Crate velopack

Velopack

Velopack is a auto-update and installation framework for cross-platform desktop applications. With less than 10 lines of code, you can add auto-update and installation features to your application.

Features

• 😍 Zero config – Velopack takes your build output (eg. cargo build), and generates an installer, and updates and delta packages in a single command.
• 🎯 Cross platform – Velopack supports building packages for Windows, OSX, and Linux. No matter your target, Velopack can create a release in just one command.
• ⚡️ Lightning fast – Velopack is written in Rust for native performance. Creating releases is multi-threaded, and produces delta packages for ultra fast app updates. Applying update packages is highly optimised, and often can be done in the background.

Documentation

The documentation in this rust crate only covers the create itself, so it’s highly recommended that you also read the main Velopack documentation at https://velopack.io/docs.

Components

• this crate: The core library that provides auto-update features and glue to the other components.
• vpk cli tool: The vpk command line tool packages and publishes your releases and installers.
• update binary: Bundled with your application by vpk, handles

Optional Rust Features

• async: Enables async support using async-std.

Quick Start

1. Add Velopack to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
velopack = { version = "0.0", features = ["async"] } # Replace with actual version and desired features

2. Add the following code to your main() function:

use velopack::*;

fn main() {
    // VelopackApp should be the first thing to run, in some circumstances it may terminate/restart the process to perform tasks.
    VelopackApp::build().run();
    // Your other app startup code here
}

3. Add auto-updates somewhere to your app:

use velopack::*;
use anyhow::Result;

fn update_my_app() -> Result<()> {
    let um = UpdateManager::new("https://the.place/you-host/updates", None)?;
    let updates: Option<UpdateInfo> = um.check_for_updates()?;
    if updates.is_none() {
        return Ok(()); // no updates available
    }
    let updates = updates.unwrap();
    um.download_updates(&updates, |progress| { 
        println!("Download progress: {}%", progress);
    })?;
    um.apply_updates_and_restart(&updates, RestartArgs::None)?;
    Ok(())
}

4. Build your app with cargo:

cargo build --release

5. Package your Velopack release / installers:

vpk pack -u MyAppUniqueId -v 1.0.0 -p /target/release -e myexename.exe

✅ You’re Done! Your app now has auto-updates and an installer. You can upload your release to your website, or use the vpk upload command to publish it to the destination of your choice.

Read the Velopack documentation at https://velopack.io/docs for more information.

Modules

• locator
  Locator provides some utility functions for locating the current app important paths (eg. path to packages, update binary, and so forth).

Structs

• UpdateInfo
  Holds information about the current version and pending updates, such as how many there are, and access to release notes.
• UpdateManager
  Provides functionality for checking for updates, downloading updates, and applying updates to the current application.
• UpdateOptions
  Options to customise the behaviour of UpdateManager.
• VelopackApp
  The main VelopackApp struct. This is the main entry point for your app.
• VelopackAsset
  An individual Velopack asset, could refer to an asset on-disk or in a remote package feed.
• VelopackAssetFeed
  A feed of Velopack assets, usually retrieved from a remote location.

Enums

• RestartArgs
  Arguments to pass to the Update.exe process when restarting the application after applying updates.