JUSTInstaller 0.0.1

J.ust U.nzip S.ome T.hings

Cross platform installer that values sipmlicity.

Options

• EntryPoint
  The name of the executable or script that starts the application. Should not include the install path. On Windows '.exe' will be appended if necessary.

• InstallBasePath / InstallFolderTemplate Where on the filesystem you want the application to be installed. For example { InstallBasePath=~/.apps/myapp/, InstallFolderTemplate=myApp_{version}} { InstallBasePath=c:\program files\MyApp, InstallFolderTemplate=/MyApp_v{version} }

• CurrentVersionUri
  This is how we check for updates. Send a GET request to the given URI and get back the result text. (This is probably just a file on your webserver.) Assume the first line of the result is a version number and parse it. Compare against the current version. If the downloaded file is larger get that version from the UpdateLocationTemplate.
  For example: If we are currently on version 1.0 and CurrentVersionUri is http://mydomain.com/myapp/version.txt and the first line of version.txt is "1.1" we need to update so use "1.1" as the {version} in the UpdateLocationTemplate and download that to the InstallPathTemplate and update any links.

• UpdateLocationTemplate
  Where to get the new files when an update is needed. Example: http://mydomain.com/myapp/downloads/{{version}}.zip

• CurrentVersion
  If you don't want to use the version from the project file you can override it here.

• KeepVersion (not implemented) Keep this many previous versions to allow quick roll back.

• WindowsShortcutPaths Shortcuts (.lnk) to the application entrypoint. These will be updated when a new version is installed. If the installer is running on a non-Windows platform these are ignored.

• SymlinksPaths Symlinks to the application entrypoint. These will be updated when a new version is installed.

Recipes / FAQ

I want to install on multiple platforms!

Sure! When you name your archives append a platform specific suffix. Then configure your installer with the same version URI and detect the current platform when setting your download URI.

var platform = System.Environment.OSVersion.Platform switch {
            PlatformID.Unix => "nix",
            PlatformID.Win32NT => "win",
        };
config.UpdateLocationTemplate = $"https://example.com/downloads/myapp_{{version}}_{platform}";

How do I set the current version for my application?

Set <Version>1.2.3</Version> in your csproj or supply it as a build parameter with /p:Version=1.2.3

What if the version of my application doesn't match the version from my {CurrentVersionUri}?

If your version is lower than {CurrentVersionUri} the application will always try to update. If your version is equal or higher it will never update.

Hey! Why doesn't this installer install into the standard, recommended, install locations for the given platform?

It can! You just have to tell it where that is.

I changed my shortcuts and I need this version to remove the old shortcut location

No built in support but you can check IsfirstRunOnCurrentVersion and do some custom cleanup.

I'd like my application to install into a priveledged location like c:/program files/

First, it's probably easier to just install per-user. However, if you want to you can accomplish this one of two ways.

1. Using application manifests which require elevated priveledges. <requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator" uiAccess="false" />. As a warning, this functionality isn't uniformly supported cross platform.

2. When Installer.CheckForUpdate() returns true spawn a separate process under platform specific elelvation. Have that process call the installer to do the update.

Does JUSTinstaller support uninstall?

Not currently.

How does IsfirstRunOnCurrentVersion work?

It doesn't. (TODO)

Design Notes

• The installed application is an unziped zip file into {InstallBaesPath}/{InstallFolderTemplate}.