LanMountainDesktop/.github/MULTIPLATFORM_BUILD.md

Multi-Platform Build Guide

This document explains how to build LanMountainDesktop for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Overview

LanMountainDesktop supports self-contained builds for:

• Windows: x64 (64-bit) and x86 (32-bit)
• Linux: x64 only (AppImage/snap support planned)
• macOS: x64 (Intel) and arm64 (Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3)

Build Matrices in CI

The GitHub Actions workflow uses a build matrix to automatically build all combinations:

Windows builds:  win-x64, win-x86 (on windows-latest)
Linux builds:    linux-x64 (on ubuntu-latest)
macOS builds:    osx-x64, osx-arm64 (on macos-latest)

Each build:

• ✅ Restores dependencies
• ✅ Updates version in csproj
• ✅ Publishes with optimizations
• ✅ Creates platform-specific packages
• ✅ Uploads to release artifacts

Local Building

Prerequisites

All Platforms:

# Install .NET 10 SDK
dotnet --version  # Should show 10.0.x

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu):

# Install required dependencies
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y \
    libfontconfig1 \
    libfreetype6 \
    libx11-6 \
    libxrandr2 \
    libxinerama1 \
    libxi6 \
    libxcursor1 \
    libxext6 \
    libxrender1 \
    libxkbcommon-x11-0

macOS:

# Xcode Command Line Tools required
xcode-select --install

# Or if you have Homebrew:
brew install dotnet

Building Locally

Windows (x64):

# Using the PowerShell script
.\LanMountainDesktop\scripts\package.ps1 `
    -RuntimeIdentifier win-x64 `
    -Version 1.0.0

# Or with dotnet directly
dotnet publish LanMountainDesktop/LanMountainDesktop.csproj `
    -c Release -r win-x64 -o ./publish/win-x64 `
    --self-contained -p:PublishSingleFile=true

Windows (x86):

.\LanMountainDesktop\scripts\package.ps1 `
    -RuntimeIdentifier win-x86 `
    -Version 1.0.0

Linux (x64):

# Make build script executable
chmod +x scripts/build.sh

# Build
./scripts/build.sh --rid linux-x64 --version 1.0.0

# Output: ./publish/linux-x64/

macOS (Intel x64):

chmod +x scripts/build.sh

./scripts/build.sh --rid osx-x64 --version 1.0.0

# Output: ./publish/osx-x64/

macOS (Apple Silicon arm64):

chmod +x scripts/build.sh

./scripts/build.sh --rid osx-arm64 --version 1.0.0

# Output: ./publish/osx-arm64/

Build Output

After building, you'll have a self-contained directory with:

publish/[rid]/
├── LanMountainDesktop.exe (Windows)
├── LanMountainDesktop (Linux/macOS - executable)
├── libvlc/ (Windows/macOS only)
├── Localization/ (i18n files)
├── Extensions/ (Component extension manifests)
└── Assets/ (Fonts, weather icons, etc.)

Package Creation

For Windows:

# Create zip package
$rid = "win-x64"
$version = "1.0.0"
$dir = "LanMountainDesktop-$version-$rid"
Copy-Item -Path "./publish/$rid" -Destination $dir -Recurse
Compress-Archive -Path $dir -DestinationPath "$dir.zip"

For Linux/macOS:

# Create tar.gz package
rid=linux-x64
version=1.0.0
dir="LanMountainDesktop-$version-$rid"
mkdir -p $dir
cp -r ./publish/$rid/* $dir/
tar -czf "$dir.tar.gz" $dir

Cross-Compilation Considerations

⚠️ Limitations

• Windows builds must run on Windows (or in WSL2 with additional setup)

  • libvlc has platform-specific native libraries
  • Windows-specific dependencies in vcpkg

• Linux builds must run on Linux

  • Different library paths and system dependencies

• macOS builds must run on macOS

  • Code signing / notarization (if needed) requires macOS

✅ Workaround Options

1. GitHub Actions (Recommended)

   • Automatically runs on the correct OS for each build
   • No local cross-compilation needed

2. Docker (For Linux on any platform)

   • Use container-based build environment
   • Example: ghcr.io/classisland/philia-build-image:main

3. CI/CD Pipeline

   • Let Actions handle all platform builds
   • Download artifacts locally for testing

Platform-Specific Notes

Windows

• Supports both x64 and x86 architectures
• Uses libvlc from VideoLAN.LibVLC.Windows NuGet package
• Includes MSVC runtime if needed

Unsupported:

• ARM64 (would need separate toolchain)

Linux

• Tested on Ubuntu 22.04+
• Requires X11 libraries (no Wayland support yet)
• Self-contained includes .NET runtime
• Uses libvlc system libraries or bundled version

Planned:

• AppImage format
• Snap package
• .deb packaging

macOS

• Supports both Intel (x64) and Apple Silicon (arm64)
• Uses libvlc from VideoLAN.LibVLC.Mac NuGet package
• Universal binary support (both architectures in one file) - not yet implemented

Planned:

• DMG packaging
• Code signing & notarization
• App Store distribution

Troubleshooting

Windows Build Fails

# Clean and retry
dotnet clean LanMountainDesktop/LanMountainDesktop.csproj
dotnet restore
dotnet publish LanMountainDesktop/LanMountainDesktop.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained

Linux Build Fails

# Check dependencies are installed
ldd ./publish/linux-x64/LanMountainDesktop | grep "not found"

# Install missing libraries
sudo apt-get install -y lib[missing-name]

macOS Build Fails

# Ensure correct .NET version for ARM/Intel
dotnet --version

# Try specifying explicit SDK version
export DOTNET_ROOT=/usr/local/share/dotnet
./scripts/build.sh --rid osx-arm64 --version 1.0.0

Performance & Size

Platform	RID	Size	Notes
Windows x64	win-x64	~150-200 MB	Includes .NET + libvlc
Windows x86	win-x86	~140-190 MB	Smaller footprint
Linux x64	linux-x64	~120-170 MB	Minimal deps included
macOS Intel	osx-x64	~130-180 MB	Intel-optimized
macOS Silicon	osx-arm64	~120-170 MB	Apple Silicon native

Sizes vary based on trimming and included dependencies

Optimization Options

For smaller, faster builds, you can adjust publish settings:

# Aggressive trimming (may break reflection-based features)
-p:PublishTrimmed=true

# Embed debug symbols (larger, but better debugging)
-p:DebugType=embedded

# AOT compilation (Windows only, faster startup)
-p:PublishAot=true

# Single executable (already enabled in workflows)
-p:PublishSingleFile=true

Distribution

After building, distribute the packages:

1. Windows users: Download .zip, extract, run executable
2. Linux users: Download .tar.gz, extract, run executable
3. macOS users: Download .tar.gz, extract, run executable

Plan for future:

• Installer generation (.exe for Windows, .deb for Linux)
• Code signing for macOS
• Auto-update mechanism

References

• .NET Runtime Identifiers
• dotnet publish options
• Avalonia Deployment
• libvlc Bindings