Re: Require suggestions on feature #5766

Hi!

On Wed, 27 Nov 2024 at 07:58, Anil Sahoo <anil(dot)sahoo(at)enterprisedb(dot)com>
wrote:

> Hi Dave/Team,
>
> I am currently working on the auto-update feature of pgAdmin 4 desktop
> application, #5766 <https://github.com/pgadmin-org/pgadmin4/issues/5766>.
>
>
> As we are using Electron for shipping our desktop application, I have gone
> through some possible ways we can implement the auto update of the app.
>
> I found 2 most popular ways, that are
>
> 1. *Use builtin electron’s autoUpdater* (Uses the Squirrel framework &
> Available for Mac, Windows)
> 2. *Use electron-builder and electron-updater packages *(Available for
> Mac, Windows and Linux systems)
>
> *Linux systems:*
>
>
> - Builtin Electron’s autoUpdater support is not available.
> - electron-builder and electron-updater can be used, but need to
> change the whole build process. Also most apps like VS code, Chrome, etc
> does not support auto-update of apps on linux systems.
>
> We should not try to auto-update on Linux, because we're using the
platform native packaging and auto-updating will cause nasty problems with
that.

> *Mac systems:*
>
> - We can use the builtin Electron’s autoUpdater to add auto-update
> feature to macOs systems, It is simple and easy to configure. We need a
> minor modification in our build process i.e. as we are supporting Intel and
> Apple silicon chips, deployment url will have 2 zip files and each zip file
> will hold the build for arm64 and x86_64.
> - electron-builder and electron-updater can be used. With this, we
> have to change the whole build process.
>
> *Windows systems:*
>
> - We can use the builtin Electron’s autoUpdater to add auto-update
> feature to windows systems, Here also we need to change our build process.
> Electron’s docs recommend using electron-winstaller or electron forge to
> create the installer and some extra changes are needed in the deployment
> server.
> - electron-builder and electron-updater can be used. With this, we
> have to change the whole build process.
>
> As Electron's builtin autoUpdater is easy to use so for now we can move
> with the auto-update of the pgAdmin app on macOs systems as it requires
> minimal changes.
>

That certainly sounds like the better option. A couple of questions:

- What changes are required in the deployment server? We are very limited
here, as we deploy through the postgresql.org infrastructure.

- Whilst the docs (for Windows) recommend using electron-winstaller or
electron forge, can you confirm one of them *must* be used? Our current
installer is pretty standard in the way it works, so I'm curious to know if
we would actually need to change technology for a specific reason.

Thanks!

--
Dave Page
pgAdmin: https://www.pgadmin.org
PostgreSQL: https://www.postgresql.org
pgEdge: https://www.pgedge.com