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Windows Installer: Difference between revisions
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==Creating an NSIS based installer== | ==Creating an NSIS based installer== | ||
The <code>make nsis-installer</code> command produces a NSIS installer that is ready to be distributed. | The <code>make nsis-installer</code> command produces a NSIS installer that is ready to be distributed. | ||
==Trying out cross-built Octave on Linux through VirtualBox== | |||
Micosoft makes pre-built Windows 10 virtual disk images available for testing. While primarily meant for testing the MS-Edge browser, the license for these images does not limit the use of these images to just MS-Edge. So it is perfectly possible to also test Octave. | |||
There are several advantages: | |||
* Rebooting from Linux to Windows isn't needed; | |||
* The latest Windows 10 version is always available; | |||
* Building the installer or zip/7z/<whatever> archives itself isn't needed. One can interrupt the build process after the entire installation of Octave has been made in the dist/octave subdirectory of mxe-octave, i.e., when the message "generating installer" (or "zip...") is shown, saving ~10-15 minutes. | |||
Of course one an also install (or unpack) octave into the virtualized Windows 10. | |||
Steps: | |||
* Install Virtualbox | |||
* Grab a copy of the Windows 10 image here: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/ | |||
* Unpack and import the disk image into VirtualBox. | |||
* In VirtualBox, select Settings | Shared folders and setup access from Windows 10 to the Linux subdir where you but mxe-octave. It is advised to make it read-only. | |||
Then: | |||
* Either install (or unpack) Octave into Windows 10, or | |||
* Create a shortcut to octave.vbs in the dist/octave subdir on Linux. | |||
Hints: | |||
* I adapted mxe-octave/binary-dist-rules.mk to have a consistent name for the dist/octave subdir (i.e., without time/date/bitwidth suffixes) so that in Windows the shortcut doesn't need adaptation after each cross-build action. Maybe it is better if binary-dist-rules.mk has a rule to create a symlink "dist/octave/" pointing to the latest cross-build. | |||
* The image expires after 90 days. But if you make a VirtualBox snapshot it will last longer, and you don't need to uninstall Octave each time before installing a new build. | |||
[[Category:Packaging]] | [[Category:Packaging]] | ||