mirror of
https://github.com/etlegacy/Update-Installer.git
synced 2025-01-22 07:21:13 +00:00
Update the README file.
* Re-organize the sections into a more logical order. * Tidy-up the wording of the introduction. * Add more details to the section on customizing the updater
This commit is contained in:
Robert Knight
parent
e9c94e99ad
commit
29ba43be7c
1 changed files with 81 additions and 35 deletions
116
README
116
README
|
|
@ -2,55 +2,52 @@ This tool is a component of a cross-platform auto-update system.
|
|||
It is responsible for performing the installation of an update after
|
||||
the necessary files have been downloaded to a temporary directory.
|
||||
|
||||
This tool is responsible for:
|
||||
It was originally written for use with Mendeley Desktop (see www.mendeley.com)
|
||||
|
||||
* Reading an XML file specifying the contents of an update.
|
||||
|
||||
* Extracting and installing updated files from one or more compressed packages.
|
||||
|
||||
* Removing any files which are no longer needed in the new version of the application.
|
||||
|
||||
* Requesting elevated priviledges if required to install the update.
|
||||
|
||||
* Displaying a simple updater UI and re-launching the main application
|
||||
once the update is installed.
|
||||
|
||||
The tool consists of a single small binary which depends only on libraries
|
||||
that are part of the base system.
|
||||
|
||||
The external dependencies of the updater binary are:
|
||||
|
||||
* The C/C++ runtime libraries (Linux, Mac),
|
||||
* pthreads (Linux, Mac),
|
||||
* zlib (Linux, Mac)
|
||||
* native UI library (Win32 API on Windows, Cocoa on Mac, GTK on Linux if available)
|
||||
The tool consists of a single small binary which performs update installation,
|
||||
an XML file format describing the contents of an update (an 'update script')
|
||||
and a tool to create update scripts from a directory containing an installed application.
|
||||
|
||||
To perform an update, the application (or another separate tool) needs to download
|
||||
the updater binary, an XML file describing the update and one or more zip packages
|
||||
the updater binary, an update script and one or more compressed packages
|
||||
containing the files for the update to a temporary directory. It then needs
|
||||
to invoke the updater, specifying the installation directory, temporary package
|
||||
directory and path to the update script file. The updater then installs the
|
||||
update and restarts the application when done.
|
||||
to invoke the updater, specifying the location where the application is installed,
|
||||
the location of the compressed packages and the path to the update script.
|
||||
|
||||
Once the updater has been started, it:
|
||||
|
||||
1. Waits for the application to exit
|
||||
|
||||
2. Acquires the necessary priviledges to install the updates, prompting
|
||||
the user if necessary.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Installs the updates, displaying progress to the user in a small dialog
|
||||
|
||||
4. Performs cleanup and any additional actions required as part of the update
|
||||
|
||||
5. Starts the new version of the main application.
|
||||
|
||||
In the event of a failure during the update, the installation is rolled back
|
||||
to its previous state and a message is presented to the user.
|
||||
|
||||
Building the Updater
|
||||
====================
|
||||
|
||||
Create a new directory for the build and from that directory run:
|
||||
|
||||
cmake <path to source directory>
|
||||
make
|
||||
cmake <path to source directory>
|
||||
make
|
||||
|
||||
Customizing the Updater
|
||||
=======================
|
||||
The updater binary will be built in the src/ directory.
|
||||
|
||||
To customize the application name, organization and messages displayed by the updater,
|
||||
edit the AppInfo class and the icons in src/resources
|
||||
You should also run the tests in src/tests to verify that the updater is
|
||||
functioning correctly.
|
||||
|
||||
Preparing an Update
|
||||
===================
|
||||
|
||||
1. Create a directory containing your application's files,
|
||||
laid out and with the same permissions as they would be when installed.
|
||||
laid out in the same way and with the same permissions as they would be when installed.
|
||||
|
||||
2. Create a config file specifying how the application's files should be
|
||||
partitioned into packages - see tools/config-template.json
|
||||
|
|
@ -65,14 +62,63 @@ Preparing an Update
|
|||
relevant packages, file_list.xml file and updater binary to a temporary
|
||||
directory and invoke the updater.
|
||||
|
||||
Delta Updates
|
||||
=============
|
||||
Invoking the Updater
|
||||
====================
|
||||
|
||||
The simplest possible auto-update implementation is for existing installs
|
||||
Once the application has downloaded an update, it needs to invoke it. The syntax is:
|
||||
|
||||
updater --install-dir <install-dir> --package-dir <package-dir> --script <script file>
|
||||
|
||||
Where <install-dir> is the directory which the application is installed into,
|
||||
<package-dir> is the directory containing the packages required for the update
|
||||
and <script> is the file_list.xml file describing the update.
|
||||
|
||||
Once the updater has run, it will launch the file specified in the file_list.xml file
|
||||
as being the main application binary.
|
||||
|
||||
See the updater test in src/tests/test-update.rb for an example
|
||||
of how to invoke the updater.
|
||||
|
||||
You should design the process used to download and launch the updater so that new
|
||||
versions of the updater itself can be delivered as part of the update if necessary.
|
||||
|
||||
Customizing the Updater
|
||||
=======================
|
||||
|
||||
To customize the application name, organization and messages displayed by the updater:
|
||||
|
||||
1. Edit the AppInfo class (in AppInfo.h, AppInfo.cpp) to set the name
|
||||
of the application and associated organization.
|
||||
|
||||
2. Replace the icons in src/resources
|
||||
|
||||
3. Change the product name and organization in src/resources/updater.rc
|
||||
|
||||
4. If you are building the updater on Windows and have a suitable Authenticode
|
||||
certificate, use it to sign the Windows binary. This will make the application
|
||||
show a less scary UAC prompt if administrator permissions are required
|
||||
to complete the installation.
|
||||
|
||||
Updater Dependencies
|
||||
====================
|
||||
The external dependencies of the updater binary are:
|
||||
|
||||
* The C/C++ runtime libraries (Linux, Mac),
|
||||
* pthreads (Linux, Mac),
|
||||
* zlib (Linux, Mac)
|
||||
* native UI library (Win32 API on Windows, Cocoa on Mac, GTK on Linux if available)
|
||||
|
||||
Full and Delta Updates
|
||||
======================
|
||||
|
||||
The simplest auto-update implementation is for existing installs
|
||||
to download a complete copy of the new version and install it. This is
|
||||
appropriate if a full download and install will not take a long time for most users
|
||||
(eg. if the application is small or they have a fast internet connection).
|
||||
|
||||
With this tool, a full-update involves putting all files in a build of
|
||||
the application into a single package.
|
||||
|
||||
To reduce the download size, delta updates can be created which only include
|
||||
the necessary files or components to update from the old to the new version.
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
Loading…
Reference in a new issue