Using MojoSetup.

If there are gaps in this documentation, please ask on the MojoSetup mailing

list: to subscribe, send a blank email to mojosetup-subscribe@icculus.org,

and then questions can go to mojosetup@icculus.org. This document will

be updated as we see what parts are confusing, so feedback is appreciated.

Putting together a MojoSetup installer involves four general steps:

1) Compile the software.

2) Set up the installer filesystem structure.

3) Write a config file.

4) Package up the final file for distribution.

Each step has a lot of details, but all installers basically follow those same

basic development steps.

Compile the software:

You will need some tools. First, you'll need your platform's favorite build

tools. You'll also need CMake (http://www.cmake.org/), and a Subversion

(http://subversion.tigris.org/) client. These are all available for most

popular operating systems, and some not-so-popular ones.

Get the latest version of MojoSetup from Subversion:

svn svn://svn.icculus.org/mojosetup/trunk mojosetup

Then you'll need to point CMake at it:

cd mojosetup

ccmake .

Tweak the build settings to your liking. You'll want to set CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE

to MinSizeRel, to make the compiled binary be as small as possible, and

then trim out features you don't need. For example, you can drop the

HTTP and FTP support to save about 25 kilobytes on the binary. You can also

drop support for various archive types, pieces of Lua you don't plan to use,

etc.

CMake will get you project files for whatever development environment you use

(Makefiles, XCode, Visual Studio, etc). Build the project. You should end

up with some shared libraries for whatever GUIs you left enabled, and

a mojsetup binary. Strip the debug symbols and put these aside for later.

If you are building MojoSetup without the Lua parser, you'll want to build

the separate Lua compiler (MOJOSETUP_BUILD_LUAC in ccmake). That will produce

a "mojoluac" binary. Put that aside for later, too.

Set up the installer filesystem structure:

This is fairly easy. The installer eventually wants to see a directory

tree like this:

data/

scripts/

guis/

This is called the "base archive," even if it's a real directory tree in the

physical filesystem and not in an actual archive, such as a .zip file.

"data" is where the installer looks for files included in the installer itself

that need installation (as opposed to those being read from the network

or a CD-ROM, etc). READMEs and EULAs go in here, too. The installer

doesn't care how things under data/ are arranged.

"guis" is where the installer looks for those shared libraries that got

built in the first step. Copy them in here, if you built any.

"scripts" is where Lua scripts go. You'll put your config file in here

(config.lua), the translation table (localizations.lua), and whatever other

scripts come with MojoSetup, which are required application logic. This

directory can hold either .lua files (source code), or their .luac

equivalents. If you built MojoSetup without the Lua parser to save space,

you'll need to compile the .lua sources into .luac objects now, or the

installer won't know what to do with them. It's safe to compile them even

if you include the parser.

cd scripts

../mojoluac -o config.luac config.lua

cd ..

You can strip debug symbols from the compiled scripts to save more space,

but you'll get less useful information if there's a script error:

cd scripts

../mojoluac -s -o config.luac config.lua

cd ..

Once you finish constructing this directory tree, put it aside for later.

Write a config file:

This is the complicated part, and where most of your effort will be spent.

This document will try to cover all the provided facilities, but as the

configuration file also provides a robust programming language, not only

is the full scope beyond this document, you can also accomplish all sorts

of things we haven't even considered yet.

Configuration files are Lua scripts. The Lua language and runtime library is

documented at http://www.lua.org/, and they sell an excellent book called

"Programming in Lua" which is a fast read and will demonstrate all manners

of wild and interesting features of the language. That being said, most

people rolling config files don't need any significant Lua expertise, and

basic config files don't need any programming experience at all.

The config file is named config.lua, and it must be a text file in UTF-8

encoding.

Configuration files are a hierarchy of elements that take this form:

Setup.DataType

{

someattribute = value1,

someotherattribute = value2,

}

Elements can nest:

Setup.DataType

{

someattribute = value1,

someotherattribute = value2,

Setup.AnotherDataType

{

something = value3,

}

}

Case is important! Setup.Option and Setup.option are NOT the same thing!

Here are the elements, and the attributes they can possess.

There are some specifiers by the attributes:

mustExist: Error if is nil (usually if you don't specify it). The other

"mustBe" descriptions consider nil to be valid when mustExist

isn't explicitly mentioned.

no default: This attribute will not have a default if not specified.

default X: This attribute defaults to X if not specified.

mustBeString: Error if isn't a string.

cantBeEmpty: Error is this string is "". String can be nil, though.

mustBeBool: Error if isn't true, false, or nil.

mustBeFunction: Error if isn't a function (can be C or Lua).

mustBeNumber: Error if isn't a number.

mustBeUrl: Error if isn't a string that matches the regexp "^.+://.-/.*".

mustBeStringOrTableOfStrings: Error if isn't a string or an array of strings.

Attributes that aren't explicitly specified take on their default value. In

cases without a default, they are effectively set to Lua's "nil" value.

This makes boolean values be treated as "false." Plan accordingly.

Setup.Package:

All configurations need at least one Setup.Package element. Everything other

element is added under Setup.Package. One full run of the installer is

done for each Setup.Package. You can have multiple packages in one file, and

the installer will run through for each one as if the program was started

multiple times. If there are multiple packages and an installation failure

occurs, all successfully-installed packages will remain. In most cases, you

only want one Setup.Package and should use Setup.Option to cull pieces

of the package.

Setup.Package attributes:

id (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This is a unique identifier for your package. Currently it is used as

the base of the install path, but future features may use it for other

things. Set this to something short, unique, and human-readable, like

"mygame".

disabled (no default, mustBeBool)

If this is true, the entire package will be skipped by the installer. You

probably want this to be true, but you might need to programmatically shut

off a whole package.

description (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This is your product's name. This will be displayed in the title bar, and

other locations during installation.

version (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This is the version of this package. This is arbitrary, and doesn't matter

to the installer what you specify. It's usually a value like "1.0" or

"beta3"

The installer may use this for future features, like upgrading previous

installations.

destination (no default, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This attribute can be used to force the installation into a specific

location in the physical filesystem. Unless you are building something

very specific (like device drivers for a well-defined platform), you

probably should not use this attribute. If destination isn't forced,

the installer will prompt the user for the destination, possibly

recommmending locations to her.

recommended_destinations (no default, mustBeStringOrTableOfStrings)

This attribute lets you define some favorable places to install the

package. You can have a table of strings or a single string:

recommended_destinations = MojoSetup.info.homedir,

...or...

recommended_destinations = { "/usr/local/games", "/opt/games" },

These strings are presented in the UI to the user when selecting a

install destination, but they can override them with their own choice.

The "id" attribute is appended to these before displaying to the end

user, so they'll see, for example, "/usr/local/games/mygame" and

"/opt/games/mygame" ... if a listed directory is determined to be

unwritable to the user (lack of permissions), it will be removed from the

list before presentation to the user.

precheck (no default, mustBeFunction)

If this attribute is defined, it is called by the installer after the

configuration is parsed and the GUI has started, but before the user has

interacted with the installer at all. It passes the finalized

Setup.Package table as a parameter.

preflight (no default, mustBeFunction)

If this attribute is defined, it is called by the installer after the

user has chosen options to install. The heavy-lifting of the installer

is about to begin: downloading files and installing the Package. It

passes the finalized Setup.Package table as a parameter.

preinstall (no default, mustBeFunction)

If this attribute is defined, it is called by the installer after all

needed external files are downloaded and installation of files is about

to begin. It passes the finalized Setup.Package table as a parameter.

postinstall (no default, mustBeFunction)

If this attribute is defined, it is called by the installer after the

entire package was successfully installed to disk. It passes the finalized

Setup.Package table as a parameter.

splash (no default, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

(!!! FIXME) This attribute is for future expansion.

url (no default, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

(!!! FIXME) This attribute is for future expansion.

once (default true, mustBeBool)

(!!! FIXME) This attribute is for future expansion.

category (default "Games", mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

(!!! FIXME) This attribute is for future expansion.

promptoverwrite (default true, mustBeBool)

(!!! FIXME) This attribute is for future expansion.

Please refer to Setup.File.allowoverwrite for now.

binarypath (no default, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

(!!! FIXME) This attribute is for future expansion.

update_url (no default, mustBeString, mustBeUrl)

(!!! FIXME) This attribute is for future expansion.

superuser (default false, mustBeBool)

(!!! FIXME) This attribute is for future expansion.

Setup.Readme:

This element is a child of Setup.Package. It can be used to display a

information about the package to the end user, such as a welcome message,

FAQs, or other orientation information. There can be multiple Setup.Readme

elements listed, in which case the end user will be shown each readme

individually before installation may proceed. The readmes are shown first

before any other interaction occurs.

Setup.Readme attributes:

description (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This is a brief description of the Readme, used for title bars and such.

source (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This is a filename in the base archive's "data" directory that contains

the readme text. Currently this must be a text file in UTF-8 encoding.

Setup.Eula:

This element is a child of Setup.Package. It can be used to display a

license agreement to the end user, which they must agree to before

installation can proceed. If they refuse the license, the installer

terminates without installing anything. There can be multiple Setup.Eula

elements listed, in which case the end user will be asked to agree to

each license individually before installation may proceed. The licenses are

shown after any readme elements.

Setup.Eula attributes:

description (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This is a brief description of the license, used for title bars and such.

source (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This is a filename in the base archive's "data" directory that contains

the license text. Currently this must be a text file in UTF-8 encoding.

Setup.Media:

This element is required if you need to install data from removable media,

such as a DVD-ROM drive. The installer needs a means to identify the

media as the correct source when it is connected to the system.

Setup.Media attributes:

id (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

A unique specifier for this media, such as "disc1" or "game-disc". This

will be used for Setup.File.source: "media://game-disc/path/filename.zip"

description (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

A human-readable description of this media, such as "MyGame Disc 2". This

string will be used when the end user must be prompted to insert a new

piece of media to continue the installation.

uniquefile (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This is a path that is unique to this media, relative to its root

directory, such as "sounds/guitar.wav". The installer looks at all

media available to the system until it finds this path exists, to

determine if the correct media has been made available by the end user.

Setup.Option:

This element defines an optional section of the install, and is a child

of Setup.Package. You must have at least one Setup.Option in your

configuration, but you can make it mandatory with the "required" attribute

if you don't want it to be actually optional.

The GUI will show all selectable options to the end user, and they can

pick and choose the parts they want. If there are no optional portions of

the install, the GUI will skip the option selection screen.

Setup.Options can nest. If a parent option is unchecked in the GUI, its

child options become disabled and will be considered unchecked also when

installation proceeds.

Setup.Option

{

description = "Wing Commander 1"

source = "base:///wc1.zip",

-- This option can only install if "Wing Commander 1" is checked too.

Setup.Option

{

description = "WC1 Speech Pack",

source = "base:///wc1sp.zip",

},

},

Setup.Option attributes:

disabled (default false, mustBeBool)

If true, this whole group (including all children) will be removed from

the GUI, and the installer will treat all the child options as unchecked.

If an option has both "required" and "disabled" set to true, then

"disabled" takes precedence.

value (default false, mustBeBool)

If true, the checkbox will be checked by default in the GUI. Checked

options are installed.

required (default false, mustBeBool)

If true, the option won't be shown to the end user, but will just be

treated as if it was checked when installation proceeds. If an option

has both "required" and "disabled" set to true, then "disabled" takes

precedence.

bytes (no default, mustExist, mustBeNumber)

This is the size, in bytes, of files this option will write to disk. The

installer uses this to determine space requirements for the total install.

If you don't know the size, you should set this to -1, but this will

disable some functionality.

description (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This string will be shown to the end user, as a label with the GUI's

checkbox.

Setup.OptionGroup:

This element can be the parent or child of Setup.Option, or a child of

Setup.Package. It contains of a collection of Setup.Option elements.

The children Setup.Options will be grouped radio buttons in the GUI instead

of individual checkboxes. As such, only one child Setup.Option in an

Setup.OptionGroup will be checked in the GUI.

Setup.OptionGroup

{

description = "Language",

Setup.Option { description = "English", source = "base:///en.zip" },

Setup.Option { description = "French", source = "base:///fr.zip" },

Setup.Option { description = "German", source = "base:///fr.zip" },

},

Setup.OptionGroup attributes:

disabled (no default, mustBeBool)

If true, this option (including all children) will be removed from

the GUI, and the installer will treat this and all child options as

unchecked.

description (no default, mustExist, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This string will be shown to the end user, as a label with the GUI's

radio button group.

Setup.File:

This element specifies a fileset, a collection of files, to install. These

are children of Setup.Option, and you can specify as many as you like per

option. Each Setup.File represents an "archive," that is, some set of files,

such as a .zip file or a directory.

Setup.File attributes:

source (no default, mustBeUrl)

This is a URL that provides the source for this fileset. You can only

specify archives (directories and files like .zip, .tar, etc), not

specific individual files. If you need a specific file, use its parent

directory here and a "wildcards" attribute.

There are some standard and non-standard URL handlers you can specify:

base:///path/file.ext

This references an archive in the Base Archive, where the "data"

directory is the root...so the above looks for data/path/file.ext in

the Base Archive.

This can install from an archive inside an archive, like this:

base:///mydir/outside.zip/internalpath/inside.tar

media://id/path/file.ext

This references a file on an external media with a specific id,

as defined in a Setup.Media element. The user will be prompted for

the correct media if the installer can't find it. This can install

archives-in-archives, like the base:/// version can.

ftp://hostname.dom/path/file.ext

http://hostname.dom/path/file.ext

The references a file on an FTP or web server. These files will all be

downloaded before local files are installed. You may only specify

archives at this time, not individual files or directories.

MojoSetup must be built with support for the proper network protocol.

destination (no default, mustBeString, cantBeEmpty)

This attribute lets you, across the board, redirect files in this archive

to a specific destination. This is a path relative to the base of the

installation destination path. If the user specified an installation

destination of "/games/mygame", this attribute is "gamemod", and the

source produces a file "maps/level1.map", then the final file written to

disk would be "/games/mygame/gamemod/maps/level1.map".

After the path is prepared with this attribute, it is tested against the

"wildcards" attribute, and if it passes there, it is pushed through the

"filter" attribute.

wildcards (no default, mustBeStringOrTableOfStrings)

This is the first step to culling files from an archive or directory.

Files are only installed if they match a specified wildcard.

Wildcards are simple to use: they only allow '?' for single character

matches and '*' to match a sequence of characters. You may specify a

single string, or a list of wildcards, like this:

-- matches sounds/heroes/laser13.wav and sounds/villians/laser02.wav

wildcards = "sounds/*/laser??.wav"

...or...

-- everything in the maps, sounds, and graphics directories.

-- (this includes subdirs! '*' matches past '/' separators!)

wildcards = { "maps/*", "sounds/*", "graphics/*" }

filter (no default, mustBeFunction)

This is a function that takes one argument, a string that represents the

path of a single file relative to the root of the installation destination.

This function may return nil to choose not to install this file, which is

useful for culling files from an archive, or a string that represents a

new destination for the file, which is useful for renaming some files

on-the-fly:

filter = function(dest)

if string.match(dest, ".exe$") then

return nil -- skip Windows .exe files on Unix.

end

if dest == "SOMEFILE.TXT" then

return "somefile.txt" -- force this to lowercase.

end

return dest -- everything else can go through as-is.

end

allowoverwrite (no default, mustBeBool)

If true, the installer will overwrite existing files without warning. If

false, the user will be prompted before overwriting each file.

Files are actually moved out of the way instead of overwritten, so the

installer can restore them if the install is cancelled or fails mid-way.

They are deleted only after a successful install.

Package up the final file for distribution:

Now you have a MojoSetup binary and a directory tree containing your data, GUI

plugins, and scripts (including the config.lua you just wrote). Now you just

need to glue them together. MojoSetup will attempt to look at itself as an

archive on startup, which works in the same way "self-extracting" exe files

worked on other operating systems. If you want MojoSetup to be

self-extracting, zip your directory tree up and append it to the binary:

zip -9r mydata.zip data guis scripts

cat mydata.zip >> mojosetup

Now rename "mojosetup" to something meaningful (mygame-1.0-linux-x86.bin or

whatever), and you've got an installer.

If you have the luxury of a real filesystem (inside a disk image or on a CD

you are shipping, for example), MojoSetup will use the binary's directory

if it doesn't find a zipfile appended to the binary itself, so you can just

have "data", "scripts" and "guis" in the same directory as "mojosetup" to

have it work, too.

Now you're done! Give your installer to the public.

Extra credit:

Localization:

If you added strings to the installer or your config file that you want

translated at runtime, you need to add them to localization.lua. This is

a Lua script, too, of course, but you really should treat it like a basic

config file.

Don't remove strings that are already in the file...MojoSetup uses these

internally. Just add your own strings.

The format looks something like this:

["Yes"] = {

es = "Si";

fr = "Oui";

};

As you can see, the ["Yes"] is a string to translate. These are always English

by convention, but this is whatever the string you wish to translate. Please

note that the brackets are important, and only used on this specific string.

The fields in this structure are language abbreviations that match a user's

locale and the string of translated text.

Please note that you can do locale-specific translations, too:

["colors"] = {

en_UK = "colours";

};

All strings in this file (and all Lua scripts) are UTF-8 encoded. Using a

high-ASCII character will not work like you expect at runtime!

These lookup tables are used at runtime to translate strings, both by you and

internally by MojoSetup. You can do a translation by calling:

MojoSetup.translate("colors")

We recommend making a convenience function like this at the top of your

config.lua...

local function _ = MojoSetup.translate

...so that you have a convention for translations that cause minimal clutter:

Setup.Option {

description = _("Level editor utility"),

-- ...etc...

}

--ryan.