179 lines
8.5 KiB
Markdown
179 lines
8.5 KiB
Markdown
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# Electron Installer
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[![AppVeyor Build status](https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/bq6c06suq5abb66s/branch/master?svg=true)](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/electron-bot/windows-installer/branch/master)
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[![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/electron/windows-installer.svg?style=svg)](https://circleci.com/gh/electron/windows-installer)
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NPM module that builds Windows installers for
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[Electron](https://github.com/electron/electron) apps using
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[Squirrel](https://github.com/Squirrel/Squirrel.Windows).
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## Installing
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```sh
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npm install --save-dev electron-winstaller
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```
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## Usage
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Require the package:
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```javascript
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const electronInstaller = require('electron-winstaller');
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```
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Then do a build like so..
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```javascript
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// NB: Use this syntax within an async function, Node does not have support for
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// top-level await as of Node 12.
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try {
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await electronInstaller.createWindowsInstaller({
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appDirectory: '/tmp/build/my-app-64',
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outputDirectory: '/tmp/build/installer64',
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authors: 'My App Inc.',
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exe: 'myapp.exe'
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});
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console.log('It worked!');
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} catch (e) {
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console.log(`No dice: ${e.message}`);
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}
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```
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After running you will have an `.nupkg`, a
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`RELEASES` file, and a `.exe` installer file in the `outputDirectory` folder
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for each multi task target given under the config entry.
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There are several configuration settings supported:
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| Config Name | Required | Description |
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| --------------------- | -------- | ----------- |
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| `appDirectory` | Yes | The folder path of your Electron app |
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| `outputDirectory` | No | The folder path to create the `.exe` installer in. Defaults to the `installer` folder at the project root. |
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| `loadingGif` | No | The local path to a `.gif` file to display during install. |
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| `authors` | Yes | The authors value for the nuget package metadata. Defaults to the `author` field from your app's package.json file when unspecified. |
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| `owners` | No | The owners value for the nuget package metadata. Defaults to the `authors` field when unspecified. |
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| `exe` | No | The name of your app's main `.exe` file. This uses the `name` field in your app's package.json file with an added `.exe` extension when unspecified. |
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| `description` | No | The description value for the nuget package metadata. Defaults to the `description` field from your app's package.json file when unspecified. |
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| `version` | No | The version value for the nuget package metadata. Defaults to the `version` field from your app's package.json file when unspecified. |
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| `title` | No | The title value for the nuget package metadata. Defaults to the `productName` field and then the `name` field from your app's package.json file when unspecified. |
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| `name` | No | Windows Application Model ID (appId). Defaults to the `name` field in your app's package.json file. |
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| `certificateFile` | No | The path to an Authenticode Code Signing Certificate |
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| `certificatePassword` | No | The password to decrypt the certificate given in `certificateFile` |
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| `signWithParams` | No | Params to pass to signtool. Overrides `certificateFile` and `certificatePassword`. |
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| `iconUrl` | No | A URL to an ICO file to use as the application icon (displayed in Control Panel > Programs and Features). Defaults to the Atom icon. |
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| `setupIcon` | No | The ICO file to use as the icon for the generated Setup.exe |
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| `skipUpdateIcon` | No | Disables setting the icon of `Update.exe`. This can solve installation errors with the following message: "This application could not be started", when the setup is built on a non-Windows system. |
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| `setupExe` | No | The name to use for the generated Setup.exe file |
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| `setupMsi` | No | The name to use for the generated Setup.msi file |
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| `noMsi` | No | Should Squirrel.Windows create an MSI installer? |
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| `noDelta` | No | Should Squirrel.Windows delta packages? (disable only if necessary, they are a Good Thing) |
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| `remoteReleases` | No | A URL to your existing updates. If given, these will be downloaded to create delta updates |
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| `remoteToken` | No | Authentication token for remote updates |
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| `frameworkVersion` | No | Set the required .NET framework version, e.g. `net461` |
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## Sign your installer or else bad things will happen
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For development / internal use, creating installers without a signature is okay, but for a production app you need to sign your application. Internet Explorer's SmartScreen filter will block your app from being downloaded, and many anti-virus vendors will consider your app as malware unless you obtain a valid cert.
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Any certificate valid for "Authenticode Code Signing" will work here, but if you get the right kind of code certificate, you can also opt-in to [Windows Error Reporting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Error_Reporting). [This MSDN page](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/hh801887.aspx) has the latest links on where to get a WER-compatible certificate. The "Standard Code Signing" certificate is sufficient for this purpose.
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## Handling Squirrel Events
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Squirrel will spawn your app with command line flags on first run, updates,
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and uninstalls. it is **very** important that your app handle these events as _early_
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as possible, and quit **immediately** after handling them. Squirrel will give your
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app a short amount of time (~15sec) to apply these operations and quit.
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The [electron-squirrel-startup](https://github.com/mongodb-js/electron-squirrel-startup) module will handle
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the most common events for you, such as managing desktop shortcuts. Add the following to the top
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of your `main.js` and you're good to go:
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```javascript
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if (require('electron-squirrel-startup')) return;
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```
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You should handle these events in your app's `main` entry point with something
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such as:
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```javascript
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const app = require('app');
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// this should be placed at top of main.js to handle setup events quickly
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if (handleSquirrelEvent()) {
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// squirrel event handled and app will exit in 1000ms, so don't do anything else
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return;
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}
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function handleSquirrelEvent() {
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if (process.argv.length === 1) {
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return false;
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}
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const ChildProcess = require('child_process');
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const path = require('path');
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const appFolder = path.resolve(process.execPath, '..');
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const rootAtomFolder = path.resolve(appFolder, '..');
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const updateDotExe = path.resolve(path.join(rootAtomFolder, 'Update.exe'));
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const exeName = path.basename(process.execPath);
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const spawn = function(command, args) {
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let spawnedProcess, error;
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try {
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spawnedProcess = ChildProcess.spawn(command, args, {detached: true});
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} catch (error) {}
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return spawnedProcess;
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};
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const spawnUpdate = function(args) {
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return spawn(updateDotExe, args);
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};
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const squirrelEvent = process.argv[1];
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switch (squirrelEvent) {
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case '--squirrel-install':
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case '--squirrel-updated':
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// Optionally do things such as:
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// - Add your .exe to the PATH
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// - Write to the registry for things like file associations and
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// explorer context menus
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// Install desktop and start menu shortcuts
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spawnUpdate(['--createShortcut', exeName]);
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setTimeout(app.quit, 1000);
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return true;
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case '--squirrel-uninstall':
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// Undo anything you did in the --squirrel-install and
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// --squirrel-updated handlers
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// Remove desktop and start menu shortcuts
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spawnUpdate(['--removeShortcut', exeName]);
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setTimeout(app.quit, 1000);
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return true;
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case '--squirrel-obsolete':
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// This is called on the outgoing version of your app before
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// we update to the new version - it's the opposite of
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// --squirrel-updated
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app.quit();
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return true;
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}
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};
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```
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Notice that the first time the installer launches your app, your app will see a `--squirrel-firstrun` flag. This allows you to do things like showing up a splash screen or presenting a settings UI. Another thing to be aware of is that, since the app is spawned by squirrel and squirrel acquires a file lock during installation, you won't be able to successfully check for app updates till a few seconds later when squirrel releases the lock.
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## Debugging this package
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You can get debug messages from this package by running with the environment variable `DEBUG=electron-windows-installer:main` e.g.
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```shell
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DEBUG=electron-windows-installer:main node tasks/electron-winstaller.js
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```
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