Mac Installer issue that effects (I think) all of us

[Dan Korneff]

Ok! Finally sorted out.
Apparently, you can't use ~/ in a pre or post-installation script of a package. I had to use $HOME instead.

[Casey Kolb]

Thank you for this thread! Super useful.

@dustbro Do you mind posting your final shell script? I haven't quite cracked it yet on my system.

[Dan Korneff]

Here's what I got going on. My installer places all of the extra files (Markdown, AudioRecources.dat, ImageResources.dat, user manual, etc...) into the system Library/Application Support folder, then I use a post-install script to move the data into the user Library/Application Support folder.
I've added comments above each line.

#!/bin/sh

// this line moves the System Library folder to the User Library folder:
/usr/bin/rsync -avurpE --remove-source-files /Library/Application\ Support/Company/Product/ $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/Company/Product/

// this line deletes the System Library folder after the files are moved:
find /Library/Application\ Support/Company/ -type d -empty -delete

// determine logged in user:
loggedInUser=`/bin/ls -l /dev/console | /usr/bin/awk '{ print $3 }'`

//This line copies my user manual from the User Library to Desktop for easy access:
/usr/bin/rsync -avurpE  $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/Company/Product/User\ Manual/ /Users/$loggedInUser/Desktop/

exit 0

[Casey Kolb]

@dustbro Amazing! Thank you

[Casey Kolb]

@dustbro I'm having one serious issue with this approach and I wonder if you've encountered this as well. When I rsync the application folder like above, if the folder doesn't already exist (which will be the case for any user downloading the plugin for the first time) then it will keep the permissions set by Packages for the temp folder which has some pretty whack results and makes the folder read-only for the user. Only the system will be able to read/write.

This is super deadly because it removes the ability to save presets or create new folders in the preset browser. It also disables the changing of the Sample Folder directory because the entire plugin folder becomes read-only. I've tried a bunch of different things in the bash script to fix this but nothing seems to be doing the trick.

[Dan Korneff]

@Lunacy-Audio have you checked another system yet? I'm currently using this method successfully.
The most common problem I've seen is the inability to remove the system Company folder after sync due to permissions issues.

[Casey Kolb]

Yup, I'm checking across a few other machines every time I build the Packages installer. I have everything bundled into one installer, so VST, AU, AAX, Standalone, and also Presets. The Presets package has a post-installation script like the one above, but the permissions are always messed up. Should I be changing the Owner/Group in the actual temporary payload in Packages?

[Casey Kolb]

I've also noticed that if the company folder doesn't already exist in $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/, then rsync won't create the folder automatically, so the install won't work.

[Casey Kolb]

Ok, so I think I've finally figured something out that works across all the Macs I'm testing. It basically ensures that directory exists and that the permissions are always set recursively from the plugin directory. I don't love all the sudo nonsense, so I'll see if I can find a cleaner solution at some point.

#!/bin/sh
# ensure plugin directory actually exists
sudo -u $USER mkdir -p $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/Company/Product/

# move and sync files from temporary payload to real plugin directory
/usr/bin/rsync -avurpE --remove-source-files /Library/Application\ Support/Company/Product/ $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/Company/Product/

# ensure permissions are recursively set to current user for plugin directory
sudo find $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/Company/ -type d -user root -exec sudo chown -R $USER: {} +

# remove temporary folder
rm -rf /Library/Application\ Support/Company

exit 0

[DanH]

@Lunacy-Audio Hmmmm I am failing massively at this :face_with_tears_of_joy:

Oh wait lol... It's actually doing what I want (thanks guys!)..... but yet, the installer says its 'failed'. So it delivers what I need but says failed... Which isn't ideal! I'm using @Lunacy-Audio script and replaced paths with my own.

[Dan Korneff]

@DanH is it failing on :

# remove temporary folder

[DanH]

@dustbro I don't know - I tried removing that Last line just in case it was that and it still failed. However it still installed the files where I wanted, and there's no trace of the temporary directory

Weird one

[Casey Kolb]

@DanH Your WhiteBox Packages installer is failing? Do you require a password for the installer? The bash script will only work if the user enters a password, which gives the installer full permissions.

[DanH]

@Lunacy-Audio Thanks man. So I just tried it without the bash script and it's installing absolutely fine.

Perhaps I don't even need the bash script?!

[Casey Kolb]

@DanH The bash script is only if you're trying to install data (like documentation or user presets) along with the standard plugin files.

Are you setting it as a post-script? Mine looks like this.

[DanH]

@Lunacy-Audio Yes I'm installing those LFO preset shapes (that you helped me make / save!). So data files which are all *.lfo, and they go straight into the Presets folder. My project looks roughly the same as yours in regards to the Post Install script etc.

Like I said it's all working. Tried on 3 computers now, Mojave and Catalina....

[Casey Kolb]

@DanH Oh cool! Yeah that's a perfect use case. Ok, glad it's working.

[DanH]

@Lunacy-Audio Yes but without the bash script (it wouldn't work with it) - so hopefully that doesn't cause any issues down the line....

[Casey Kolb]

@DanH The danger in not using the bash script is that you'll overwrite any presets or changes the user has added if they run the installer again. The bash script uses rsync to sync the files from the installer with whatever is currently there.

But I'm not sure why it's not working on your end. I'm using it without any issues. You might need to make the .sh file executable? Hard to say without seeing your Packages file.

[DanH]

@Lunacy-Audio Can I send you my Packages file to check pls? Can't seem to figure out the error!