Build a SUMO AppImage with `linuxdeploy`¶

This document explains how to package SUMO (Simulation of Urban Mobility) as an AppImage, after compiling it manually from source, using only linuxdeploy.

📋 Prerequisites¶

Before creating the AppImage, make sure you have:

✅ A working compiled SUMO, with all binaries available in a directory (e.g.: ~/git/sumo_snvc/bin).

✅ The linuxdeploy tool installed (it’s an AppImage itself).

You can download and install it like this:

For x86

wget -L https://github.com/linuxdeploy/linuxdeploy/releases/latest/download/linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage
chmod +x linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage
sudo mv linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage /usr/local/bin/linuxdeploy

For aarch64

wget -L https://github.com/linuxdeploy/linuxdeploy/releases/latest/download/linuxdeploy-aarch64.AppImage
chmod +x linuxdeploy-aarch64.AppImage
sudo mv linuxdeploy-aarch64.AppImage /usr/local/bin/linuxdeploy

🗂️ Prepare a working directory¶

Create a directory where you will build the AppImage:

mkdir sumo-appdir
cd sumo-appdir

Inside this directory we will set up the AppDir structure required by AppImage.

🔨 Create the AppDir and copy files¶

1️⃣ Create the AppDir structure:¶

mkdir -p AppDir/usr/bin

2️⃣ Copy SUMO binaries:¶

If you use our Repository:

cp ~/git/sumo_snvc/bin/* AppDir/usr/bin/

If you installed other: Find the binaries and copy them in the same directory as before
```
which sumo
which sumo-gui
which netedit
```

3️⃣ Copy your custom `AppRun`:¶

Can be find here

cp ../assets/AppRun AppDir/
chmod +x AppDir/AppRun

📝 Add required files¶

`sumo.desktop`¶

Create the file AppDir/sumo.desktop with the following content:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=SUMO
Exec=sumo
Icon=sumo
Comment=Simulation of Urban Mobility
Categories=Education

This configures the launcher to run sumo by default.

You can also use the file provided in the assets folder.

Icon¶

Place an icon PNG file as AppDir/sumo.png (preferably a 256x256 PNG). You can use SUMO’s official logo or copy the provided SUMO Logo

🚀 Build the AppImage¶

Once your AppDir contains usr/bin, the .desktop file, and the icon, run:

linuxdeploy --appdir AppDir \
            --output appimage

This command will:

Scan AppDir/usr/bin for binaries.
Collect and include any shared library dependencies.
Generate the SUMO-x86_64.AppImage or SUMO-aarch64.AppImage in the current directory.

📂 Run the AppImage¶

Make it executable:

chmod +x SUMO-x86_64.AppImage

Run the default binary¶

If you simply execute:

./SUMO-x86_64.AppImage

the default binary defined in your AppRun will run.

Run any SUMO binary¶

Your custom AppRun script is designed to allow running any of the included SUMO binaries. You can specify the binary name as the first argument. For example:

./SUMO-x86_64.AppImage sumo
./SUMO-x86_64.AppImage sumo-gui
./SUMO-x86_64.AppImage netedit

Any additional arguments are passed through to the binary:

./SUMO-x86_64.AppImage sumo --help
./SUMO-x86_64.AppImage netconvert -c netconfig.netccfg

✅ Notes¶

The AppRun script dynamically executes the requested binary from usr/bin inside the AppImage.
The .desktop file is used for desktop integration and will launch the default GUI binary if used in a desktop environment.
If no argument is given, AppRun defaults to sumo (if implemented that way).

Build a SUMO AppImage with linuxdeploy¶