Overcoming Electron-Builder Limitations: A C# and NSIS Hybrid Approach

In my recent project, I encountered a common challenge when packaging an Electron (using an electron-builder) application. The app required specific dependencies like Java Runtime Environment (JRE), environment variables, and registry keys to be installed and configured correctly. Traditionally, these tasks can be handled using NSIS, but I faced several roadblocks:

• Limited Community Support: NSIS is powerful, but its smaller community makes troubleshooting more difficult.
• Complex Customization: Custom NSIS scripts can become error-prone and hard to maintain.
• Incomplete Configuration Handling: Many configurations provided by the electron-builder weren’t functioning as expected with custom NSIS. The electron-builder documentation clearly states:

Don’t expect us to resolve your issue while using custom NSIS.

🔍 The Solution? A C# Console Application

To overcome these limitations, I opted to create a C# console application to handle all dependency management and clean-up tasks, and here’s why:

• Vibrant C# Community: C# has a vast and active developer base. Finding solutions, libraries, and utilities for handling Windows-specific tasks is much easier compared to NSIS.
• Better Windows Support: C# (especially with .NET) provides more native utilities for handling Windows registry changes, environment variable settings, DLL registration/deregistration, and application installations.
• Easier Debugging: C# offers robust debugging tools and a more flexible development environment, which helped me reduce the errors I was encountering with NSIS.

👷 The Implementation

1. I built a C# console application that installs JRE, enables Java Access Bridge, sets the required environment variables, registers DLLs, and modifies registry keys.
2. The C# application also handles uninstalling dependencies and unregistering DLLs installed by the app during the uninstallation process.
3. I configured my NSIS script to execute this C# console application during both the installation and uninstallation phases, ensuring that all dependencies are properly managed.

💡 Why This Matters?

By using a C# console application to handle the dependencies, I’ve unlocked several key benefits:

• Maintainability: C# code is easier to maintain and scale as the application grows.
• Error Handling: C# provides better error-handling mechanisms, making the installation process more reliable.
• Full Control Over Dependencies: I was able to manage both the installation and removal of dependencies, something custom NSIS scripts were struggling with.
• Scalability: With .NET's capabilities, I can easily add more complex installation requirements in the future.

✨ Takeaway:

If you're packaging an Electron app and dealing with complex Windows setups, consider leveraging a C# console application instead of relying solely on NSIS. It can drastically improve both your development experience and the end-user installation process. Don’t let custom NSIS scripts be a bottleneck in your build pipeline!