# megastep/makeself

A self-extracting archiving tool for Unix systems, in 100% shell script.

Repository: https://github.com/megastep/makeself
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/makeself
Homepage: https://makeself.io
Language: Shell
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: shell, makeself, tar-archive, extract-archive, unix, linux, compression, makeself-archives
Last push: 2026-04-20T20:56:35+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 72/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 78, release rhythm 48, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 6082, "days_push": 135, "days_rel": 266, "gap_med": 36.5, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2614, forks 405 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:04.531824+00:00)

## What it is
Makeself is a 100% shell script tool that generates self-extracting compressed tar archives for Unix systems. The resulting .run files are executable shell scripts that extract themselves to a temporary directory and can run an embedded command such as an installation script.

## Use cases
- create a self-extracting installer for linux software
- package a directory into a single .run file
- distribute software without requiring an archive extractor
- build an installer script with embedded files and checksums
- make a self-extracting archive that runs a setup script on unix
- package game patches or drivers as a single downloadable file

## When to choose
- you need recipients to extract and install software with just a shell, no extra tools
- you target diverse Unix platforms (Linux, macOS, BSD, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX)
- you want integrity self-validation via CRC/MD5/SHA256 checksums
- you need optional GPG/OpenSSL encryption or signing of archives

## When to avoid
- you need cross-platform archives for Windows without a Unix shell or Cygwin/WSL
- you need incremental updates, dependency resolution, or a full package manager
- your audience prefers standard package formats like deb, rpm, or AppImage

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: compression, file-system, cli, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, files, cross-platform
- platform: bsd, cli, cross-platform
- tags: self-extracting-archive, shell-script, tar, installer-packaging, posix, command-line, linux, macos, unix

## Member repositories
- megastep/makeself (main) score 72

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:04.531824+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:20:34.356295+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/megastep/makeself (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:04.531824+00:00, sha 7a2694de0c10)
  - homepage: https://makeself.io (fetched 2026-08-29T10:03:25.282764+00:00, sha ea1208dc1398)
  - site_page: https://makeself.io/changes (fetched 2026-08-29T10:03:25.292183+00:00, sha a01ad7840af7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.