Ipkg on the Linkstation (for end-users)

This article is based on original work from frontalot & nix & timtimred from www.linkstationwiki.org

Install Ipkg
If you want to use .ipk packages on an unsupported firmware or older firmware, you first need to install a version of ipkg manually:

PowerPC
wget http://downloads.nas-central.org/LS1_PPC/Packages/powerpc-hdhlan-ipkg-0.99.153-1.tgz tar -C / -xvzf powerpc-hdhlan-ipkg-0.99.153-1.tgz

ARM
There is an bootstrapping script that allows you to install ipkg on arm-based devices with stock firmware.

Linkstation Pro/Linkstation Live/Linkstation EX
mkdir /mnt/disk1/tmp cd /mnt/disk1/tmp wget http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/cs05q3armel/cross/stable/lspro-bootstrap_1.2-7_arm.xsh sh lspro-bootstrap_1.2-7_arm.xsh

Linkstation XHL/CHLv2/VL
mkdir /mnt/disk1/tmp cd /mnt/disk1/tmp wget http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/cs08q1armel/cross/stable/ls-mvkw-bootstrap_1.2-7_arm.xsh sh ls-mvkw-bootstrap_1.2-7_arm.xsh mv /etc/init.d/optware /etc/init.d/rc.optware

Linkstation Pro DUO/Terastation Pro v2/Terastation Live/Linkstation Mini
mkdir /mnt/array1/tmp cd /mnt/array1/tmp wget http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/cs05q3armel/cross/stable/teraprov2-bootstrap_1.2-7_arm.xsh sh teraprov2-bootstrap_1.2-7_arm.xsh

Whats happening when bootstrapping?

 * 1) /mnt/disk1/opt or /mnt/array1/.optware is created....and it gets mounted to /opt from now on.
 * 2) in /opt several folders are created
 * 3) ipkg gets installed to /opt/bin/ipkg and the config with the selected feeds gets created at /opt/etc/ipkg.conf
 * 4) "PATH=/opt/bin:/opt/sbin:$PATH" gets added at last line in /etc/profile....which means you can use the binaries installed via ipkg as if they were normally installed.
 * 5) "[ -x /etc/init.d/rc.optware ] && /etc/init.d/rc.optware start" is added to /etc/init.d/rcS at the end...which has the effect that everything in /opt/etc/init.d gets started on bootup.

For further reading see this thread in the forum: http://buffalo.nas-central.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4075

Manually configure /etc/ipkg.conf
Ipkg can automatically fetch and install packages from an online repository called a feed. ipkg will automatically download the requested package and its related dependencies, install the package and dependencies, and perform any setup operations, as specified in the packages. You will have to add the feeds to the file /etc/ipkg.conf. Go to the List of ipkg feeds for the LinkStation for more information. The official LinkStationWiki feed will be located at http://ipkg.nas-central.org/. # # # # # # src openlink-stable << >> #src openlink-unstable << >> # dest root / # # #
 * 1) /etc/ipkg.conf -- Configuration for ipkg, the Itsy PacKaGe management system
 * 1) Must have one or more source entries of the form:
 * 1) 	src  
 * 1) and one or more destination entries of the form:
 * 1) 	dest  
 * 1) where  and  are identifiers that
 * 2) should match [a-zA-Z0-9._-]+,  should be a
 * 3) URL that points to a directory containing a Familiar
 * 4) Packages file, and  should be a directory
 * 5) that exists on the target system.
 * 1) dest ram /mnt/ramfs
 * 2) dest ext /mnt/hda
 * 1) Proxy support:
 * 1) option http_proxy http://localhost:5865
 * 2) option ftp_proxy http://myproxy.com:3128
 * 3) option proxy_username
 * 4) option proxy_password
 * 1) Offline mode (for use in constructing flash images offline)
 * 2) option offline_root ipkg-root

PowerPC
' No stable (or unstable feeds) yet. '

If you wish to use these packages, add the following lines to the file /etc/ipkg.conf: src nslu2-cross-stable http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/ds101g/cross/stable/ src nslu2-cross-unstable http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/ds101g/cross/unstable/ src nslu2-native-stable http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/ds101g/native/stable/ src nslu2-native-unstable http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware/ds101g/native/unstable/

Installing Packages via a Feed
If you have a configured ipkg you can start to use the feed. Begin by updating the list of available packages: ipkg update Then display the list of available packages: ipkg list You may search for a particular package by using the grep program: ipkg list|grep packagename Once you know what to install installing packages from the feed is very simple: ipkg install packagename Some packages feature installation scripts which help configure the software. If the requested package has such a script, you will automatically be prompted to provide information.

Upgrading Already Installed Packages
You can upgrade already installed software quite easily: ipkg upgrade

Manually Installing .ipk Packages
Unless you have a specific reason not to, you should always install packages via the official feed. However, in certain cases, you may wish to manually install packages: ipkg install packagename_version.ipk Note: The current version of ipkg may leave an empty directory in your tmp directory. You can delete this directory after completing a package installation (the tmp directory is also automatically cleared during each reboot).

Usage
usage: ipkg [options...] sub-command [arguments...] where sub-command is one of: . Package Manipulation: update                        Update list of available packages upgrade                       Upgrade all installed packages to  .                              latest version install                 Download and install .                             (and dependencies) install             Install package  configure [ ]             Configure unpacked packages remove                  Remove package flag ... Flag package(s) .                             ( =hold|noprune|user|ok|installed|unpacked (one per invocation)) . Informational Commands: list                          List available packages and descriptions files                   List all files belonging to  search                  Search for a package providing info [pkg [ ]]          Display all/some info fields for or all status [pkg [ ]]       Display all/some status fields for or all download                Download to current directory. compare_versions <v1> <op> <v2> (compare versions using <= < > >= = << >>) print_architecture            prints the architecture. print_installation_architecture whatdepends [-A] [pkgname|pat]+ whatdependsrec [-A] [pkgname|pat]+ whatprovides [-A] [pkgname|pat]+ whatconflicts [-A] [pkgname|pat]+ whatreplaces [-A] [pkgname|pat]+ . Options: -A                            Query all packages with whatdepends, whatprovides, whatreplaces, whatconflicts -V                    Set verbosity level to. If no value is --verbosity           provided increase verbosity by one. Verbosity levels: 0 errors only 1 normal messages (default) 2 informative messages 3 debug output -f <conf_file>                Use <conf_file> as the ipkg configuration file -conf <conf_file>             Default configuration file location is /etc/ipkg.conf -d <dest_name>                Use <dest_name> as the the root directory for -dest <dest_name>             package installation, removal, upgrading. <dest_name> should be a defined dest name from the configuration file, (but can also                               be a directory name in a pinch). -o <offline_root>             Use <offline_root> as the root directory for -offline <offline_root>       offline installation of packages. -verbose_wget                 more wget messages . Force Options (use when ipkg is too smart for its own good): -force-depends                Make dependency checks warnings instead of                                 errors and install/remove package in spite of                                failed dependences -force-defaults               Use default options for questions asked by                                ipkg. (no prompts). Note that this will not prevent package installation scripts from prompting. -force-reinstall              Allow ipkg to reinstall a package. -force-overwrite              Allow ipkg to overwrite files from another package during an install. -force-removal-of-dependent-packages -force_space                  Install even if there does not seem to be                                enough space. -noaction                     No action -- test only -nodeps                       Do not follow dependences -recursive                    Allow ipkg to remove package and all that depend on it. -test                         No action -- test only -t                            Specify tmp-dir. --tmp-dir                     Specify tmp-dir.

Security
Some potential security issues:


 * A package can accidentally or intentionally change access rights, e.g., a package can open the whole /etc directory to all users or set the SUID bit on some binary.
 * Replacement or manipulation of security relevant binaries (e.g. the shell) or configuration files.
 * Installation of malicious binaries, e.g., backdoors and root kits. This only is an issue with untrusted feeds or .ipks.
 * Accidental or intentional changes of security-relevant configuration files.