From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from lucy.dinwoodie.org (b.8.0.0.8.9.b.0.2.f.0.9.2.a.d.b.d.a.0.2.5.1.e.d.0.b.8.0.1.0.0.2.ip6.arpa [IPv6:2001:8b0:de15:20ad:bda2:90f2:b98:8b]) by sourceware.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 021203858C74 for ; Wed, 9 Mar 2022 22:22:51 +0000 (GMT) DMARC-Filter: OpenDMARC Filter v1.4.1 sourceware.org 021203858C74 Authentication-Results: sourceware.org; dmarc=none (p=none dis=none) header.from=dinwoodie.org Authentication-Results: sourceware.org; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=dinwoodie.org Received: from adam by lucy.dinwoodie.org with local (Exim 4.94.2) (envelope-from ) id 1nS4hk-0040Vl-6p; Wed, 09 Mar 2022 22:22:48 +0000 Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2022 22:22:48 +0000 From: Adam Dinwoodie To: cygwin@cygwin.com Cc: Monica Parker Subject: Re: msi installer file? Message-ID: <20220309222248.hgmqihgvysjtd74h@lucy.dinwoodie.org> Reply-To: cygwin@cygwin.com References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00, KAM_DMARC_STATUS, PDS_RDNS_DYNAMIC_FP, RDNS_DYNAMIC, SPF_HELO_PASS, SPF_PASS, TXREP, T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on server2.sourceware.org X-BeenThere: cygwin@cygwin.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.29 Precedence: list List-Id: General Cygwin discussions and problem reports List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2022 22:22:52 -0000 On Wed, Mar 09, 2022 at 02:27:01PM -0500, Monica Parker wrote: > Hi, > I just want to know if there is an MSI installer file? If not, can one be > created? Im trying to create a package for SCCM and it wont accept exe > files. There isn't, and I don't think it's likely that anyone here will create one; I'm not very familiar with the requirements for MSI installers, but I very strongly expect that converting Cygwin's current installer to work as an MSI installer would be *a lot* of work, if it's possible at all. In particular, the Cygwin installer is really a tool for selecting from over 10,000 separate packages, calculating the potentially-complex dependencies between them, then downloading and installing each individual requested component. If you want to provide a Cygwin installer in an environment where MSI packages are acceptable but users can't run any executables, I expect your best bet might be to decide what set of packages you want to provide, install those using the regular Cygwin installer, then bundle up the resultant installation directory into an MSI yourself. That's not going to be trivial to get working reliably, and obviously users will lose the ability to select their own packages or get updates until/unless you repackage them, but it's the best idea I can think of. (I'm not familiar with SCCM, but given just how many Windows installers come as executables, I'd have expected any management system that wanted to intstall anything more than a very tightly controlled set of applications would need to handle .exe installers. I know Microsoft are keen to get more people offering applications through their storefront, but they're also actively working on winget, which can and does handle .exe installers...)