Simple guide on setting up auto updater

[Ripwords]

Hi, I'm new to Tauri and i have been developing a simple app using Tauri for the past few days.

I wanted to configure an auto updater similar to how electron does it. After reading the docs and if I am not mistaken, am i correct to assume i would need a backend server that is able to respond with the proper JSON file in order for the updater to work?

Prior to using Tauri, I am using Electron-Builder and Github Releases to configure auto updates for my applications. As I am not planning to implement a dedicated release server anytime soon, may i know are there any methods i could configure Tauri to get updater working with just Github Releases?

[amrbashir]

you can just add a json in a github gist and point the updater to it.

[sinister296]

How do you exactly point the updater to the github gists?

[HuakunShen]

For example, this is my gist https://gist.github.com/HuakunShen/c71fb4093e68aa2ed24860a5ea812708

Click on raw button to get the raw file, it looks like this https://[gist.githubusercontent.com/HuakunShen/c71fb4093e68aa2ed24860a5ea812708/raw/cabf1f1eb131ffdad7f03d3d31bcacedd7a0768a/ezup-update.json

You need to remove the last two parts which will be updated once you update the gist.

So the result will be ``https://[gist.githubusercontent.com/HuakunShen/c71fb4093e68aa2ed24860a5ea812708/raw/`

Add it to the the list of endpoints in tauri.conf.json.

[mostafa-fallaha]

can someone explain to me what should i put here?
"url": "https://github.com/username/reponame/releases/download/v1.0.0/app-x64-setup.nsis.zip"

because i can't find the "releases/download/v1.0.0/app-x64-setup.nsis.zip" in my repo, and i didnt push the target folder in src-tauri

thanks in advance.

[CalvinWilkinson]

@mostafa-fallaha

The link should be the same as if somebody were to go to a release asset and then click on it.

[mostafa-fallaha]

thanks a lot man, appreciate it.

[jecsham]

Guide moved to: https://tauri.studio/v1/guides/distribution/updater

[jecsham]

Moved again to https://tauri.app/v1/guides/distribution/updater/

[holmesadrianh]

Hi guys, is there a way to automatically generate the json file when the apps are built? When I do a tauri build and have bundles available, I would like to streamline the process of creating the update json file to then upload to my server. Currently I need to copy paste the signature found in the sig files to the json file manually. It would be great to have this done automatically. Then with an automatic upload to the server the build process would be really smooth. Unless there is already a build process or workflow that I am not aware of that takes care of this?

[PhiloNL]

If you want to try an automated process, I've been working on adding support for Tauri at Unlock. It's now in beta; you use GitHub actions to generate the build artifacts and publish your release. Unlock will take care of everything else, like generating an updater endpoint with the binaries and signatures.

[mitch1009]

Hi guys, is there a way to automatically generate the json file when the apps are built? When I do a tauri build and have bundles available, I would like to streamline the process of creating the update json file to then upload to my server. Currently I need to copy paste the signature found in the sig files to the json file manually. It would be great to have this done automatically. Then with an automatic upload to the server the build process would be really smooth. Unless there is already a build process or workflow that I am not aware of that takes care of this?

This weekend i decided to embark on this. i managed to craft a solution. i will have to test it thoroughly then i can make it available for the community

[anth0ni3]

@mitch1009 Could you share your fix?

[mitch1009]

It crumbled miserably, but I will fix it and share the solution.

[andreial]

Hi, is there a way to get the auto updater work with private GitHub repos?

[jecsham]

You just need to be sure your .json file is served publicly

[andreial]

Right, but the .json file urls would be pointing to files contained in the release, which is private and inaccessible unless you also provide a GitHub auth token. Or am I missing something?

[mooijtech]

@andreial You can create a separate public repository only containing your releases by duplicating the releases from your private repository: https://github.com/softprops/action-gh-release
In the same public repository you can keep track of your .json file and make Tauri point to it.

[CalvinWilkinson]

@mooijtech
I have seen the same solution in other places but the release asses in the public repo is still public. I think that the thing people are trying to figure out is to NOT have the release assets public.

For example, I have a client right now who does not want the application assets public, which would be public if the repo and release were public.

[HuakunShen]

Do we have to implement a update server? Is there a template we can use?

I am looking at https://github.com/vercel/hazel, which should work for electron

[WhyNeet]

Error Key generation aborted: Unable to find the private key
I am having this issue when signing a file with cargo tauri signer sign "PATH_TO_ZIP_RELEASE"
Can anybody help me with this please?

[vlev1n]

I was stuck on this problem until I found pnpm tauri signer -h and pnpm tauri signer sign -h is different. You may try pnpm tauri signer sign -k your_private_key -p your_private_key_password path_of_your_zip_or_tgz_file. pnpm tauri signer sign -h tells you what -k and -p is.
Output of pnpm tauri signer sign -h

Sign a file

Usage: pnpm run tauri signer sign [OPTIONS] <FILE>

Arguments:
  <FILE>  Sign the specified file

Options:
  -k, --private-key <PRIVATE_KEY>            Load the private key from a string
  -v, --verbose...                           Enables verbose logging
  -f, --private-key-path <PRIVATE_KEY_PATH>  Load the private key from a file
  -p, --password <PASSWORD>                  Set private key password when signing
  -h, --help                                 Print help
  -V, --version                              Print version

Output of pnpm tauri signer -h

Tauri updater signer

Usage: pnpm run tauri signer [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>

Commands:
  sign      Sign a file
  generate  Generate keypair to sign files
  help      Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -v, --verbose...  Enables verbose logging
  -h, --help        Print help
  -V, --version     Print version

Better use single quote if your password contains ! mark.
If it works as expected, a string of signature will be returned.

[cage1618]

How to enable automatic updates for applications installed through both MSI and NSIS installation packages?
My endpoints use static json file, but in the 'platforms' field, only one of MSI or NSIS can be specified. Is there a way to support both MSI and NSIS?