Whitebox Packages- unable to install plugins into existing plugin folders for All Users

[gorangrooves]

Hey guys,

This has been doing my head in. No matter what combination of options I select, the installer made with Whitebox Packages is unable to install plugins in existing vst, vst3, components, and applications folders in \Library or \Applications. I can not install those items FOR ALL USERS.

My company and plugin names get copied as folders, but they are all empty. No actual plugins or apps get installed. The sample library which doesn't utilize existing folders gets copied just fine.

Things I've tried:

• setting permissions to overwrite existing permissions
• setting the ownership of files and directories to root/admin and giving them read, write and execute
• source files from a network drive
• source files from local disc (desktop)
• require admin password to install
• install on startup disc only
• flat package
• bundle package

The only installer that successfully installs plugins is inside the user's Library or Applications folders.

I am out of ideas. Do you have any?

[DanH]

@gorangrooves try @d-healey’s installer?

It’s hard to know without looking at your white box project. Have you had success with other projects?

[gorangrooves]

@DanH No. This is the first installer and I can only get it to install into the user directory. Kind of ironic that many others had the opposite problem.

[d.healey]

Why do you want it to install for all users?

[gorangrooves]

@d-healey That's the default location for all plugins. It is either "just me" or "all users".

[d.healey]

I'd have thought most people would only want to install their plugins for their own use.

[gorangrooves]

@d-healey yes, but it is really the location of the install that is the issue. Where do you have your plugins install to?

[d.healey]

@gorangrooves I can't remember, you can check the template that comes with my export app to find out.

[orange]

@gorangrooves There is a tutorial in JUCE documents for this. Take a look at the "Installers for Mac" section.

JUCE: Tutorial: Package your app or plugin for distribution

(docs.juce.com)

[orange]

@gorangrooves

Also you can use this macOS INSTALLER TEMPLATE.

I use that, and it works for me.

[DabDab]

Few days ago I made a post https://forum.hise.audio/topic/4594/vst-vst3-packing-software

During this research I got the working solution similar to @orange

[gorangrooves]

Thanks, guys. I've done dozens of combinations so far, comparing to other templates. It doesn't seem to be the setup of the Packages project, but a permissions issue. I am still trying to work it out.
What I have discovered is that if I try to package one of the existing plugins I own (from a third-party manufacturer), it installs as it should in the correct place. So, the only thing I can conclude is that it has to do with the source file permissions.

I'll keep banging at it and hopefully, I'll figure out the solution.

[gorangrooves]

Alright, I want to post some useful info for anyone else that may encounter these issues in the future.

If you find that your plugins show 0 bites in size once installed into default system directories, or that your app won't open, it means that they don't have the right permissions set. On Mac, each plugin is not a single file like on PC, but rather a bundle consisting of several files and folders, which you can inspect by right-clicking on your plugin and selecting Show Package Contents.

The reason why your plugins and apps may not have the necessary permissions is if you compiled them on a network PC. Because of the different file systems, those permissions are either not written on the PC during compiling or are unable to be copied over to Mac.

All files and folders inside the plugins packages need to have the correct permissions set in order for them to appear as plugins and not empty folders. The source files need to have the correct permissions set in order for them to be properly added to the payload inside Whitebox Packages.

Since plugins on Mac are not single files, it is not enough to simply change their permissions. Permissions for all files and folders included in these plugin packages need to be set correctly in order for the plugins to work as single units.

The correct permission are 755: Owner (R/W/E), Group (R/E), Everyone Else (R/E).

A quick way to set permission for all plugins you will be using in a project is to put them in a single folder, then set the permissions for that folder and everything inside it, thus affecting all plugins and their internal components. This will need to be done using a command line in the terminal.

To verify that the installed plugins will have the correct permissions and therefore be usable on the destination computer, do the following in the Whitebox Packages.

• Right-click on the plugin you added to your payload and from the popup menu and select Expand All.
• Click on each of the newly visible folders and files within the plugin and verify their permissions.
• If you are missing read/ execute permission for Owner/Group on any subfolder within your plugin, it means that your plugin won't be installed properly, so you will need to set it. The best is to ensure that the source files have all the necessary permissions set so that the permissions will automatically be set inside the Packages as well.