Setting Up Rerius

Level: 0 - Foundation Prerequisites: 01_what_is_binary_analysis.md What You Will Learn: How to install Rerius on Linux, macOS, and Android.

Installation Overview#

Rerius has zero external dependencies. You only need a C compiler and GNU make. The build compiles all source files and produces a single executable called rerius.

Linux#

git clone https://github.com/ECLS-Studio/rerius.git
cd Rerius
make

The build takes under a minute. When it finishes you will see the Rerius banner and a message confirming the build succeeded. The rerius binary is in the current directory.

Add it to your path for convenience:

sudo cp rerius /usr/local/bin/

Or keep it in the Rerius directory and call it as ./rerius.

macOS#

Install the Xcode command line tools if you have not already:

xcode-select --install

Then build exactly as on Linux:

git clone https://github.com/ECLS-Studio/rerius.git
cd Rerius
make

Rerius uses arch/arm64_macos.S on Apple Silicon and arch/x86_64_macos.S on Intel Mac. The Makefile selects the correct file automatically.

Android with Termux#

Termux provides a Linux-like environment on Android without root. Install the required packages first:

pkg install nodejs clang make git

Then clone and build:

git clone https://github.com/ECLS-Studio/rerius.git
cd Rerius
make

The build works the same way as on Linux. The resulting rerius binary runs natively on ARM64 Android.

Verifying the Installation#

Run the help flag to confirm everything is working:

./rerius -h

You should see a list of all available flags. If you see this, the installation succeeded.

Try analyzing a system binary:

./rerius -l /bin/ls

On Linux this lists the ELF sections of /bin/ls. On macOS it lists the Mach-O sections.

Building the JavaScript Addon#

If you want to use the JavaScript API (covered in Level 3), you also need to build the native Node.js addon:

make

This produces js/rerius.node. You can also install from npm directly, which builds the addon automatically:

npm install rerius

Directory Layout After Building#

Rerius/
  rerius          the CLI binary
  src/            C source files
  include/        header files
  arch/           platform assembly stubs
  js/
    rerius.node   the Node.js native addon (after make js)
    index.js      the JavaScript API wrapper
    server/       the REST API server

Practice#

Build Rerius and confirm it runs.
Run ./rerius -h and read through the available flags.
Run ./rerius -l /bin/ls (Linux) or ./rerius -l /bin/ls (macOS).
Note how many sections are listed.

Next#

Continue to 03_your_first_binary.md.