Why can't I install a *.tar.gz or a *.tar.bz2 file?
 

Go easy folks, I'm a noob. I'm trying to install 2 files. first is a .tar.gz and the next is a .tar.bz2. The message I keep getting is 'cannot install *.* package does not end in .tgz'

What am I doing wrong? What do I need to do to correct this? I did search the forum, but I didn't find an answer. This may be due to my inexperience with searching.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

slackware packages end in .tgz, maybe those are source files, you have to compile them manually, may i ask what package/s are you trying to install? maybe there's already an available one somewhere...

Same for the other one.

Hi, that error message i think it is from the "instalpkg" command taht accepts only *.tgz files.. you have a compressed and packaged file here, and the compression is in two formats: gz and bz2- you dont install them at most you can decompress them at the right location by doing this:
cd /right/location/
tar -xzf /file/location/FILE.tar.gz
tar -xjf /file/location/FILE.tar.bz2
-x for unpacking
-z/j for decompressing using different algoritms.
-f for file is what follows..

You don't need to use -z or -j anymore. All you need is

tar xvf whatever.tar.gz

tar xvf whatever.tar.bz2

If you have src2pkg installed this command: 'src2pkg -I name-of-tarball' might take care of unpacking, configuring, compiling and installing it, or converting it into package form if it happens to be pre-compiled binary content. Works that easy about 80% of the time.

I'm trying to install ddclient. I am trying to set up internet access with a dynamic IP so this client is supposed to update my IP with dydnc.com

I will try some of the fixes offered here when I get home tonight.

Thanks

I've created a package of the program for you along with src2pkg build script and other necessary file for building from source. But my website hosts ftp server seems to be down at the moment and I haven't been able to upload it.
Getting that to work on Slackware won't be a trivial matter as it requires modification of several config files and it depends on which way you want to use it -I mean on how you connect to the net.

Do you mean dyndns.com? Sometimes a router will have a setting in it to automatically update your ip. My netgear router has a setting specifically for dyndns.com.

Try this. Download and install src2pkg from here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...1.7-i486-1.tgz

Then go into your home directory and create a new empty directory. Then, while still on line, cd into the new directory, open an xterm there and paste this into the command-line:
'src2pkg http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...client.src2pkg'
A few seconds later you'll have a freshly-built package of ddclient in your /tmp directory which you can then install(as root) with installpkg /tmp/ddclient-3.6.7-i486-1.tgz

Or, you can download the already-made package from here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...dclient-3.6.7/

You'll need to do some configuration to get it working the way you want, like editing the /etc/ddclient.conf file and making /etc/rc.d/rc.ddclient executable. If you are going to use it with ppp, then you may need to copy the sample ip-up file into the /etc/ppp dir. Anyway, read the docs in /usr/doc/ddclient-3.6.7. let me knoe how it goes in case I need to change anything in the package.

Still working on this.
 

Or, you can download the already-made package from here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...dclient-3.6.7/

You'll need to do some configuration to get it working the way you want, like editing the /etc/ddclient.conf file and making /etc/rc.d/rc.ddclient executable. If you are going to use it with ppp, then you may need to copy the sample ip-up file into the /etc/ppp dir. Anyway, read the docs in /usr/doc/ddclient-3.6.7. let me knoe how it goes in case I need to change anything in the package.[/QUOTE]

I am now reading (gasp!!) the /doc files that came with this and I will be updating my setup accordingly as soon as I understand it. Thanks for the help sofar and I will keep you posted.

Bill