Custom Packages & Local XBPS Repositories

This document explains how to include custom local .xbps binary packages into Void-Builder images.

The custom_packages/ Directory

Void-Builder automatically monitors the custom_packages/ directory at the project root:

/iso-builder/pepvoid-builder/custom_packages/
├── calamares/               # Source template for Calamares package
├── python3-customtkinter/    # Source template for Python library package
├── python3-darkdetect/       # Source template for Python library package
├── python3-plyer/            # Source template for Python library package
├── python3-pystray/          # Source template for Python library package
├── my-package-1.0_1.x86_64.xbps
└── my-tool-2.1_1.x86_64.xbps

Automatic Repository Indexing

When VoidEngine.install_packages() runs:

  1. Checks if custom_packages/ contains any .xbps package files.

  2. If found, automatically executes xbps-rindex -a custom_packages/*.xbps to build x86_64-repodata (or target architecture index).

  3. Prepends custom_packages/ to the repository priority list at position 0.

  4. Allows xbps-install to resolve and install your custom packages during chroot provisioning.

Creating Custom Packages with xbps-src

If you are developing custom applications or modified Void packages:

  1. Clone void-packages:

    git clone https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages.git
cd void-packages
./xbps-src binary-bootstrap

  2. Create package template in srcpkgs/<my-package>/template.

  3. Compile package:

    ./xbps-src pkg <my-package>

  4. Copy compiled .xbps file into custom_packages/:

    cp hostdir/binpkgs/<my-package>-*.xbps /path/to/void-builder/custom_packages/

  5. Run build:

    sudo python3 cli.py x86_64 -p my-package --mode real

Automated Python library builds

The four Pepvoid Python library templates can be compiled together through the same isolated xbps-src pipeline used by Calamares:

python3 cli.py --build-python-packages

To compile them and install the resulting packages in an ISO build, use:

sudo python3 cli.py x86_64 --with-python-packages --mode real

This explicitly rebuilds the Python packages, selects the python-libraries software profile, and publishes the indexed local repository before package installation. To reuse packages already indexed in custom_packages/, use:

sudo python3 cli.py x86_64 --with-python-packages --with-custom-repo --mode real

--with-custom-repo adds custom_packages/ as a repository and skips the Python compilation step when all requested archives for the target architecture are available. --build-python-packages always forces a fresh compilation.