Convert rpm to deb

Some time you might find some applications are having only .rpm files but you want a .deb package for your debian,Ubuntu and other debian derived ditributions.If you can’t find .deb debian package in any of the debian,ubuntu repositories or elsewhere, you can use the alien package converter to install the .rpm file.

Alien is a program that converts between the rpm, dpkg, stampede slp, and slackware tgz file formats. If you want to use a package from another distribution than the one you have installed on your system, you can use alien to convert it to your preferred package format and install it.
Despite the large version number, alien is still (and will probably always be) rather experimental software. It has been used by many people for many years, but there are still many bugs and limitations.
Alien should not be used to replace important system packages, like sysvinit, shared libraries, or other things that are essential for the functioning of your system. Many of these packages are set up differently by Debian and Red Hat, and packages from the different distributions cannot be used interchangably. In general, if you can’t uninstall the package without breaking your system, don’t try to replace it with an alien version.

Install alien in debian
#apt-get install alien

This will install all the required packages.Now you can start converting your .rpm files to .deb packages.

Available Options for alien
Convert the package.rpm into a package.deb
#alien -d package-name.rpm
Convert the package.rpm into a package.deb, and install the generated package.
#alien -i package-name.rpm
If you want to keeps alien from changing the version number use the following command
#alien -k rpm-package-file.rpm

Example
Suppose we have a avg antivirus avg71lms-r30-a0782.i386.rpm file
To convert .rpm to debian
#alien -k avg71lms-r30-a0782.i386.rpm
Now you should be having avg71lms-r30-a0782.i386.deb file

To install .deb file
#dpkg -i avg71lms-r30-a0782.i386.deb
If you don’t use -k option you should see avg71lms_r30-1_i386.deb file the difference is it will add 1

Install alien in Ubuntu
$sudo apt-get install alien
You can check the above section for available options

Example
Suppose we have a avg antivirus avg71lms-r30-a0782.i386.rpm file

To convert .rpm to debian
$sudo alien -k avg71lms-r30-a0782.i386.rpm
Now you should be having avg71lms-r30-a0782.i386.deb file

To install .deb file
$sudo dpkg -i avg71lms-r30-a0782.i386.deb
If you don’t use -k option you should see avg71lms_r30-1_i386.deb file the difference is it will add 1
If you want more available options for alien check alien man page

Making an RPM for a shell script

You have written an enterprise quality shell script and would like to deploy it on serveral Red Hat based machines? Creating an RPM will make this easy to do. Here are the steps required.
1. Install rpmbuild so you may start to build your own RPMs.
2. Package your shell script into a tar.gz file and move that to /usr/src/redhat/SOURCES/


# tar -cvzf shell-script-0.1.tar.gz shell-script-0.1
# mv shell-script-0.1.tar.gz /usr/src/redhat/SOURCES/

3. Create a .spec file that describes where everything is.
# cat /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/shell-script.spec

Summary: The do it all script. (Enterprise quality)
Name: shell-script
Version: 0.1
Release: 1
URL:     http://meinit.nl
License:
GPL
Group: Applications/Internet
BuildRoot: %{_tmppath}/%{name}-root
Requires: bash
Source0: shell-script-%{version}.tar.gz
BuildArch: noarch

%description
A shell script.

%prep
%setup

%build

%install
rm -rf ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT}
mkdir -p ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT}/usr/bin
install -m 755 shell-script.sh ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT}%{_bindir}

%clean
rm -rf ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT}

%files
%defattr(-,root,root)
%attr(755,root,root) %{_bindir}/shell-script.sh

%changelog
* Tue Jan 12 2010 Robert de Bock <robert@xxx.nl>
- Uberscript!

3. Build it!
# rpmbuild --bb /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/shell-script.spec

4. Install it!
# rpm -Uvh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/noarch/shell-script-0.1.1.noarch.rpm

Change of status from L1 to F1 (USA)

Change of status Requirements:

1. I-539 form from USCIS website. (Type i-539 and hit in the search box of USCIS website and download the form) http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis
Or
You can file online https://efiling.uscis.dhs.gov/efile/ and sent the supporting documents along with the online receipt.

2. Original I-20 from your university (Include your spouse I-20 if applying along with F2).

3. Three latest pay stubs

4. 300$ of check in favor of Department of Home land security (only for Paper filing)

5. SEVIS Fee receipt( https://www.fmjfee.com/i901fee/)

6. 36 pages of passport including I-94 copy.

7. Bank statement or affidavit of support - this should show the account balance required to complete your course.


Fyi – You can personally visit bank branch and get a verification of deposit that shows your balance or you can request them through phone to send this letter, there will be a charge of $10 for sending it.

8. Change of Status Letter - you can find some samples in google. (make sure that you are choosing the good one)

9. If available, a letter from current employer verifying still in position AND/OR current pay -- this is like offer letter.