STICKY: NAME IT WHAT YOU LIKE

Making installs through the source Is not difficult.
I am aware that 99% of people who use linux and visit daniweb are probably more than capable of doing this. And I have noticed a select few on IRC ( the rare times I do get on IRC using encrypted shell accounts) who were unable.

The method shown below should cover generic installs for all eventualitues (except RPM packages).
For the example, I shall use "nmap-3.50.tar.gz" because everyone needs nmap.


1. Find the file type, and decompress

• This is more useful than it sounds. For example, you download a .tar.gz file in Mozilla, and Mozilla decompresses it on-the-fly, but saves it with the .gz extension still there - it is now only a tar file, but the file extension suggests you need to run gunzip, or the tar -z option... Running this will tell you more about the file you're trying to install:
  file nmap-3.50.tar.gz
  
  The output will tell you that the file is either "gzip compressed file" or "tar archive".
  If the file is "gzip compressed", run the following:
  
  gunzip nmap-3.50.tar.gz
  
  This will leave you with a file called nmap-3.50.tar
  You can now untar the file,
  
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  tar -xvf nmap-3.50.tar

  tar -xvf nmap-3.50.tar
  
  If the file has a .bz2 extension, or shows "bzip compressed file" as the output of the file command, you should run:
  
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  bunzip2 file.tar.bz2

  bunzip2 file.tar.bz2
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  tar xvf file.tar

  tar xvf file.tar
  
  
  2. Configure
  
• Now execute the following:
  
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  cd ./nmap-3.50

  cd ./nmap-3.50
  (of course, use the directory created from the extraction of the files from the tar archive)
  
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  ./configure

  ./configure
  (configure scripts can often take paramaters, although usually don't need to unless you are installing software in conjunction with other software (e.g. Apache and PHP) or if your system has required libraries in a different place to usual, you can tell configure where to find them.
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  type ./configure --help

  type ./configure --help
  to list the options you can pass to the script.
  
  
  3. Compiling & Installing
  
• If configure ran successfully, i.e. did not exit with an error message, you can now run the following:
  
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  make &&

  make &&
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  make install

  make install
  (the && after make prevents 'make install' running unless make successfully completed).
  
  
  4. Optional Steps
  
• You can now optionally type:
  
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  make clean

  make clean
  to clear up a few files and perhaps save a bit of disk space, granted this isn't usually a problem for most people living in modern times with computers having excessively large hard drives.Hey, you never know!

I wrote this paper a week ago and earned myself yet another A in class, looks like Im headed for another 4.0 this semester. Hopefully I obtain all my certs.
CISSP CISM CISA. Because security is my forte. Enjoy!