Linux Package Manager Web UI

A modern, full-stack web application for managing Debian-based (.deb) systems. This tool provides a graphical interface to search, install, remove, and update packages, as well as perform system maintenance tasks.

🚀 Features

• Search & Discover: Real-time search of available packages in the repositories.
• Package Management: Install and remove packages with a simple web interface.
• Updates: Check for upgradable packages and apply updates (individually or all).
• Maintenance: Fix broken installs and check for distribution release updates.
• Theming: Modern UI with Light, Dark, and Dark Slate Grey (default) themes.
• Docker Support: Easy deployment using containerization.

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⚠️ Security Warnings

Caution

Privileged Access: This application requires root or sudo privileges to modify system packages. Exposing this application to a public network without authentication is extremely dangerous as it allows full system control.

Input Validation: While the app uses basic sanitization, running system commands via a web API is a potential security risk. Use this tool only in trusted, isolated environments.

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🛠 Deployment Options

Option 1: Docker (Recommended)

Docker isolates the application and provides all necessary dependencies.

1. Build and Start:

   docker-compose up --build

2. Access: Open http://localhost:8300.
3. Host Management Mode: The docker-compose.yml is pre-configured to mount the host's package databases. This allows the container to manage the actual packages on your physical machine. If you only want to manage the container's internal packages, remove the volumes section from docker-compose.yml.

Option 2: PM2 (Standard Node.js Instance)

Use PM2 to run the application as a background service on your Linux host.

1. Prerequisites:

   # Install PM2 globally
   sudo npm install -g pm2

2. Setup Backend:

   cd backend
   npm install

3. Run as Root (Easiest for Permissions):

   sudo pm2 start server.js --name "package-manager"

4. Run as Normal User (More Secure): If running as a normal user, you must grant the user passwordless sudo for apt commands:
   • Run sudo visudo.
   • Add this line at the end (replace your-user with your username):

     your-user ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/apt-get, /usr/bin/apt-cache, /usr/bin/dpkg, /usr/bin/dpkg-query, /usr/bin/apt
     

   • Then start normally:

     pm2 start server.js --name "package-manager"

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📂 Project Structure

• backend/: Node.js Express server on port 8300.
• frontend/: React + Tailwind CSS frontend.
• Dockerfile: Multi-stage build for the application.
• docker-compose.yml: Container orchestration.

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🌍 Portability & Cross-Distro Support

The core application logic is compatible with all Debian-based distributions (Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, etc.). However, when running in Docker Host Management Mode, the container's OS should ideally match the host's OS version to ensure system library and database compatibility.

Adapting for other hosts (Ubuntu, Mint, etc.):

The current setup uses Chroot Mode, which maps your host's root (/) to /host inside the container. This makes it highly portable:

1. Change the Base Image: In the Dockerfile, update the FROM debian:testing-slim line to match your host (e.g., FROM ubuntu:24.04 or FROM debian:bookworm-slim).
2. Verify Mounts: The docker-compose.yml mounts - /:/host and - /run:/run. This is universal for most modern Debian/Ubuntu systems. If your host uses a non-standard location for its package database, you may need to adjust the chroot logic in server.js.
3. Permissions: Ensure the Docker container runs with privileged: true and user: "0:0" to allow it to execute the host's binaries.

📜 License

MIT

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💡 Pro-Tip: Stop Git Password Prompts

If you are tired of entering your GitHub token every time you git pull, run this command to store your credentials locally:

git config --global credential.helper store

The next time you pull, enter your username and token once. Git will remember them for all future operations.