migrating/squirrel

[giscus[bot]]

migrating/squirrel

Migrate Squirrel.Windows or Clowd.Squirrel to Velopack.

https://docs.velopack.io/migrating/squirrel

[mgnslndh]

Can a Velopack installer upgrade an app installed using Squirrel?

[caesay]

Yes, if you follow the steps in this guide you should be able to migrate an installed app from Squirrel to Velopack. Reach out via GitHub issues or Discord if you have any issues.

[shunkica]

What is the Velopack alternative to Squirrels UpdateManager.RestartApp()?
I am not trying to update the app, just trigger a restart.

[caesay]

There is no basic "Restart app but don't try and apply pending updates" functionality in Velopack. If you need to restart for reasons unrelated to updating I'd suggest doing something like the following:

if (Process.Start(Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule!.FileName) != null) {
    Environment.Exit(0);
}

[YoelRT]

Hello, my app is build using msbuild (frequently using DevOps ) there is a place you can doc or explain how to install/run vpk if not yet installed in the pipeline? I see another nuget package aside of Velopack, its name is Velopack.build, what's that used for?

[caesay]

The procedure to install vpk is the same regardless of where you use Velopack or what programming language you use. To install vpk you need to have dotnet8 installed, and then run dotnet tool update -g vpk. If your CI runner does not have dotnet installed, you may need to install it first. Velopack.Build is not documented or supported yet but may make things easier for msbuild in the future.

[YoelRT]

Hello, I am migrating from Squirrel, so in the whole process of creating a pack/installer, our building process uses a client.nuspec file to specify which files copy from the build folder to the installer. Is there any option we got for that aside of the vpk pack --exclude flag?

[caesay]

It's not supported to use a .nuspec or give Velopack a .nupkg. Ideally you should configure msbuild to output your project structure in the correct way, and copy or delete files as needed before giving your program output to Velopack. Your program will be packaged exactly how you give it to Velopack's --packDir arg, including preserving any symlinks etc. If you can't achieve what you need with msbuild, you might want to create a build.bat which prepares your application for packaging and then calls vpk pack afterwards. You could adapt one of the build scripts from the samples.

[JamCrackersBV]

Hi Caesay,

Thank you for this wonderfull project. Im migrating my squirrel updated apps to Velopack.
I have one question regarding the migration. if an app is installed already in %localappdata%\AppDirectory and it gets updated.. although as appID in the vpk pack command I've choosen something else, the app still would be running in the 'old direcory' (in this example [AppDirectory], is that correct. So only n a fresh install it would 'change' directory (and actually use my appID al directory name) ?
Thanks

[caesay]

You are correct

[JamCrackersBV]

thnks!

[YoelRT]

Hello there, I am almost finishing the Squirrel replacement, however we are facing an issue while installing the app, a dialog shows: "Installation has completed, but the application install hook failed ..." I don't get any issue in the event-viewer and installing the Setup.exe -v -l c:\temp\velo.log shows not errors but a warning.

[setup:30972] [12:37:12] [INFO] Starting process install hook
[setup:30972] [12:37:12] [INFO] Running --veloapp-install hook...
[setup:30972] [12:37:27] [WARN] Hook exited with non-zero exit code: -532462766
[setup:30972] [12:37:27] [INFO] Checking for running processes in: C:\Users\user1\AppData\Local\CompanyApp
[setup:30972] [12:37:39] [INFO] Writing uninstall registry key...
[setup:30972] [12:37:39] [INFO] Starting app...
[setup:30972] [12:37:39] [DEBUG] (1) velopack_bins::shared::util_windows: Setting environment variable: VELOPACK_FIRSTRUN=true
[setup:30972] [12:37:39] [INFO] About to launch: '"C:\Users\user1\AppData\Local\CompanyApp\current\App.exe"' in dir '"C:\Users\user1\AppData\Local\CompanyApp\current"'
[setup:30972] [12:37:39] [INFO] Args: CommandArgs { inner: [] }
[setup:30972] [12:37:39] [INFO] Installation completed successfully!
[setup:30972] [12:37:39] [INFO] Removing rollback directory...

Any idea how to find the issue?

[caesay]

Hook exited with non-zero exit code: -532462766

Your own application crashed during install and/or did not return a 0 exit code. I suggest you add more logging or exception handling to your product when it starts up. Also make sure you are calling VelopackApp.Run() before anything else in your app startup.

Comments on our documentation are not the best place for extended conversations or support - the comments here are designed for asking questions or discussing the documentation itself. If you need support, please open an issue on GitHub or join our Discord.

[C1rdec]

After the migration the new process (With Velopack) get stuck.... But if I kill it and restart the app everything goes back to normal.

Is this a known issue or is there a workaround?

[C1rdec]

2024-11-30 14:20:46.7963 INFO Initializing WindowsVelopackLocator
2024-11-30 14:20:46.8049 INFO Update.exe found in parent directory
2024-11-30 14:20:46.8049 INFO Located valid manifest file at: AppData\Local\PoeLurker\current\sq.version
2024-11-30 14:20:46.8049 INFO Starting Velopack App (Run).
2024-11-30 14:20:46.8049 INFO Setting current process explicit AppUserModelID to 'velopack.PoeLurker'

[caesay]

Not a known issue. Please join our Discord or open a GitHub issue with migration logs for assistance.

[pankaj-nikam]

How can I use Velvopack with .NET framework 4.6.2 apps?

[caesay]

Please follow our Quick Start Guide for C#, replacing dotnet publish with msbuild or whatever you currently use to compile your app. Also, review our WPF sample which currently targets net48.

[pankaj-nikam]

Thank you so much @caesay :)