o, --output=FILE Output file name or path. Defaults to base name of the main script with stripped .lua extension. -C, --no-compress Disable BriefLZ compression of Lua sources. -M, --no-minify Disable minification of Lua sources. -t, --rocks-tree=DIR The prefix where to install required modules. Default is ".luapak" in the current directory. -q, --quiet Be quiet, i.e. print only errors. -v, --verbose Be verbose, i.e. print debug messages. -h, --help Display this help message and exit. Environment Variables: AR Archive-maintaining program; default is "ar". CC Command for compiling C; default is "gcc". CMAKE Command for processing CMakeLists.txt files; default is "cmake". CFLAGS Extra flags to give to the C compiler; default is "-Os -fPIC". LD Command for linking object files and archive files; default is "ld". LDFLAGS Extra flags to give to compiler when they are supposed to invoke the linker; default on macOS is "-pagezero_size 10000 -image_base 100000000". MAKE Command for executing Makefile; default is "make". RANLIB Command for generating index to the contents of an archive; default is "ranlib". STRIP Command for discarding symbols from an object file; default is "strip".
++++ // include:help-make:end
=== luapak analyse-deps
// include:help-analyse-deps:start // This is a generated content, do not edit it! // Note: AsciiDoc supports includes, but it's not enabled on GitHub. ++++
Usage: luapak analyse-deps [-a|-f|-m|-g] [options] FILE... luapak analyse-deps --help Analyses dependency graph of Lua module(s) using static code analysis (looks for "require" expressions).
Arguments: FILE The entry point(s); path(s) to Lua script(s) to analyse. Options: -a, --all Print all information (default). -f, --found Print only found modules. -m, --missing Print only missing modules. -g, --ignored Print only excluded/ignored modules. -e, --excludes=PATTERNS Module(s) to exclude from the dependencies analysis. PATTERNS is one or more glob patterns matching module name in dot notation (e.g. "pl.*"). Patterns may be delimited by comma or space. This option can be also specified multiple times. -n, --ignore-errors Ignore errors from dependencies resolution (like unredable or unparseable files). -P, --no-pcalls Do not analyse pcall requires. -W, --no-wildcards Do not expand "wildcard" requires. -p, --pkg-path=PATH The path pattern where to search for Lua and C/Lua modules instead of the default path. -v, --verbose Be verbose, i.e. print debug messages. -h, --help Display this help message and exit.
++++ // include:help-analyse-deps:end
=== luapak build-rock
// include:help-build-rock:start // This is a generated content, do not edit it! // Note: AsciiDoc supports includes, but it's not enabled on GitHub. ++++
Usage: luapak build-rock [options] ROCKSPEC... luapak build-rock --help Builds Lua/C module as a library archive suitable for static linking and installs it into rocks tree.
Arguments: ROCKSPEC Path of the rockspec file to build and install. Options: -C, --directory=DIR Change directory before doing anything. -i, --lua-impl=NAME The Lua implementation that should be used - "PUC" (default), or "LuaJIT". This is currently used only as a hint to find the correct headers when auto-detection is used (i.e. --lua-incdir unspecified). -I, --lua-incdir=DIR The directory that contains Lua (or LuaJIT) headers. If not specified, luapak will look for the lua.h (and luajit.h) file inside: Luarock's LUA_INCDIR, ./vendor/lua, ./deps/lua, /usr/local/include, and /usr/include. If --lua-version is specified, then it will also try subdirectories lua<version> and lua-<version> of each of the named directories and verify that the found lua.h (or luajit.h) is for the specified Lua (or LuaJIT) version. -l, --lua-version=VERSION The version number of Lua (or LuaJIT) headers and library to try to find (e.g. "5.3", "2.0"). -t, --rocks-tree=DIR The prefix where to install Lua/C modules Default is ".luapak" in the current directory. -v, --verbose Be verbose, i.e. print debug messages. -h, --help Display this help message and exit. Environment Variables: AR Archive-maintaining program; default is "ar". CC Command for compiling C; default is "gcc". CMAKE Command for processing CMakeLists.txt files; default is "cmake". CFLAGS Extra flags to give to the C compiler; default is "-Os -fPIC". LD Command for linking object files and archive files; default is "ld". LDFLAGS Extra flags to give to compiler when they are supposed to invoke the linker; default on macOS is "-pagezero_size 10000 -image_base 100000000". MAKE Command for executing Makefile; default is "make". RANLIB Command for generating index to the contents of an archive; default is "ranlib".
++++ // include:help-build-rock:end
=== luapak merge
// include:help-merge:start // This is a generated content, do not edit it! // Note: AsciiDoc supports includes, but it's not enabled on GitHub. ++++
Usage: luapak merge [options] MODULE... luapak merge --help Combines multiple Lua modules into a single file. Each module is be wrapped in a function, or string loaded by "load" (--debug), and assigned to "package.preload" table.
Arguments: MODULE Name and path of Lua module delimited with "=" (e.g. "luapak.utils=luapak/utils.lua") or just path of module. Options: -g, --debug Preserve module names and line numbers in error backtraces? -o, --output=FILE Where to write the generated code. Use "-" for stdout. Default is "-". -v, --verbose Be verbose, i.e. print debug messages. -h, --help Display this help message and exit.
++++ // include:help-merge:end
=== luapak minify
// include:help-minify:start // This is a generated content, do not edit it! // Note: AsciiDoc supports includes, but it's not enabled on GitHub. ++++
Usage: luapak minify [options] [FILE] luapak minify --help Minifies Lua source code - removes comments, unnecessary white spaces and empty lines, shortens numbers and names of local variables.
Arguments: FILE Path of the Lua source file, or "-" for stdin. Options: -l, --keep-lno Do not affect line numbers. -n, --keep-names Do not rename local variables. -o, --output=FILE Where to write the output. Use "-" for stdout. Default is "-". -v, --verbose Be verbose, i.e. print debug messages. -h, --help Display this help message and exit.
++++ // include:help-minify:end
=== luapak wrapper
// include:help-wrapper:start // This is a generated content, do not edit it! // Note: AsciiDoc supports includes, but it's not enabled on GitHub. ++++
Usage: luapak wrapper [options] FILE [MODULE_NAME...] luapak wrapper --help Wraps Lua script into a generated C file that can be compiled and linked with Lua interpreter and Lua/C native extensions into a standalone executable.
Arguments: FILE The Lua file to embed into the wrapper. MODULE_NAME Name of native module to preload (e.g. "cjson"). Options: -C, --no-compress Do not compress FILE using BriefLZ algorithm. -o, --output=FILE Where to write the generated code; "-" for stdout. Default is "-". -v, --verbose Be verbose, i.e. print debug messages. -h, --help Display this help message and exit.
++++ // include:help-wrapper:end
== What Luapak Is Not?
== Installation
Note: If you want to bootstrap development environment for running tests, read the next section.
=== Using LuaRocks
You can install {proj-name} using https://luarocks.org[LuaRocks] (the Lua package manager):
[source, subs="+attributes"] luarocks install {proj-name}
or to get the latest development version:
[source, subs="+attributes"] luarocks install --server=http://luarocks.org/dev {proj-name}
=== Download Standalone Binary
You can also download standalone Luapak binaries for Linux, macOS and Windows from https://github.com/{gh-name}/releases/[Releases].
Note: Linux binaries are statically linked with http://www.musl-libc.org/[musl libc], so they should work on any Linux system.
== Set Up Development Environment
. Clone this repository: [source, subs="+attributes"] git clone https://github.com/{gh-name}.git cd {proj-name}
. Source file .envrc
into your shell (or manually add $(pwd)/.venv/bin
to your PATH
):
[source]
source .envrc
. Install Lua and modules for running tests into directory .venv
:
[source]
./script/bootstrap
. Start hacking!
. Run linters: [source] ./script/test
== TODO
== Similar Projects
Luapak is not the first tool for packing Lua code into standalone executable, but it’s the most complete. Here’s a list of similar projects I know about, some of them served as an inspiration for Luapak.
== License
This project is licensed under http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT/[MIT License]. For the full text of the license, see the link:LICENSE[LICENSE] file.