How to Install a binary package on a shared hosting (for example AqBanking) or managed Debian server

Question

I want to use HBCI home banking AqBanking software in a web app on a managed server (HostEurope) which is quite restricted and does not allow package installation.

It runs on Debian 8.

Answer 1

Requirement is SSH access. Root access is not needed, also it works on some restricted SSH accounts (where for example /proc is not accessible)

If I think about it, you might not even need SSH access. But it makes things easier to debug.

There are several approaches to do so, from static packaging, to installing an: I tried JuJu junest for example, which failed for some reasons.

In the following we use docker to setup a compile system for Debian 8. The same guide might work for other target distributions. Just use the respektive docker image from docker Hub.

The key to success is to compile for a certain target directory, so the binary can be installed there.

1. Find out the directory where your will put your binaries, in my case this was something like /is/htdocs/webuser/aqpak (I created the folder aqpak, somehow short for "AqBanking Package")

2. On your local computer, create some folder, for example aqpak

    mkdir aqpak
   

3. Run debian:8 docker container (or use another one, depending on your target system)

    docker run --name aqBankingBuilder -v $PWD/output:/mnt -it debian:8 /bin/bash
   

4. The following happens inside the docker container - preparation

    apt update && apt install -y vim
    vim /etc/apt/sources.list
   

5. In VIM, duplicate the deb lines, make them Begin with deb-src

6. install build system

    apt update && apt install -y build-essential wget 
    apt-get build-dep libgwenhywfar60 aqbanking-tools
   

7. Start building (all still inside docker)

    export PREFIX=/is/htdocs/webuser/aqpak/root
   
    cd /root
   
    wget "https://www.aquamaniac.de/sites/download/download.php?package=01&release=208&file=02&dummy=gwenhywfar-4.20.0.tar.gz" -O gwenhywfar.tar.gz
    tar -zxf gwenhywfar.tar.gz
    cd gwenhywfar
    ./configure --prefix=$PREFIX && make && make install
   
    cd /root
   
    wget "https://www.aquamaniac.de/sites/download/download.php?package=03&release=217&file=02&dummy=aqbanking-5.7.8.tar.gz" -O aqbanking.tar.gz
    tar -zxf aqbanking.tar.gz 
    cd aqbanking
    ./configure --prefix=$PREFIX && make && make install
   

Now you have the necessary files installed in /is/htdocs/webuser/aqpak on your docker system.

8. Export this using

    mv /is/htdocs/webuser/aqpak /mnt/aqpak
   

9. Exit docker exit and then copy the folder from output/aqpak to your destination server

10. To run aqbanking, you can use a wrapper script like this:

    #!/bin/bash
    cd /is/htdocs/webuser/aqpak
    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=~/aqpak/lib
    export PATH=~/aqpak/bin:$PATH
    aqbanking-cli $*