Easy setup (PC+Mac)

[hchiam]

for issue #87 : auto install python packages

setup-sporeas-mac.command for Mac (just double click)

setup-sporeas-pc.ps1 for PC (right click and choose to run with powershell)

An alternate for PC would be NSIS. I've used NSIS a little bit at my previous work, but it's hard for me to develop now since I'm on a Mac.

[hchiam]

we'll have to improve the documentation for the first step that triggers the automation: maybe a separate readme file to tell you to run the setup .ps1 or .command file.

Also, on windows, you might have to do the right-click step twice. There's also a message about running powershell scripts.

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam I can tell you that the powershell doesn't work as expected. I tested by uninstalling python and once with python already installed.

• the python setup exe doesn't automatically download
• there seems to be some sort of path directory error when the powershell is running but its going too fast and the window closes so I can't get you the exact log
• 127.0.0.1/admin is opened up but it doesn't seem like the app is running at all after hitting refresh
• My Task Manager says that Python isn't even running

A few concerns:

• Are you running python 3.7.7? Are there issues on 3.7.7? I haven't tried myself
• Have you considered the case where a local machine already has a workable version of python?

[hchiam]

@alan-mj-lin

• Yes, 3.7.7
• I have the code automatically detect whether python is installed. You can see how the code does this in the pc version and the mac version.

I think you'll have to continue working on this and edit the .ps1 file, as it's hard for me to test on a pc. Feel free to take over the easy-setup branch and this PR.

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam can you test things on the mac side tho?

[hchiam]

@alan-mj-lin i think i found some of the problems

[hchiam]

@alan-mj-lin try testing it again. I suggest seeing if it works at all before you uninstall python. I tested on mac.

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam so i figured out whats wrong with it. Your code assumes Sporeas is always going to be under ~/Desktop directory. So I made an edit to just never cd anywhere because it seems when you right-click and run with powershell, it runs in that directory anyway. All the directory errors I was seeing is now gone.

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam you should put an exit clause in there somewhere so when all the setup is done and the app is running the powershell instance should exit and close

[hchiam]

@alan-mj-lin Can you re-confirm that you got rid of both cd lines and it worked? Removing the second cd seems to fail for me.

Also, if I add an exit clause to close powershell, the app will stop running. The .ps1 file already doubles as the app startup file. Unless you want a separate .ps1 file just for running the app.

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam well, you can just get your powershell script to run startup.vbs and the app will run in the background. startup.vbs is a windows specific script as well.

[hchiam]

@alan-mj-lin That's doable. I found this SO article: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/46597891/calling-vbscript-from-powershell-is-this-right-way-to-do-it

But it looks like startup.vbs and startup.bat use hardcoded paths. Can I change the paths or do you need them that way? Otherwise I can create separate vbs and bat files.

[hchiam]

At this point I think it's better if you change the file paths in the .vbs and .bat files, because I can't test that on mac anymore.

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam function goToScriptFolder errors out because $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path returns null

[hchiam]

Hmmmmm I thought $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Definition was backwards compatible: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5466329/whats-the-best-way-to-determine-the-location-of-the-current-powershell-script/5466355#5466355

Try commenting-out that line and un-comment the line below it to use $PSScriptRoot instead:

function goToScriptFolder {
  # cd $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path
  cd $PSScriptRoot
}

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam can i commit to this branch?

[hchiam]

@alan-mj-lin yup, go ahead and take over this branch. :)

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam can you confirm that everything works on the mac side of things?

[hchiam]

for @alan-mj-lin:

• [x] you tested it by right clicking on the .ps1 file, and not in CLI, right? running directly from powershell or cmd does not require goToScriptFolder, but clicking might require goToScriptFolder
• [x] [UPDATE: see comment below] question: were you thinking of doing pip3 install requirements.txt ?
• [x] i think you should create a separate "stop sporeas" file, just like the one i'm making for mac (wait for the commit) [UPDATE: i created stop-sporeas-pc.ps1 for you]
• [x] installMoreDependencies might not get called after you install python [UPDATE: i edited the .ps1 file]

for @hchiam: (mac only)

• [x] figure out how to make double-clicking .command/other file work without having to chmod
• [x] uninstall python3 and pip3, and test from scratch (the tasks below are inspired by the new stuff in the .ps1 file)
  • [x] installMoreDependencies might not get called after you install python
• [x] figure out running script in background (no cli open)
• [x] add .command to stop sporeas
• [x] figure out adding security check for download for mac [edit: apparently curl uses a "safe version" of TLS by default]
• [x] check whether you can rm setup-python-max.pkg and still run the installer
• [x] figure out validating python3.7 file path for mac [UPDATE: nah, the check with command -v python3.7 will suffice]

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam requirements.txt is just there in case we install our necessary python modules and realize we need additional modules for this app to work. So that requirements.txt is just a snapshot of what I in full in case we need to refer to it.

[hchiam]

@alan-mj-lin i tested everything on the mac side of things. [EDIT: I think I'll test one more time on someone else's mac]

i also made edits to both the pc file and the mac file, and i added a couple "stop" files. You can see what i changed for PC here (edits) and here (new file)

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam are you still making changes or is this ready now?

[hchiam]

@alan-mj-lin I don't expect any more changes, but I'm trying to get hold of the same mac so I can test from scratch. I'll try to get back to you on this tomorrow.

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam you broke the windows setup i think

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam fixed it

[hchiam]

@alan-mj-lin no that was intentional - otherwise now the backup instructions steps don't match

[hchiam]

because i've had the automatic download fail on another computer. So I added a link to the instructions (https://sporeas.surge.sh) to manually download the file. But then I realized the different names could be confusing, so I changed the name back to the original python-3.7.7-amd64.exe, so the user knows it's the same file that they're checking exists or is downloaded already.

I think the real bug was i didn't think to include the -OutFile parameter. I'll do that for now while I test the mac.

[alan-mj-lin]

@hchiam any final changes?

[hchiam]

@alan-mj-lin nothing else for pc. But the manual install isn't working on the other person's mac. Weird. I have another option I can try and then I give up. I'll try it on my mac again, but I need to figure out how to uninstall python3 and pip3 properly/completely.

[hchiam]

@alan-mj-lin OK, no more changes for mac. Let's say we can't support anything before macOS 10.9:

• Tested on macOS 10.6:
  • doesn't work because need to install python3.7.7, and the 3.7.7 installer for 10.6 is deprecated (only supports 10.9+).
  • installing python3.7.4 works on 10.6, but then the script fails to install 2 of the pip3 deps (eventlet and something else).
• Tested on macOS 10.14:
  • works as-is (as of my latest commit), without any changes.