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‎2025/02/26/virtues-of-rex/index.html‎

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‎2025/03/05/installing-rex/index.html‎

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<!DOCTYPE html>
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<head>
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<meta charset="utf-8">
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<meta content="Installing Rex" name="title" property="og:title">
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<meta content="Ferenc Erki - agile sysadmin" name="description">
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<script data-domain="blog.ferki.it" defer src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script>
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<title>Installing Rex</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<header>
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<h1><a href="/">🧑‍💻 agile sysadmin</a></h1>
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<p>by Ferenc Erki</p>
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</header>
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<nav>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="/pages/about.html">About</a></li>
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<li><a href="/">Posts</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://ferki.it" target="_blank">Homepage</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://cal.com/ferki" target="_blank">Booking</a></li>
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</ul>
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</nav>
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<main>
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<article>
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<header>
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<h1><a href="/2025/03/05/installing-rex/">Installing Rex</a></h1>
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<aside>
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<time datetime="2025-03-05" title="published">
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🗓 2025-03-05
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</time>
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<a href="/tag/rex/">#rex</a>
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</aside>
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</header>
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<section id="section-1">
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<p>We briefly describe the different ways to install Rex, the friendly automation
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framework on the <a href="https://www.rexify.org/get/">Get Rex</a> page of our website, as
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well as in the
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<a href="https://github.com/RexOps/Rex?tab=readme-ov-file#installation">Installation</a>
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section of our README:</p>
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<ol>
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<li>Install from the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN)</li>
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<li>Use standard, native package managers</li>
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<li>Build from source code</li>
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</ol>
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<p>Depending on the situation at hand, one of these often fit better than the
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rest.</p>
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<p>Let’s go through the available options in more detail to help choosing the best
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match.</p>
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</section>
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<section id="section-2">
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<h2 id="install-from-cpan"><a href="#install-from-cpan">Install from CPAN</a></h2>
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<p>CPAN serves as a well-established software repository for the Perl community.
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As a Perl project, we feel it natural to upload our official Rex releases to
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CPAN, and we also consider that as the canonical source for both Rex packages
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and documentation.</p>
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<p>For these reasons, we recommend to install the latest stable Rex version from
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there. This approach ensures using Rex versions in the same way we expect Rex
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to get installed.</p>
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<p>On top of stable releases, we also upload trial versions to CPAN during
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development to provide early access, and to gain insights from <a href="https://fast2-matrix.cpantesters.org/?dist=Rex">CPAN
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Testers</a> about the behavior of
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Rex across operating systems and Perl versions.</p>
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<p>CPAN itself supports a set of clients, like
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<a href="https://metacpan.org/dist/CPAN/view/scripts/cpan">cpan</a>,
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<a href="https://metacpan.org/dist/App-cpanminus/view/bin/cpanm">cpanm</a>, and
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<a href="https://metacpan.org/dist/App-cpm/view/script/cpm">cpm</a>, offering further
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choices to match a wide range of preferences and circumstances.</p>
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<p>These clients support running the built-in test suite of Rex and its
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dependencies, to verify everything can function as expected on the given
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machine.</p>
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<p>In general, we also recommend to install Rex and its dependencies into a
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separate Perl environment, as provided by
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<a href="https://metacpan.org/pod/local::lib">local::lib</a>,
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<a href="https://metacpan.org/dist/App-perlbrew/view/script/perlbrew">perlbrew</a>,
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<a href="https://github.com/tokuhirom/plenv">plenv</a>, or similar. This helps to keep a
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clean working environment to use Rex, isolating it from the system’s own Perl
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installations.</p>
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<h2 id="use-package-managers"><a href="#use-package-managers">Use package managers</a></h2>
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<p>Thanks to the generous effort of package maintainers, many operating systems
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ship Rex through their own official package repositories. For a known list of
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such packages, check <a href="https://repology.org/project/rex-automation-framework/versions">our Repology
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page</a>.</p>
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<p>It provides a convenient way to install Rex system-wide through native package
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management tools in a way deemed appropriate for proper integration into the
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given operating system.</p>
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<p>This integration means package maintainers may decide to apply patches, use
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different set of dependencies, or offer different testing options in a way
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relevant for the used operating system. Some organizations decide to apply
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patches to Rex according to their specific preferences, and package that for
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their own users.</p>
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<p>Since it may potentially lead to a different experience compared to the
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official packages released by us, please keep this in mind for the use case at
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hand, or when looking for support.</p>
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<p>In any case, we feel more than happy to directly collaborate with downstream
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package maintainers to deliver a great experience with Rex to their
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communities. This includes supporting packagers to stay close to the official
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setup, for example by merging downstream patches into Rex itself, or
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identifying both mandatory and optional dependencies.</p>
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<p>When noticing differences between our official releases and their packaged
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versions, please let both us and the package maintainers know, so we may figure
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out an even more streamlined delivery together.</p>
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<h2 id="build-from-source"><a href="#build-from-source">Build from source</a></h2>
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<p>Even with publishing trial releases to CPAN during development, sometimes it
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fits best to use an unreleased version of Rex. For example:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>requiring a recently merged, but still unreleased change</li>
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<li>during development itself, especially when evaluating the whole build process</li>
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<li>applying a custom patch to Rex</li>
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</ul>
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<p>We host our code in the <a href="https://github.com/RexOps/Rex">RexOps/Rex</a> GitHub
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repository, and use
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<a href="https://metacpan.org/dist/Dist-Zilla/view/bin/dzil">Dist::Zilla</a> to build our
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releases.</p>
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<p>It handles the dependencies for development, runtime, and testing, including
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optional ones, as well as local installation.</p>
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<p>Follow the steps below to build Rex from source.</p>
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<h3 id="preparation"><a href="#preparation">Preparation</a></h3>
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<ol>
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<li>Install Git, a CPAN client (we will use <code>cpanm</code> below), and Dist::Zilla</li>
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<li>Clone the source code with <code>git clone https://github.com/RexOps/Rex</code></li>
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<li>Switch to the source code directory with <code>cd Rex</code></li>
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</ol>
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<h3 id="dependencies"><a href="#dependencies">Dependencies</a></h3>
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<ol>
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<li>Install author dependencies with <code>dzil authordeps | cpanm</code></li>
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<li>Install common dependencies with <code>dzil listdeps | cpanm</code></li>
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<li>Install optional dependencies with <code>dzil listdeps --suggests | cpanm</code></li>
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</ol>
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<h3 id="installation"><a href="#installation">Installation</a></h3>
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<ol>
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<li>Install operating system-specific dependencies and Rex itself with <code>dzil
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install</code></li>
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</ol>
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<h2 id="verifying-the-installation"><a href="#verifying-the-installation">Verifying the installation</a></h2>
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<p>After installation, check the current version with the following command:</p>
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<pre><code class="highlight">$ rex -v
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(R)?ex 1.16.0
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</code></pre>
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<p>I also like to run an ad-hoc task locally, like printing the hostname:</p>
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<pre><code class="highlight">$ rex <span class="synSpecial">-e</span> <span class="synOperator">&#39;</span><span class="synString">say run q(hostname)</span><span class="synOperator">&#39;</span>
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</code></pre>
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<h2 id="summary"><a href="#summary">Summary</a></h2>
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<p>We looked at the main options to install Rex, their similarities and
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differences, as well as how to quickly verify the results.</p>
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<p>Choose the best approach according to the situation.</p>
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</section>
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</article>
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<ul class="pager">
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<li><a href="https://blog.ferki.it/index.rss" target="_blank">RSS</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://profile.codersrank.io/user/ferki" rel="me" target="_blank">CodersRank</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ferki" rel="me" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li>
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<li><a href="mailto:ferki@ferki.it">Email</a></li>
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<li><a href="/pages/impressum.html">Impressum</a></li>
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‎index.atom‎

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<id>https://blog.ferki.it/</id>
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<title>agile sysadmin</title>
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<updated>2025-02-26T00:00:00Z</updated>
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<updated>2025-03-05T00:00:00Z</updated>
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<link href="https://blog.ferki.it/index.atom" rel="self" />
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<link href="https://blog.ferki.it/" rel="alternate" />
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<author>
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<name>Ferenc Erki</name>
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<generator version="0.098">Statocles</generator>
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<entry>
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<id>https://blog.ferki.it/2025/03/05/installing-rex/</id>
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<title>Installing Rex</title>
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<author><name>Ferenc Erki</name></author>
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<link href="https://blog.ferki.it/2025/03/05/installing-rex/" rel="alternate" />
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<content type="html"><![CDATA[
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<p>We briefly describe the different ways to install Rex, the friendly automation
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framework on the <a href="https://www.rexify.org/get/">Get Rex</a> page of our website, as
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well as in the
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<a href="https://github.com/RexOps/Rex?tab=readme-ov-file#installation">Installation</a>
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section of our README:</p>
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<ol>
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<li>Install from the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN)</li>
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<li>Use standard, native package managers</li>
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<li>Build from source code</li>
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</ol>
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<p>Depending on the situation at hand, one of these often fit better than the
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rest.</p>
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<p>Let’s go through the available options in more detail to help choosing the best
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match.</p>
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<p><a href="https://blog.ferki.it/2025/03/05/installing-rex/#section-2">Continue reading...</a></p>
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<p>Tags:
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<a href="https://blog.ferki.it/tag/rex/">rex</a>
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</p>
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]]></content>
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<updated>2025-03-05T00:00:00Z</updated>
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<category term="rex" />
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</entry>
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<entry>
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<id>https://blog.ferki.it/2025/02/26/virtues-of-rex/</id>
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<title>Virtues of Rex</title>
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<category term="overlay" />
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<category term="st" />
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</entry>
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<entry>
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<id>https://blog.ferki.it/2024/05/01/packaging-clight-4-11-for-gentoo/</id>
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<title>Packaging clight-4.11 for Gentoo</title>
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<author><name>Ferenc Erki</name></author>
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<link href="https://blog.ferki.it/2024/05/01/packaging-clight-4-11-for-gentoo/" rel="alternate" />
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<content type="html"><![CDATA[
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<p><a href="https://github.com/FedeDP/Clight">Clight</a> describes itself as a “C daemon that
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turns your webcam into a light sensor”. <a href="https://github.com/ferki/gentoo-overlay">My
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overlay</a> has the latest
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<a href="https://github.com/FedeDP/Clight/releases/tag/4.11">v4.11</a> release available
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for fellow Gentoo users.</p>
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<p>Tags:
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<a href="https://blog.ferki.it/tag/gentoo/">Gentoo</a>
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<a href="https://blog.ferki.it/tag/ebuild/">ebuild</a>
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<a href="https://blog.ferki.it/tag/overlay/">overlay</a>
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<a href="https://blog.ferki.it/tag/clight/">clight</a>
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</p>
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]]></content>
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<updated>2024-05-01T00:00:00Z</updated>
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<category term="Gentoo" />
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<category term="ebuild" />
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<category term="overlay" />
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<category term="clight" />
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</entry>
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</feed>
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