How to build into a folder use vs2022

nadirvishun · February 11, 2025, 7:20am

Background

I’ve modified some translations so far and would like to build and use them myself through the source code.
My system: win11
Tools used: vs2022
duplicati version: v2.1.0.4_stable_2025-01-31

Problems

The release zip file from github has all the data in one folder, e.g. Duplicati.GUI.TrayIcon.exe, Duplicati.CommandLine.exe, Duplicati.WindowsService.exe, etc. all together.
But my builds from vs2022 are scattered in different folders under Executables\net8, for example:
- Duplicati.GUI.TrayIcon\bin\Release\net8.0\Duplicati.GUI.TrayIcon.exe
- Duplicati.WindowsService\bin\Release\net8.0\Duplicati.WindowsService.exe
I tried installing the windows service in the Duplicati.WindowsService folder with the . \Duplicati.WindowsService.exe uninstall command in the Duplicati.WindowsService folder to install the windows service, it can be installed successfully, but can’t be started, I suspect it’s caused by directory separation.

The GitHub README.md mentions that there are related instructions for How-to-build-from-source in the wiki, but the current GitHub wiki is closed and cannot be viewed:

## Contributing Code

Instructions on how to setup your development environment and build duplicati can be found in the [wiki](https://github.com/duplicati/duplicati/wiki/How-to-build-from-source).

Question

Can the Duplicati.WindowsService.exe builded by vs2022 be used alone? Or are there any conditions?
I would like to ask how it should be packaged to look like the contents of the zip in the github release?
Also wanted to ask what tools are typically used to package into msi?

Thanks!

kenkendk · February 11, 2025, 11:22pm

Hi @ nadirvishun, welcome to the forum.

I have updated the README to point to the current location:

That executable is a thin wrapper for the Windows Service. Yes, it can be built by the .NET8 SDK, and by extension, also VS2022.

That is done by the tool ReleaseBuilder.

See the README:

github.com

duplicati/duplicati/blob/master/ReleaseBuilder/README.md

# Release Builder tool

This folder contains the `ReleaseBuilder` tool which builds installers and packages for all supported operating systems.

The tool is tested and used only on MacOS, but can be configured for other operating systems, including WSL and to some extent Windows.

The setup is a mix of environment variables, settings files and commandline arguments.

# Required environment

The environment variables used by the tool are:

- `UPDATER_KEYFILE`: The file containing the key used to sign the manifest. Create one with the `create-key` command.
- `GPG_KEYFILE`: A file encrypted with AESCrypt and the general password. The file has two lines: `GPGID` and `GPGPassphrase` which are given to the `GPG` command.
- `AUTHENTICODE_PFXFILE`: A PFX file containing a signing key for Authenticode signing of Windows executables (needs to be purchased at a certificate vendor).
- `AUTHENTICODE_PASSWORD`: A file encrypted with AESCrypt and the general password. The file contains a single line, which is the password used for `osslsigncode`
- `GITHUB_TOKEN_FILE`: A personal access token for Github API used to create releases and upload packages to Github.
- `DISCOURSE_TOKEN_FILE`: A personal access token for Discourse, used to create release posts.
- `CODESIGN_IDENTITY`: The identity used for MacOS `codesign` when signing the binary packages.
- `NOTARIZE_PROFILE`: The name of the profile used for notarizing MacOS packages.

This file has been truncated. show original

Near the end is an example for how to build the zip files.

This is done with wixl from the msitools project. This does not work on Windows, but it should be somewhat compatible with WiX 3.

nadirvishun · February 13, 2025, 12:31am

Thank you for the help you provided.

I have done the following tests:

I used ReleaseBuilder to build and successfully packaged it into the same folder. Then I tested .\Duplicati.WindowsService.exe install, which could be set as a service normally and could be started and used normally.
However, when I use the separate directory Executables\net8\Duplicati.WindowsService\bin\Release\net8.0\Duplicati.WindowsService.exe install after building with vs2022, it can still be set as a service, but an error is prompted indicating that it cannot be started when starting.

New problems

Why can’t the detached version packaged by vs2022 be started after running Duplicati.WindowsService.exe install? Where can I view the relevant error logs?

kenkendk · February 14, 2025, 7:14pm

As mentioned, the Duplicati.WindowsService.exe is wrapper service that needs something to run. If the file Duplicati.Server.exe does not exist in the folder where you are running from, the service will point to a non-existing file, and fail to start.

Look into the Windows Event Viewer to see the error messages.