electron-builder
Advanced tools
electron-builder is a complete solution to package and build a ready-for-distribution Electron app with “auto update” support out of the box. It supports numerous target formats and platforms, making it a versatile tool for Electron app developers.
Building for Multiple Platforms
This feature allows you to build your Electron app for multiple platforms such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. The code sample demonstrates how to configure and initiate a build process for a Windows target.
const builder = require('electron-builder');
builder.build({
targets: builder.Platform.WINDOWS.createTarget(),
config: {
appId: 'com.example.app',
productName: 'ExampleApp',
directories: {
output: 'dist'
}
}
}).then(() => {
console.log('Build complete!');
}).catch((error) => {
console.error('Error during build:', error);
});Auto Update
The auto-update feature allows your app to automatically check for updates and install them. The code sample shows how to set up the auto-updater to check for updates when the app is ready and handle update events.
const { autoUpdater } = require('electron-updater');
app.on('ready', () => {
autoUpdater.checkForUpdatesAndNotify();
});
autoUpdater.on('update-available', () => {
console.log('Update available.');
});
autoUpdater.on('update-downloaded', () => {
autoUpdater.quitAndInstall();
});Custom Configuration
This feature allows you to customize the build configuration for your Electron app. The code sample demonstrates how to specify custom directories, files, and target formats for different platforms.
const builder = require('electron-builder');
builder.build({
config: {
appId: 'com.example.app',
productName: 'ExampleApp',
directories: {
output: 'dist'
},
files: [
'build/**/*'
],
extraResources: [
'assets/'
],
win: {
target: 'nsis'
},
mac: {
target: 'dmg'
}
}
}).then(() => {
console.log('Build complete!');
}).catch((error) => {
console.error('Error during build:', error);
});electron-packager is a command-line tool and Node.js library that bundles Electron-based application source code with a renamed Electron executable and supporting files into folders ready for distribution. Unlike electron-builder, it does not include auto-update support out of the box and is generally considered less feature-rich.
electron-forge is a complete tool for creating, publishing, and installing modern Electron applications. It provides a more integrated development experience compared to electron-builder, including project scaffolding, packaging, and publishing. However, it may not offer the same level of customization and flexibility in build configurations.
electron-updater is a standalone module that provides auto-update functionality for Electron apps. While electron-builder includes auto-update support as part of its feature set, electron-updater can be used independently or in conjunction with other packaging tools like electron-packager.
The electron-builder project is used to create installers for the platforms Windows and MacOS. It's built to work together with the electron-packager.
If you are looking for a complete set up on how to use the electron-packager and electron-builder check the "How we use it section below".
The project has currently only been executed on MacOS machines. Any support or help for Windows is welcome.
You can go the global installation route. ;)
$ npm install -g electron-builder
Oooooor... You can wrap electron-builder with npm scripts to not have a global dependency.
# install electron builder as a dependency of your project
$ npm install --save electron-builder
After that you can easily use the electron-builder binary in your npm scripts.
part of package.json
{
"scripts" : {
"pack:macos": "npm run build:macos && electron-builder \"dist/macos/Loopline Systems.app\" --platform=macos --out=\"dist/macos\" --config=packager.json"
}
}
If you're on OS X/Linux and want to build for Windows, you need Wine installed. Wine is required in order to set the correct icon for the exe.
You will also need the nullsoft scriptable install system for all platforms.
On osx via brew
$ brew install wine makensis
On linux via apt-get
$ add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa -y
$ apt-get update
$ apt-get install wine nsis -y
On Windows download the nullsoft scriptable installer
If you're on OS X/Linux and want to build for Windows, make also sure you're running at least v0.12.0 of node.js.
$ node --version
v0.12.0
$ electron-builder dist/macos/someFancy.app --platform=macos --out=/some/path/ --config=config.json
$ electron-builder dist/win/someFancy-win32 --platform=win --out=/some/path/ --config=config.json
Usage
$ electron-builder <sourcedir> --plattform=<plattform> --config=<configPath> --out=<outputPath>
Required options:
platform: win, macos
config: path to config file
Optional options:
out: path to output the installer
Because the configuration is fairly complex we decided to go with a good old config file for now. You will find a sample config file below.
config.json.sample:
{
"macos" : {
"title": "Loopline Systems",
"background": "assets/macos/installer.png",
"icon": "assets/macos/mount.icns",
"icon-size": 80,
"contents": [
{ "x": 438, "y": 344, "type": "link", "path": "/Applications" },
{ "x": 192, "y": 344, "type": "file" }
]
},
"win" : {
"title" : "Loopline Systems",
"icon" : "assets/win/icon.ico"
}
}
When you run npm run pack it will create executables for the platforms Windows and MacOS inside of the dist directory. It grabs the generated executables afterwards to create the installers out of it.
directory structure
desktop
|-- app // actual electron application
|
|-- assets // build related assets
|-- macos // build assets for macos
|-- installer.png // -> referenced in packager.json ( dmg mount icon )
|-- mount.icns // -> use by electron-packager ( actual app icon )
|-- loopline.icns // -> referenced in packager.json ( dmg background )
|-- win // build assets for macos
|-- icon.ico // -> referenced in packager.json
|
|-- dist // out put folder
|-- macos // generated executables for MacOS
|-- Loopline Systems.app
|-- Loopline Systems.dmg
|-- win // generated executables for Windows
|-- Loopline Systems-win32
|-- Loopline Systems Setup.exe
|-- package.json
|-- packager.json
package.json
{
"name": "loopline-desktop",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "",
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {
"dev": "electron ./app",
"clean": "rm -rf ./dist",
"clean:macos": "rm -rf ./dist/macos",
"clean:win": "rm -rf ./dist/win",
"build": "npm run clean && npm run build:macos && npm run build:win",
"build:macos": "npm run clean:macos && electron-packager ./app \"Loopline Systems\" --out=dist/macos --platform=darwin --arch=x64 --version=0.25.3 --icon=assets/macos/loopline.icns",
"build:win": "npm run clean:win && electron-packager ./app \"Loopline Systems\" --out=dist/win --platform=win32 --arch=ia32 --version=0.25.3 --icon=assets/win/icon.ico",
"pack": "npm run pack:macos && npm run pack:win",
"pack:macos": "npm run build:macos && electron-builder \"dist/macos/Loopline Systems.app\" --platform=macos --out=\"dist/macos\" --config=packager.json",
"pack:win": "npm run build:win && electron-builder \"dist/win/Loopline Systems-win32\" --platform=win --out=\"dist/win\" --config=packager.json"
},
"dependencies": {
"electron-packager": "^4.0.2",
"electron-prebuilt": "^0.25.2",
"electron-builder": "^1.0.0"
}
}
packager.json
{
"macos" : {
"title": "Loopline Systems",
"background": "assets/macos/installer.png",
"icon": "assets/macos/mount.icns",
"icon-size": 80,
"contents": [
{ "x": 438, "y": 344, "type": "link", "path": "/Applications" },
{ "x": 192, "y": 344, "type": "file" }
]
},
"win" : {
"title" : "Loopline Systems",
"icon" : "assets/win/icon.ico"
}
}
You want to help out and have ideas to make it better? Great!
Create an issue and we will tackle it.
If you decide to propose a pull request ( even better ) make sure npm test is succeeding.
FAQs
A complete solution to package and build a ready for distribution Electron app for MacOS, Windows and Linux with “auto update” support out of the box
The npm package electron-builder receives a total of 116,400 weekly downloads. As such, electron-builder popularity was classified as popular.
We found that electron-builder demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 0 open source maintainers collaborating on the project.
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