mirror of
https://github.com/electron/electron.git
synced 2026-02-26 03:01:17 -05:00
19d0c072d5
* feat: lazy electron download * better error messaging? * add breaking changes script doc * add binary download step to install instructions * respect no binary env var
191 lines
6.5 KiB
Markdown
191 lines
6.5 KiB
Markdown
# Advanced Installation Instructions
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To install prebuilt Electron binaries, use [`npm`][npm].
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The preferred method is to install Electron as a development dependency in your
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app:
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```sh
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npm install electron --save-dev
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```
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See the [Electron versioning doc][versioning] for info on how to
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manage Electron versions in your apps.
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## Binary download step
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Under the hood, Electron's JavaScript API binds to a binary that contains its
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implementations. This binary is crucial to the function of any Electron app, and
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is downloaded by default the first time you run Electron in development mode
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(i.e. `electron .`).
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If you want to install the binary on demand instead, you can run the `install-electron` bin script
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included in the `electron` package:
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```sh
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npx install-electron --no
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```
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If you want to install your project's dependencies but don't need to use
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Electron functionality, you can set the `ELECTRON_SKIP_BINARY_DOWNLOAD` environment
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variable to prevent the binary from being downloaded. For instance, this feature can
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be useful in continuous integration environments when running unit tests that mock
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out the `electron` module.
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```sh
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ELECTRON_SKIP_BINARY_DOWNLOAD=1 npm install
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```
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## Running Electron ad-hoc
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If you're in a pinch and would prefer to not use `npm install` in your local
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project, you can also run Electron ad-hoc using the [`npx`][npx] command runner
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bundled with `npm`:
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```sh
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npx electron .
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```
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The above command will run the current working directory with Electron. Note that
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any dependencies in your app will not be installed.
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## Customization
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If you want to change the architecture that is downloaded (e.g., `x64` on an
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`arm64` machine), you can use the `--arch` flag with npm install or set the
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`npm_config_arch` environment variable:
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```shell
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npm install --arch=x64 electron
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```
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In addition to changing the architecture, you can also specify the platform
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(e.g., `win32`, `linux`, etc.) using the `--platform` flag:
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```shell
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npm install --platform=win32 electron
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```
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## Proxies
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If you need to use an HTTP proxy, you need to set the `ELECTRON_GET_USE_PROXY` variable to any
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value, plus additional environment variables depending on your host system's Node version:
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* [Node 10 and above][proxy-env-10]
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* [Before Node 10][proxy-env]
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## Custom mirrors and caches
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During installation, the `electron` module will call out to
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[`@electron/get`][electron-get] to download prebuilt binaries of
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Electron for your platform. It will do so by contacting GitHub's
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release download page (`https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v$VERSION`,
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where `$VERSION` is the exact version of Electron).
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If you are unable to access GitHub or you need to provide a custom build, you
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can do so by either providing a mirror or an existing cache directory.
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### Mirror
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You can use environment variables to override the base URL, the path at which to
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look for Electron binaries, and the binary filename. The URL used by `@electron/get`
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is composed as follows:
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```js @ts-nocheck
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url = ELECTRON_MIRROR + ELECTRON_CUSTOM_DIR + '/' + ELECTRON_CUSTOM_FILENAME
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```
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For instance, to use the China CDN mirror:
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```shell
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ELECTRON_MIRROR="https://npmmirror.com/mirrors/electron/"
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```
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By default, `ELECTRON_CUSTOM_DIR` is set to `v$VERSION`. To change the format,
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use the `{{ version }}` placeholder. For example, `version-{{ version }}`
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resolves to `version-5.0.0`, `{{ version }}` resolves to `5.0.0`, and
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`v{{ version }}` is equivalent to the default. As a more concrete example, to
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use the China non-CDN mirror:
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```shell
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ELECTRON_MIRROR="https://npmmirror.com/mirrors/electron/"
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ELECTRON_CUSTOM_DIR="{{ version }}"
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```
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The above configuration will download from URLs such as
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`https://npmmirror.com/mirrors/electron/8.0.0/electron-v8.0.0-linux-x64.zip`.
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If your mirror serves artifacts with different checksums to the official
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Electron release you may have to set `electron_use_remote_checksums=1` directly,
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or configure it in a `.npmrc` file, to force Electron to use the remote `SHASUMS256.txt`
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file to verify the checksum instead of the embedded checksums.
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### Cache
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Alternatively, you can override the local cache. `@electron/get` will cache
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downloaded binaries in a local directory to not stress your network. You can use
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that cache folder to provide custom builds of Electron or to avoid making contact
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with the network at all.
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* Linux: `$XDG_CACHE_HOME` or `~/.cache/electron/`
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* macOS: `~/Library/Caches/electron/`
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* Windows: `$LOCALAPPDATA/electron/Cache` or `~/AppData/Local/electron/Cache/`
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On environments that have been using older versions of Electron, you might find the
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cache also in `~/.electron`.
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You can also override the local cache location by providing a `electron_config_cache`
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environment variable.
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The cache contains the version's official zip file as well as a checksum, and is stored as
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`[checksum]/[filename]`. A typical cache might look like this:
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```sh
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├── a91b089b5dc5b1279966511344b805ec84869b6cd60af44f800b363bba25b915
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│ └── electron-v15.3.1-darwin-x64.zip
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```
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## Troubleshooting
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When running `npm install electron`, some users occasionally encounter
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installation errors.
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In almost all cases, these errors are the result of network problems and not
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actual issues with the `electron` npm package. Errors like `ELIFECYCLE`,
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`EAI_AGAIN`, `ECONNRESET`, and `ETIMEDOUT` are all indications of such
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network problems. The best resolution is to try switching networks, or
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wait a bit and try installing again.
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You can also attempt to download Electron directly from
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[electron/electron/releases][releases]
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if installing via `npm` is failing.
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If installation fails with an `EACCESS` error you may need to
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[fix your npm permissions][npm-permissions].
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If the above error persists, the [unsafe-perm][unsafe-perm] flag may need to be
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set to true:
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```sh
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sudo npm install electron --unsafe-perm=true
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```
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On slower networks, it may be advisable to use the `--verbose` flag in order to
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show download progress:
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```sh
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npm install --verbose electron
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```
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If you need to force a re-download of the asset and the SHASUM file set the
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`force_no_cache` environment variable to `true`.
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[npm]: https://docs.npmjs.com
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[versioning]: ./electron-versioning.md
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[npx]: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v7/commands/npx
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[releases]: https://github.com/electron/electron/releases
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[proxy-env-10]: https://github.com/gajus/global-agent/blob/v2.1.5/README.md#environment-variables
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[proxy-env]: https://github.com/np-maintain/global-tunnel/blob/v2.7.1/README.md#auto-config
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[electron-get]: https://github.com/electron/get
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[npm-permissions]: https://docs.npmjs.com/getting-started/fixing-npm-permissions
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[unsafe-perm]: https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/config#unsafe-perm
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