makensis


A TypeScript wrapper for makensis, the compiler for NSIS installers.

Prerequisites

Make sure that NSIS 3.06 (or later) is installed. If makensis isn't exposed to your PATH [environment variable][envvars], you need to set pathToMakensis.

Windows

Install NSIS using the [Windows Package Manager][winget] or [Scoop][scoop]:

``powershell


Windows Package Manager

$ winget install NSIS.NSIS

Scoop

$ scoop install nsis/nsis
`

Alternatively, you can download the NSIS installer from [SourceForge][sourceforge].

Linux

Install NSIS from your distribution's default package manager, for example:

`sh


Debian

$ sudo apt-get install nsis

Red Hat

$ sudo dnf install nsis

Arch Linux

$ pacman -S nsis
`

macOS

Install NSIS using [Homebrew][homebrew] or [MacPorts][macports]:

`sh


Homebrew

$ brew install nsis

MacPorts

$ port install nsis
`

Nix

Open a [Nix][nix] shell with NSIS installed:

`sh
$ nix-shell -p nsis
`

Installation

`sh


NodeJS

npm install makensis

Deno

deno add jsr:@idleberg/makensis
`

> [!WARNING]
> If you need to support a version of NSIS older than 3.06, you can use makensis@2 as it employs some useful workarounds.

Usage

Example usage in script:

`js
import * as NSIS from "makensis";

const options = {
verbose: 2,
define: {
SPECIAL_BUILD: true,
},
};

try {
const output = await NSIS.compile("path/to/installer.nsi", options);
console.log("Compiler output:", output);
} catch (error) {
console.error(error);
}
`

$3

#### commandHelp

Usage: commandHelp(command?, options?, spawnOptions?)

Returns usage information for a specific command, or a list of all commands. Equivalent of the -CMDHELP switch.

#### compile

Usage: compile(script, options?, spawnOptions?)

Compiles specified script with MakeNSIS. The script can be omitted in favor of the preExecute / postExecute options.

#### headerInfo

Usage: headerInfo(options?, spawnOptions?)

Returns information about which options were used to compile MakeNSIS. Equivalent of the -HDRINFO switch.

#### license

Usage: license(options?, spawnOptions?)

Returns MakeNSIS software license. Equivalent of the -LICENSE switch.

#### nsisDir

Usage: nsisDir(options?, spawnOptions?)

Returns the path of ${NSISDIR}.

#### version

Usage: version(options?, spawnOptions?)

Returns version of MakeNSIS. Equivalent of the -VERSION switch.

$3

#### define

Type: Object

Defines symbols for the script [to value]. Equivalent of the -D switch.

Example

`js
define: {
SPECIAL_BUILD: true,
LANGUAGE: "English"
}
`

#### env

Type: boolean

Enables support for special environment variables, that will be passed on to the script as definitions.

Example

`env


.env


NSIS_APP_ENVIRONMENT=development
`

`nsis


installer.nsi


!if ${NSIS_APP_ENVIRONMENT} == "development"
DetailPrint "Valuable Debug Information"
!endif
`

#### inputCharset

Type: string

Specifies the codepage for files without a BOM (ACP|OEM|CP#|UTF8|UTF16). Equivalent of the -INPUTCHARSET switch.

#### outputCharset

> [!WARNING]
> This option is only available on Windows.

Type: string

Specifies the codepage used by stdout when the output is redirected (ACP|OEM|CP#|UTF8[SIG]|UTF16[BOM]). Equivalent of the -OUTPUTCHARSET switch.

#### json

Type: boolean

Returns output from makensis as an object

#### noCD

Type: boolean

Disables the current directory change to that of the .nsi file. Equivalent of the -NOCD switch.

#### noConfig

Type: boolean

Disables inclusion of /nsisconf.nsh. Equivalent of the -NOCONFIG switch.

#### pathToMakensis

Type: string

Specifies a custom path to makensis

#### pause

Type: boolean

Pauses after execution. Equivalent of the -PAUSE switch.

#### priority

> [!WARNING]
> This option is only available on Windows.

Type: integer

Sets the compiler process priority, where the value 5=realtime, 4=high, 3=above normal, 2=normal, 1=below normal, 0=idle. Equivalent of the -P switch.

#### strict

Type: boolean

Treat warnings as errors. Equivalent of the -WX switch.

#### ppo / safePPO

Type: boolean

Will only run the preprocessor and print the result to stdout. The safe version will not execute instructions like [!appendfile][!appendfile] or [!system][!system]. [!packhdr][!packhdr] and [!finalize][!finalize] are never executed. Equivalent of the -PPO / SAFEPPO switches.

#### preExecute

Type: string | string[]

Prepends script-commands to the script, can be passed as array or multiline-string. Equivalent of the -X switch when used _before_ passing a script.

Example

`js
preExecute: ["SetCompressor lzma", "SetCompressorDictSize 16"];
`

#### postExecute

Type: string | string[]

Appends commands to the script, can be passed as array or multiline-script. Equivalent of the -X switch when used _after_ passing a script.

Example

`js
postExecute: [!echo "That's all Folks!"];
`

#### rawArguments

Type: string[]

Specifies raw arguments for makensis.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> These will be added to the compiler arguments last and will hence overwrite any of the NSIS options above!

#### verbose

Type: integer

Verbosity where the value 4=all, 3=no script,2=no info, 1=no warnings, 0=none. Equivalent of the -V switch.

$3

#### onData

Gives access to an object containing the current line, whether it contains a warning, and the path of the outfile.

#### onError

Gives access to an object containing the current line.

#### onExit

Gives access to an object containing the exit code, the full stdout and stderr`, and the number of warnings.

Related

- [atom-language-nsis][atom-language-nsis] - NSIS package for Atom/Pulsar
- [vscode-nsis][vscode-nsis] - NSIS package for Visual Studio Code

License

This work is licensed under [The MIT License][the mit license].

[!appendfile]: https://github.com/NSIS-Dev/Documentation/blob/master/Reference/!appendfile.md
[!finalize]: https://github.com/NSIS-Dev/Documentation/blob/master/Reference/!finalize.md
[!finalize]: https://github.com/NSIS-Dev/Documentation/blob/master/Reference/!finalize.md
[!packhdr]: https://github.com/NSIS-Dev/Documentation/blob/master/Reference/!packhdr.md
[!system]: https://github.com/NSIS-Dev/Documentation/blob/master/Reference/!system.md
[atom-language-nsis]: https://atom.io/packages/language-nsis
[changelog]: http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Docs
[envvars]: http://superuser.com/a/284351/195953
[homebrew]: http://brew.sh/
[macports]: https://www.macports.org/
[nix]: https://nixos.org/
[scoop]: https://github.com/NSIS-Dev/scoop-nsis
[sourceforge]: https://sourceforge.net/p/nsis
[the mit license]: https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
[vscode-nsis]: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=idleberg.nsis
[winget]: https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli