site_archiver@lists.apple.com Delivered-To: installer-dev@lists.apple.com Dkim-signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references :date:message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type :content-transfer-encoding; bh=aZK752+MQK2KwSvf/8v8xO4MCeE+sbKEfFMs/l+dLVQ=; b=TWvzoOA6tcDyBxMu3qtsLYW38REDSAM0nDme2nV0Rl5yolUzzAoaRnYika2+U7y6Fn dQS+Q2Rt5XIqgV9FOjMlXZhcnOIh0rv5/DyWfLcvJHVFwTdGGMTH+XqckwDlP+6YY9q9 e49hhoZTZbK+GwWg7qekyLJg85l7Y/YnMj5mM= Domainkey-signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=cWOJH78qvzwvpN6VbNp6lx36vDTCkcvHZpMwXQg0tOF1/jFD5Q/btZTKhgs+2jyQnb B0LqTb5JtI3u6C6D6uFZ1+ZS5dmvUnIntvbJuttOa/3rmG8ueyry7xihEZFvwTE2VbVq 5zJGccHxnb3iaFQzHjYa5v0d9eeTPCu2szgCs= wow, thanks for taking the time to explain all of this -- i really appreciate it. sorry for it taking me forever to thank you. (this installer stuff is not my primary job, so i don't get to spend all that much time on it.) see below for my comments... On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 6:38 PM, Iceberg-Dev<dev.iceberg@gmail.com> wrote:

On Aug 27, 2009, at 12:52 AM, justin blecher wrote:

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On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 4:28 PM, Iceberg-Dev<dev.iceberg@gmail.com> wrote:

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On Aug 26, 2009, at 9:45 PM, justin blecher wrote:

[...]

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 * is my assumption/interpretaton -- anytime there are items that belong in a "standard directory", a separate package must be made for them, targeted to that standard directory -- correct?

 * are my evaluations and suggestions for the fixing (hah!) the offending packages on the right track? (not like i'm interested in fixing them, i'm just trying to grok the concepts for my own packages.)

IMHO, this warning is just plain bullsh*t.

ooookay. care to elaborate why you feel that way? :)

Sure:

o This would imply that you have almost to create one package for each component you want to install. Obviously if you just need to install one .app application in /Applications and you don't need to have it distributable through Apple Remote Desktop, you don't need an installer. But if you need to install an application, a kernel extension, a launchd script, some documentations, etc., you would end up with a lot of components when it's not needed.

ok, this is where Apple's docs really confused me. their hypothetical "Levon.app" project separated the files into separate components and never really fully explained both sides of the story. btw, it seems like MS Office 2008 did follow this approach -- they separated their packages out into dozens of individual packages for each component, each targeted at a different directory (very organized, albeit a bit overwhelming). as an aside, the original 12.0.0 installer strangely left no receipts, but the SP1 and SP2 updates left a whole boatload. anyone know under what circumstances that happens?

o Not all the standard directories are created by default depending on the version of the OS you are using. For instance, /Library/StartupItems was not created by a clean install until Mac OS X 10.X X>=3. Other examples can be found easily. I have 2 in mind but I can't talk about it before tomorrow even though it's the 28th here.

So let's say you need to install something into /Library/THISFOLDER where THISFOLDER is a standard directory created in version 2 of the OS but not in version 1 and you need to support both 1 and 2. I tend to believe the installer will fail to install on version 1 of the OS if you specify the default location to be /Library/THISFOLDER and if it works, then where is it going to find the correct permissions it needs to apply to this standard directory?

excellent point. thanks for elucidating that.

o There is a minor bug related to custom folder icons when you set the default location to be a standard directory instead of /.

hmph. this doesn't concern me immediately. i suppose i'll google it if it bites me.

o Apple does not follow this guideline and I'm not referring to the OS. The Apple Remote Desktop installation package does not follow this guideline. And the guys working on Apple Remote Desktop probably know a few things about installation.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do, not as the Visitor Center recommends you to do.

interesting. i suppose i'll have to investigate apple's own installers a bit more closely. [...]

The problem is that you can't forecast if the correct permissions are not going to change.

For instance:

- /Library/Widgets

 Mac OS X 10.4:   ./Library/Widgets       40775   0/80

 Mac OS X 10.5:   ./Library/Widgets       40755   0/0

- /Library/StartupItems

 Mac OS X 10.1:   root:admin was fine

 Mac OS X 10.4:   root:wheel was mandatory

Therefore if you are going to overwrite the permissions for a standard directory, use the permissions for the most recent release of the OS.

Ideally, you should not have too. Installer.app should be clever enough to fix them when you install something inside them.

good point. at the moment, i don't have to worry about supporting multiple OS versions, as i'm just creating packages for InstaDMG, and deploying only one OS version. i'll definitely keep this in mind, though. thanks again for explaining all of this stuff to a n00b. -justin _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Installer-dev mailing list (Installer-dev@lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/installer-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a... This email sent to site_archiver@lists.apple.com