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https://github.com/electron-archive/grunt-electron-installer

Grunt plugin to build Windows installers for Electron apps
https://github.com/electron-archive/grunt-electron-installer

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Grunt plugin to build Windows installers for Electron apps

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README 

        
# Electron Installer Grunt Plugin



[![Build status](https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/yd1ybqg3eq397i26/branch/master?svg=true)](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/kevinsawicki/grunt-electron-installer/branch/master)



Grunt plugin that builds Windows installers for

[Electron](https://github.com/atom/electron) apps using

[Squirrel](https://github.com/Squirrel/Squirrel.Windows).



## Installing



```sh

npm install --save-dev grunt-electron-installer

```



## Configuring



In your `Gruntfile.coffee` or `Gruntfile.js` add the following:



```js

grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-electron-installer')

```



Then assuming you have an Electron app built at the given `appDirectory`,

you can configure the installer task like so:



```js

'create-windows-installer': {

  x64: {

    appDirectory: '/tmp/build/my-app-64',

    outputDirectory: '/tmp/build/installer64',

    authors: 'My App Inc.',

    exe: 'myapp.exe'

  },

  ia32: {

    appDirectory: '/tmp/build/my-app-32',

    outputDirectory: '/tmp/build/installer32',

    authors: 'My App Inc.',

    exe: 'myapp.exe'

  }

}

```



Then run `grunt create-windows-installer` and you will have an `.nupkg`, a

`RELEASES` file, and a `.exe` installer file in the `outputDirectory` folder

for each multi task target given under the config entry.



There are several configuration settings supported:



| Config Name           | Required | Description |

| --------------------- | -------- | ----------- |

| `appDirectory`        | Yes      | The folder path of your Electron app |

| `outputDirectory`     | No       | The folder path to create the `.exe` installer in. Defaults to the `installer` folder at the project root. |

| `loadingGif`          | No       | The local path to a `.gif` file to display during install. |

| `authors`             | Yes      | The authors value for the nuget package metadata. Defaults to the `author` field from your app's package.json file when unspecified. |

| `owners`              | No       | The owners value for the nuget package metadata. Defaults to the `authors` field when unspecified. |

| `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. |

| `description`         | No       | The description value for the nuget package metadata. Defaults to the `description` field from your app's package.json file when unspecified. |

| `version`             | No       | The version value for the nuget package metadata. Defaults to the `version` field from your app's package.json file when unspecified. |

| `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. |

| `certificateFile`     | No       | The path to an Authenticode Code Signing Certificate |

| `certificatePassword` | No       | The password to decrypt the certificate given in `certificateFile` |

| `signWithParams`      | No       | Params to pass to signtool.  Overrides `certificateFile` and `certificatePassword`. |

| `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. |

| `setupIcon`           | No       | The ICO file to use as the icon for the generated Setup.exe |

| `noMsi`               | No       | Should Squirrel.Windows create an MSI installer? |

| `remoteReleases`      | No       | A URL to your existing updates. If given, these will be downloaded to create delta updates |



## Sign your installer or else bad things will happen



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.



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.



## Handling Squirrel Events



Squirrel will spawn your app with command line flags on first run, updates,

and uninstalls. it is **very** important that your app handle these events as _early_

as possible, and quit **immediately** after handling them. Squirrel will give your

app a short amount of time (~15sec) to apply these operations and quit.



You should handle these events in your app's `main` entry point with something

such as:



```js

var app = require('app');



var handleStartupEvent = function() {

  if (process.platform !== 'win32') {

    return false;

  }



  var squirrelCommand = process.argv[1];

  switch (squirrelCommand) {

    case '--squirrel-install':

    case '--squirrel-updated':



      // Optionally do things such as:

      //

      // - Install desktop and start menu shortcuts

      // - Add your .exe to the PATH

      // - Write to the registry for things like file associations and

      //   explorer context menus



      // Always quit when done

      app.quit();



      return true;

    case '--squirrel-uninstall':

      // Undo anything you did in the --squirrel-install and

      // --squirrel-updated handlers



      // Always quit when done

      app.quit();



      return true;

    case '--squirrel-obsolete':

      // This is called on the outgoing version of your app before

      // we update to the new version - it's the opposite of

      // --squirrel-updated

      app.quit();

      return true;

  }

};



if (handleStartupEvent()) {

  return;

}

```