[Question] How to create multi platform builds?

[julianpoemp]

I don't understand how to build the electron app to binaries for multi platforms. I'm using MacOS 11.6.2 and I would like to build a binary for windows and linux, too.

How can I do this using nx-electron and Angular?

[naej56]

Hi @julianpoemp,

I think you meen packing your application.

You have two choices for that :

1) use option --plateform in your packing command.

Exemple for windows and linux packing : nx run <electron-app-name>:package --plateform=windows,linux You can find all option on this page

2) use static packing configuration.

You can find exemple on this page You can find all options and détails on Electron Builder documentation Notice : Static configuration will overide the options you pass manually via the command line or choose via the angular console.

Hope this can help you.

[julianpoemp]

Hi @naej56,

thank you for your fast answer 😄

I tried it using --platform but it doesn't work. It still builds only the MacOS version.

I tried two different ways to pass the platformargument:

1. In the build command:

   nx run :package --platform=windows

2. After that hadn't worked I tried to append it in the angular.json file:

       ...
        "package": {
          "builder": "nx-electron:package",
          "options": {
            "platform": "windows",
            "name": "<electron-app>",
            "frontendProject": "<electron-app>",
            "outputPath": "dist/packages",
            "prepackageOnly": true
          }
        },
        ...

Both didn't work...

[naej56]

i have no way to test right now sorry.

But may be you could try with a config file .\apps\<electron-app-name>\src\app\options\maker.options.json

[julianpoemp]

@naej56 no problem. I'm currently testing a possible solution. If it works, I'll write it here.

[bennymeg]

@julianpoemp multiplatform builds are not a trivial thing, especially on mac.

You will need to compile the program with the target machine instructions set. Which means you will probably need to invoke the packager inside a docker container/virtual machine/build server that runs your target platform.

You can find detailed explanation on this document.

[julianpoemp]

I got it working with nx-electron. I had to install a 64bit version of wine on MacOS BigSur. Because --platform falls to default while using prepackageOnly=true I set it to false for all platforms. I don't understand why this happens, but it works. Further more I had to set the base-href attribute to "./". Further more I had to set the "arch" and "target" attributes to the windows options in the maker.options.jsonfile. I can now build binaries for macOS, Windows and Linux on the same computer.

The command I'm using is:

nx build <frontend-app> --prod --base-href='./' && nx build <electron-app> --prod && nx run <electron-app>:package --platform=windows --prepackageOnly=false

Thank you for your help! 😃

[bennymeg]

I didn't knew Wine is an option one can use, nice. You should use the following command instead:

nx build <frontend-app> --prod --base-href='./' && nx build <electron-app> --prod && nx run <electron-app>:make --platform=windows

[tmtron]

nx build --prod --base-href='./' && nx build --prod && nx run :make --platform=windows

@bennymeg where does the platform parameter come from?

• according to the readme "Making Nx Electron Application" it should be in validation/maker.schema.json
  • But I guess it is executors/package/schema.json
  • maybe the link in the readme is wrong? i.e. it is the same link as for Packaging Nx Electron Application
• also electron-builder cli does not have a platform argument

[bennymeg]

All the executors have a schematic file (which is where the platform option comes from). The package executor have an additional schematic for the builder options.

I do not use the CLI, I use the API (which is poorly documented), you can find more information about the platform variable inside electron-builder source files. (Platform, createTargets).

[tmtron]

Okay, then I think it's like this:

• both the pakage and make commands use the same executor named package: https://github.com/bennymeg/nx-electron/blob/f89a13b586e16b5d3aec4b913494e4e7dd1b0232/packages/nx-electron/executors.json#L19-L21
• and the same schema.json file (for the arguments)

The validation/maker.schema.json is used to validate the maker.options.json file

[bennymeg]

Correct

[etiennea]

This was not clear, could be made clearer in docs