Install the CLI

The executable is named debark. Install it on your online computer to prepare bundles, then copy a Linux binary to the offline machine to install them.

For the GUI, see desktop app setup.

Install a package

curl -fsSL https://debark.dev/install.sh | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
debark version

# After downloading and verifying the Windows CLI archive
Expand-Archive .\debark_0.1.1_windows_amd64.zip -DestinationPath .\debark-cli
.\debark-cli\debark.exe version

go install github.com/inferops/debark/cmd/debark@latest

The download page lists published Linux amd64/arm64 and Windows amd64 archives, Linux .deb / .rpm packages, file sizes, and SHA-256 hashes. Use the release verification guide to check manual downloads.

On Debian or Ubuntu, install a downloaded CLI .deb with sudo apt install ./FILENAME.deb. On an RPM-based builder, use sudo dnf install ./FILENAME.rpm. Replace FILENAME with the verified package you downloaded. RPM packaging does not add RPM bundle support.

Linux installer

The installer at debark.dev/install.sh detects amd64 or arm64, downloads the latest stable CLI release from inferops/debark, and checks its published SHA-256. It stops if the download or checksum check fails. It installs only the CLI, into $HOME/.local/bin, without sudo, shell-profile edits, or an update service.

It needs curl, CA certificates, sha256sum, tar, awk, mktemp, and install. On a minimal Debian or Ubuntu builder, install prerequisites with sudo apt install ca-certificates curl coreutils tar gawk.

To read the script before running it, pin a version, and select a writable directory:

curl -fsSL https://debark.dev/install.sh -o install.sh
less install.sh
sh install.sh --version v0.1.1 --bin-dir "$HOME/.local/bin"
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
debark version

Add the export PATH line to your shell profile if that directory is not already on PATH. For a system-wide copy that sudo debark can find, run:

sudo install -m 755 "$HOME/.local/bin/debark" /usr/local/bin/debark

Rerun the installer to update, or use --version to choose a specific stable release. Run sh install.sh --help for options. The script verifies download integrity against the release checksum file; it does not verify the publisher’s Sigstore signature. For that additional check, follow release verification.

The offline machine cannot use a network installer. Transfer its matching Linux binary as described below.

Build the binary

You need Git and Go 1.26.8 or newer on the computer you build it on.

With Go already installed, the shortest source installation is:

go install github.com/inferops/debark/cmd/debark@latest
debark version

Add GOBIN, or $(go env GOPATH)/bin when GOBIN is unset, to PATH first. Use a release tag instead of @latest to pin a version. macOS has no published binary or CI coverage; its container build workflow is unvalidated.

To build from a checkout:

On Linux or macOS:

git clone https://github.com/inferops/debark.git
cd debark
CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -trimpath ./cmd/debark
./debark version

git clone https://github.com/inferops/debark.git
cd debark
$env:CGO_ENABLED = '0'
go build -trimpath ./cmd/debark
.\debark.exe version

Put the resulting binary on your PATH so you can run debark from any directory. For example, on Linux:

sudo install -m 755 debark /usr/local/bin/debark

Copy to the offline machine

The offline machine needs a Linux binary matching its architecture. A Windows or macOS executable will not run there. Check the target with dpkg --print-architecture.

If you installed or built the CLI on a Linux computer with the same architecture, copy that binary over. You can also download the matching Linux archive from GitHub Releases on the online computer and extract its debark binary.

After copying a binary named debark to the offline machine, install it there:

sudo install -m 755 debark /usr/local/bin/debark
debark version

Build a Linux binary yourself

Run this from the CLI source directory to build for Linux amd64:

On Linux or macOS:

CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -trimpath \
  -o debark-linux-amd64 ./cmd/debark

$env:CGO_ENABLED = '0'
$env:GOOS = 'linux'
$env:GOARCH = 'amd64'
go build -trimpath -o debark-linux-amd64 ./cmd/debark
Remove-Item Env:GOOS, Env:GOARCH

Use arm64 instead of amd64 for an ARM64 target. You can check the target with dpkg --print-architecture.

Copy the binary to the offline machine, then install it there:

sudo install -m 755 debark-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/debark
debark version

What runs where

• Snapshot and install: on the Debian or Ubuntu target. Installation needs root.
• Build bundles: on the online computer. Use native apt when it matches the target release, or Docker / Podman for a different release.
• Verify and inspect: on any computer that can run the CLI.

Linux is the main platform. The CLI builds on Windows and macOS, but their container-based build workflows have limited testing. They also need a Linux helper binary; see container setup and the platform table.

Start a build

On the online computer, run debark build --interactive to choose a target and packages through prompts. You can select a baseline OS without taking a snapshot first.

See the interactive CLI guide, or build with a baseline OS using explicit options.