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🏠 > Development > Building

Building Megacubo IPTV Player

This guide provides instructions for building IPTV player installers for Windows IPTV app, Linux IPTV software, and macOS IPTV player using electron-builder.

Prerequisites​

IPTV Player Build Requirements​

Ensure you have Node.js (version 18 or higher) and npm installed on your system for building the IPTV streaming application.

System Dependencies​

Windows​

For Windows builds, you need:

# No additional system dependencies required for basic builds
# For MSI builds, ensure you have Windows SDK installed

macOS​

For macOS builds, you need Xcode Command Line Tools:

xcode-select --install

Linux​

To build different Linux installer formats, you need to install the following dependencies:

Ubuntu/Debian​
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
  flatpak \
  flatpak-builder \
  snapd \
  snapcraft \
  fuse \
  libnss3-dev \
  libatk-bridge2.0-dev \
  libdrm2 \
  libxkbcommon-dev \
  libxcomposite-dev \
  libxdamage-dev \
  libxrandr-dev \
  libgbm-dev \
  libxss1 \
  libasound2-dev \
  libgtk-3-dev \
  libgconf-2-4 \
  rpm \
  dpkg-dev
Fedora/RHEL/CentOS​
sudo dnf install -y \
  flatpak \
  flatpak-builder \
  snapd \
  snapcraft \
  fuse \
  libnss3-devel \
  libatk-bridge2.0-devel \
  libdrm-devel \
  libxkbcommon-devel \
  libXcomposite-devel \
  libXdamage-devel \
  libXrandr-devel \
  libgbm-devel \
  libXScrnSaver-devel \
  alsa-lib-devel \
  gtk3-devel \
  GConf2-devel \
  rpm-build
Arch Linux​
sudo pacman -S \
  flatpak \
  flatpak-builder \
  snapd \
  snapcraft \
  fuse2 \
  nss \
  atk \
  libdrm \
  libxkbcommon \
  libxcomposite \
  libxdamage \
  libxrandr \
  libgbm \
  libxss \
  alsa-lib \
  gtk3 \
  gconf \
  rpm-tools

Flatpak Setup (Linux only)​

After installing flatpak, add the Flathub repository:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flathub org.freedesktop.Platform//23.08
flatpak install flathub org.freedesktop.Sdk//23.08
flatpak install flathub org.electronjs.Electron2.BaseApp

Snap Setup (Linux only)​

Make sure snapd is running:

sudo systemctl enable --now snapd.socket
sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap

Installing Node.js Dependencies​

npm install

Note: If you encounter disk space issues during installation, consider clearing the npm cache:

npm cache clean --force

Preparing the Project​

Before building, you need to prepare the project (compile and bundle the code):

npm run prepare

This command:

  • Compiles TypeScript/JavaScript files
  • Bundles the application code
  • Generates necessary assets in www/nodejs/dist/
  • Prepares everything needed for electron-builder

Important: Always run npm run prepare before any build command. The optimized builds require this step to function properly.

Build Commands​

All Platforms​

npm run build:electron:all

Specific Platforms​

npm run build:electron:win    # Windows MSI installer (~100MB)
npm run build:electron:linux  # Linux AppImage (~100MB)
npm run build:electron:mac    # macOS DMG (~100MB)

Installer Types:

  • MSI: Windows installer with uninstaller in Control Panel
  • AppImage: Portable Linux application that runs on most distributions
  • DMG: macOS disk image installer

Optimized Builds (Only Available)​

⚠️ WARNING: Only optimized builds are available to prevent accidental generation of bloated ~4GB installers.

# All platforms
npm run build:electron:all

# Specific platforms
npm run build:electron:linux    # Linux AppImage
npm run build:electron:win      # Windows MSI
npm run build:electron:mac      # macOS DMG

Structure of Generated Files​

After building, the installers will be created in the dist/ directory:

Windows​

dist/
├── megacubo-17.6.2.msi              # MSI installer (recommended)
└── megacubo Setup 17.6.2.exe        # NSIS installer

Linux​

dist/
├── Megacubo-17.6.2.AppImage          # AppImage (recommended)
├── megacubo_17.6.2_amd64.snap        # Snap
├── tv.megacubo.app.flatpak      # Flatpak
├── megacubo_17.6.2_amd64.deb         # Debian/Ubuntu
└── megacubo-17.6.2.x86_64.rpm        # Fedora/RHEL

macOS​

dist/
├── Megacubo-17.6.2.dmg               # DMG installer (recommended)
└── Megacubo-17.6.2-mac.zip           # ZIP archive

Troubleshooting​

Cross-Platform Issues​

Problem: "electron-builder: command not found"​

Solution: Run npm install to install dependencies.

Problem: "Cannot find module" errors​

Solution: Run npm run prepare before building.

Problem: Build hangs or runs out of memory​

Solution: Close other applications and ensure at least 4GB RAM available.

Problem: "no such file or directory" errors​

Solution: Ensure www/nodejs/dist/ exists. Run npm run prepare first.

Windows-Specific Issues​

Problem: MSI build fails with "Icon not found"​

Solution: Ensure build/icon.ico exists. Copy your icon to this location.

Problem: "Megacubo still open" during installation​

Solution: Close all Megacubo processes and delete previous installation.

Problem: Installer size too large (>1GB)​

Solution: Use npm run build:electron:win.

Linux-Specific Issues​

Problem: "flatpak-builder: command not found"​

Solution: Install flatpak-builder as described above.

Problem: "snapcraft: command not found"​

Solution: Install snapcraft as described above.

Problem: Permission error with Snap​

Solution: Run as root or configure snapcraft to use classic mode.

Problem: FFmpeg compilation failure on Flatpak​

Solution: Ensure all development dependencies are installed.

Problem: AppImage does not run​

Solution: Make sure FUSE is installed and properly configured.

macOS-Specific Issues​

Problem: "Code signing required"​

Solution: For development, use --publish=never. For distribution, configure code signing.

Problem: DMG creation fails​

Solution: Ensure Xcode Command Line Tools are installed.

Problem: "Cannot build for macOS on Windows"​

Solution: macOS builds require macOS environment. Use cross-compilation if available.

Distribution​

Windows​

  • MSI: Recommended for enterprise deployment and Windows Store
  • NSIS: Traditional installer with setup wizard

Linux​

  • AppImage: Portable format, runs on any Linux distribution
  • Flatpak: Publish on Flathub for wide distribution
  • Snap: Publish on Snap Store (Ubuntu Software Center)
  • DEB: Ubuntu/Debian package repositories
  • RPM: Fedora/RHEL package repositories

macOS​

  • DMG: Native macOS installer format
  • ZIP: Simple archive for manual installation

Automated Publishing​

For automated publishing to GitHub Releases:

npm run build:electron:publish  # Builds and publishes all platforms

This will create GitHub releases with installers for all supported platforms.

Development​

Local Development Builds​

For testing without publishing:

# Optimized builds
npm run build:electron:win -- --publish=never
npm run build:electron:linux -- --publish=never
npm run build:electron:mac -- --publish=never

Production Builds​

For production builds with automatic publishing to GitHub:

npm run build:electron:publish  # All platforms

See Also​

🏠 | Development | Contributing