QtUpdater

Updater for Qt5 (auto-updates).

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Table of Contents

• Requirements
• Features
• Usage
• Server Specifications
• Example
• Author
• License

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Requirements

• Platform: Windows, MacOS, Linux (except for installer auto-start).
• CMake 3.19+
• Qt 5.15+
• cpphttplib (Only for unit tests)

Features

This library contains:

• A core: QtUpdater
• A controller: QtUpdateController, that may be use with QtWidgets or QtQuick/QML.
• A widget: QtUpdateWidget, that may be used as a QWidget or inside a QDialog.

It provides these features:

• Get latest update information.
• Get changelog.
• Get installer.
• Execute installer.
• Temporarly stores the update data in the temp folder.
• Verify checksum after downloading and before executing installer.

Usage

1. Add the library as a dependency with CMake FetchContent.

   include(FetchContent)
   FetchContent_Declare(QtUpdater
    GIT_REPOSITORY "https://github.com/oclero/qtupdater.git"
   )
   FetchContent_MakeAvailable(QtUpdater)

2. Link with the library in CMake.

   target_link_libraries(your_project oclero::QtUpdater)

3. Include the only necessary header in your C++ file.

   #include <oclero/QtUpdater.hpp>

Server Specifications

Protocol

The protocol is the following:

1. The client sends a request to the endpoint URL of your choice. Example (with curl):

   curl http://server/endpoint?version=latest

2. The server answers by sending back an appcast: a JSON file containing the necessary information. The appcast must look like the following:

   {
     "version": "x.y.z",
     "date": "dd/MM/YYYY",
     "checksum": "418397de9ef332cd0e477ff5e8ca38d4",
     "checksumType": "md5",
     "installerUrl": "http://server/endpoint/package-name.exe",
     "changelogUrl": "http://server/endpoint/changelog-name.md"
   }

3. The client downloads the changelog from changelogUrl, if any provided (facultative step).

4. The client downloads the installer from installerUrl, if any provided.

5. The client installs the installer:

   • The client may start the installer and quit, if necessary.
   • It may also move the downloaded file to some location.

Example

Server

A very basic server written in Python is included as testing purposes. Don't use in production environment!

# Start with default config.
python examples/dev_server/main.py

# ... Or set your own config.
python examples/dev_server/main.py --dir /some-directory --port 8000 --address 127.0.0.1

Some examples of valid requests for this server:

# The client must be able to retrieve the latest version.
curl http://localhost:8000?version=latest

# This is equivalent to getting the latest version.
curl http://localhost:8000

# If the following version exist, the request is valid.
curl http://localhost:8000?version=1.2.3

# If the file exist, the request is valid.
curl http://localhost:8000/v1.1.0.exe

Client

// Create an updater.
oclero::QtUpdater updater("https://server/endpoint");

// Subscribe to all necessary signals. See documentation for complete list.
QObject::connect(&updater, &oclero::QtUpdater::updateAvailabilityChanged,
                 &updater, [&updater]() {
  if (updater.updateAvailability() == oclero::QtUpdater::UpdateAvailable::Available) {
    qDebug() << "Update available! You have: "
      << qPrintable(updater.currentVersion())
      << " - Latest is: "
      << qPrintable(updater.latestVersion());
  } else if (updater.updateAvailability() == oclero::QtUpdater::UpdateAvailable::UpToDate) {
    qDebug() << "You have the latest version.";
  } else {
    qDebug() << "Error.";
  }
});

// Start checking.
updater.checkForUpdate();

Author

Olivier Cléro | email | website | github | gitlab

License

QtUpdater is available under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.