Package Bundles

This guide covers the packaging configurations and build scripts for the GetApp Agent across different distribution formats: Debian/Ubuntu (.deb), Red Hat–family (.rpm), and Windows (.msi).

If you only need to install a pre-built package, see Getting Started. The page below is for building packages from source, advanced install-time configuration, and silent / unattended deployments.

Current Structure

bundles/
├── rpm/           # Red Hat/CentOS/AlmaLinux/Fedora packages
│   ├── build-rpm.sh
│   ├── getapp.service
│   ├── postinst
│   └── postrm
├── debian/        # Debian/Ubuntu packages
│   ├── build-deb.sh
│   ├── getapp.service
│   ├── postinst
│   └── postrm
└── wix/           # Windows MSI installer
    ├── main.wxs           # Main WiX installer definition
    ├── advanced-dlg.wxs   # Advanced Options dialog (URL, gateway port)
    ├── patch-dot-env.vbs  # VBScript: patches .env during install (deferred CA)
    └── read-dot-env.vbs   # VBScript: reads .env to pre-populate dialog on upgrade

Building Packages

Debian Package

Supported Platforms: Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint

Prerequisites:

cargo install cargo-deb

Build:

# From the agent/ directory:
./bundles/debian/build-deb.sh

Or manually:

cargo deb

The .deb package will be created in target/debian/

Install:

# Default configuration
sudo dpkg -i target/debian/getapp_*.deb

# With configuration overrides (env vars are forwarded to the postinst script)
sudo env GETAPP_BASE_URL=https://prod.server.com GETAPP_GATEWAY_PORT=2220 dpkg -i target/debian/getapp_*.deb

# With extra .env overrides (semicolon-separated KEY=VALUE pairs)
sudo env GETAPP_EXTRA_VARS="DEVICE_SECRET=mysecret;SWAGGER_ACTIVE=false" dpkg -i target/debian/getapp_*.deb

On upgrade, dpkg preserves /etc/getapp/.env (conffile protection — intentional: allows users to manually edit and keep their .env on Linux, where no registry-based self-patch runs). Only variables you explicitly pass are applied to the existing file.

Configuration variables (same names as MSI properties):

Variable	.env key	Notes
GETAPP_BASE_URL	BASE_URL	Server URL
GETAPP_GATEWAY_PORT	GATEWAY_PORT	External port, default 2220
GETAPP_EXTRA_VARS	arbitrary	Semicolon-separated KEY=VALUE pairs — MSI only (on Linux, pass individual GETAPP_KEY=value env vars; GETAPP_EXTRA_VARS is accepted for MSI-script compat)
Any GETAPP_*	key with GETAPP_ stripped	Individual extra keys — Linux only (e.g. GETAPP_LOG_LEVEL=warn → LOG_LEVEL=warn in .env)

Passing extra .env keys on Linux — use individual GETAPP_KEY=value env vars (postinst strips the prefix):

sudo env GETAPP_DEVICE_SECRET=mysecret GETAPP_LOG_LEVEL=warn dpkg -i getapp_*.deb

GETAPP_EXTRA_VARS="KEY=VALUE;KEY2=VALUE2" is also accepted on Linux (for compatibility with MSI automation scripts) but individual vars are the idiomatic Linux approach. On Windows MSI, GETAPP_EXTRA_VARS is the only supported mechanism for arbitrary extra keys — MSI ignores undeclared individual properties.

Uninstall:

# Remove package (preserves /etc/getapp/.env and data directories)
sudo dpkg -r getapp-agent

# Purge — remove package AND all config files (/etc/getapp)
sudo dpkg --purge getapp-agent

RPM Package

Supported Platforms: Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, AlmaLinux, Fedora, Rocky Linux

Prerequisites:

cargo install cargo-generate-rpm

Build:

# From the agent/ directory:
./bundles/rpm/build-rpm.sh

Or manually:

cargo build --release
cargo generate-rpm

The .rpm package will be created in target/generate-rpm/

Install:

# Default configuration — using dnf (recommended, handles dependencies)
sudo dnf install -y target/generate-rpm/getapp-*.rpm

# Using rpm directly (no dependency resolution)
sudo rpm -i target/generate-rpm/getapp-*.rpm

# With configuration overrides
sudo env GETAPP_BASE_URL=https://prod.server.com GETAPP_GATEWAY_PORT=2220 dnf install -y target/generate-rpm/getapp-*.rpm

# With extra .env overrides (semicolon-separated KEY=VALUE pairs)
sudo env GETAPP_EXTRA_VARS="DEVICE_SECRET=mysecret;SWAGGER_ACTIVE=false" dnf install -y target/generate-rpm/getapp-*.rpm

# Upgrade — pass only what you want to change
sudo env GETAPP_BASE_URL=https://newserver.com dnf install -y target/generate-rpm/getapp-*.rpm

dnf vs rpm: prefer dnf install -y — it resolves dependencies automatically. rpm -i / rpm -U work but will fail if dependencies are missing. For upgrade, dnf install automatically detects and upgrades an existing installation.

On upgrade, RPM preserves /etc/getapp/.env (config = "noreplace" — intentional: allows users to manually edit and keep their .env on Linux, where no registry-based self-patch runs). Only variables you explicitly pass are applied to the existing file. Same variables as DEB — see table above.

Service management (systemctl):

# Check service status
systemctl status getapp

# Start / stop / restart
sudo systemctl start getapp
sudo systemctl stop getapp
sudo systemctl restart getapp

# Enable / disable autostart on boot
sudo systemctl enable getapp
sudo systemctl disable getapp

# View live logs
sudo journalctl -u getapp -f

# View last 100 log lines
sudo journalctl -u getapp -n 100 --no-pager

Uninstall:

# Remove package using dnf (recommended)
sudo dnf remove getapp-agent

# Remove package using rpm directly
sudo rpm -e getapp-agent

/etc/getapp/.env and data directories (/var/lib/getapp, /var/log/getapp) are preserved on uninstall — remove manually if needed:

sudo rm -rf /etc/getapp /var/lib/getapp /var/log/getapp

Windows MSI

Supported Platforms: Windows

Prerequisites:

cargo install cargo-wix

Build:

cargo wix

The .msi installer will be created in target/wix/

Interactive Installation

Double-click the .msi or run:

msiexec /i target\wix\GetAppAgent-Services-x.y.z-x86_64.msi

The installer shows a dialog sequence: Welcome → Install Directory → (optional) Advanced Options → Install.

The Advanced Options dialog lets you set:

• Server URL (BASE_URL) — the GetApp server this agent reports to
• Gateway port (GATEWAY_PORT) — the externally accessible port (default: 2220)

Silent Installation (CLI / DevOps)

Always use an absolute path to the .msi file — msiexec runs elevated and does not inherit the shell's working directory, so relative paths like .\GetApp*.msi will fail.

Flag	UI shown	Use case
(none)	Full wizard	Interactive end-user install
/qb	Progress bar + Cancel button	Human watching a console
/qb!	Progress bar, no Cancel button	Unattended but visible
/qn	None	Scripts, CI/CD, automation

# Minimal — all defaults, no UI
msiexec /i GetAppAgent-Services-x.y.z-x86_64.msi /qn

# Full custom, no UI (CI/CD)
# NOTE: when the path contains spaces, quote the entire PROPERTY=value as one string.
msiexec /i GetAppAgent-Services-x.y.z-x86_64.msi /qn `
    "INSTALLDIR=C:\custom\path\" `
    GETAPP_BASE_URL=https://prod.server.com `
    GETAPP_GATEWAY_PORT=2220

# With extra .env overrides (semicolon-separated KEY=VALUE)
msiexec /i GetAppAgent-Services-x.y.z-x86_64.msi /qn `
    GETAPP_BASE_URL=https://prod.server.com `
    GETAPP_EXTRA_VARS="DEVICE_SECRET=mysecret;SWAGGER_ACTIVE=false;LOG_LEVEL=warn"

MSI Properties Reference

Property	Default	Description
INSTALLDIR	C:\Program Files\GetApp\	Installation directory — effective on first install only; ignored on upgrade/reinstall (path is locked in registry after first install)
GETAPP_BASE_URL	build-time default URL	GetApp server URL, written to BASE_URL in .env
GETAPP_GATEWAY_PORT	2220	External gateway port, written to GATEWAY_PORT in .env
GETAPP_EXTRA_VARS	(empty)	Semicolon-separated KEY=VALUE pairs for additional .env overrides — MSI only (on Linux, pass individual GETAPP_KEY=value env vars instead)

Property name case: MSI officially requires public property names to be ALL UPPERCASE. Lowercase names may also work in practice when running with administrator privileges, but uppercase is always recommended for reliable, portable behavior.

How configuration is applied to .env

The MSI patches .env directly during installation via an embedded VBScript deferred custom action (runs inside msiexec.exe — no external scripts, GPO execution policy cannot block it).

• Any non-empty var explicitly passed on the CLI is written — including the factory default value, which acts as a reset.
• A silent upgrade with no CLI args is a pure no-op on .env.
• GETAPP_BASE_URL → overwrites BASE_URL=
• GETAPP_GATEWAY_PORT → overwrites GATEWAY_PORT=
• GETAPP_EXTRA_VARS → each semicolon-separated KEY=VALUE pair: overwrites the key if it exists, or appends under a # --- MSI Install Vars --- section
• Keys already in .env are updated in-place preserving original capitalisation; new keys are appended under a # --- MSI Install Vars --- section
• Manual edits and custom keys in .env are never overwritten (NeverOverwrite="yes" on the WiX component)

Silent upgrade

On upgrade, .env is never overwritten — all previous settings are preserved automatically. The Advanced Settings dialog pre-populates from the installed .env. Pass only the CLI properties you want to change:

# Upgrade to a new version — .env preserved, only URL changed
msiexec /i "C:\path\to\GetAppAgent-Services-x.y.z-x86_64.msi" /qb `
    GETAPP_BASE_URL=https://newserver.com

Plain msiexec /i works for both version upgrades and same-version reinstalls. MajorUpgrade handles the old product removal automatically.

Note: Version upgrades may take ~60 seconds while the old service is stopped and the new one is started. Same-version reinstalls are faster. This is normal behaviour.

⚠ Do NOT pass REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=vomus — this prevents msiexec from performing the upgrade or reinstall entirely. It enters maintenance mode for the existing product and silently does nothing.

INSTALLDIR is ignored on reinstall/upgrade — the install path is recorded in the registry on first install and restored automatically on every subsequent run. To move the installation to a different directory, uninstall first, then reinstall with the new path:

msiexec /x "C:\path\to\GetAppAgent-Services-0.3.26-x86_64.msi" /qn
msiexec /i "C:\path\to\GetAppAgent-Services-0.3.26-x86_64.msi" /qn "INSTALLDIR=D:\custom\getapp\"

Verify installation

# Registry now stores only: InstallVersion, InstallDir, DataPath, Name
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Elbit Systems\GetApp"

# .env is patched during MSI installation (not on first service startup)
Get-Content "C:\Program Files\GetApp\bin\.env" | Select-String "BASE_URL|GATEWAY_PORT"

Package Components

Service Files

Each package includes a systemd service unit file (getapp.service) for Linux platforms that:

• Runs the GetApp Agent as a system service
• Enables automatic startup on boot
• Manages service lifecycle (start, stop, restart)

Installation Scripts

postinst: Post-installation script that:

• Sets up necessary directories and permissions
• Enables and starts the service
• Performs initial configuration

postrm: Post-removal script that:

• Cleans up service files
• Removes configuration (optional)
• Performs cleanup tasks

Configuration

Package metadata is configured in the root Cargo.toml:

• [package.metadata.deb] — Debian package configuration
• [package.metadata.generate-rpm] — RPM package configuration
• [package.metadata.wix] — Windows installer configuration

Next Steps

After installation:

• Enrollment — connect the agent to a GetApp server
• CLI — manage device updates and software delivery from the command line
• Disconnected Environments — using the agent in air-gapped or offline networks