@electron-forge/maker-nsis

An electron-forge maker for NSIS that supports electron-forge v6 and can be used as a replacement for electron-builder. Supports code-signing and basic updates with electron-updater.

Features

• Creates Windows installers using NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System)
• Supports code-signing for Windows applications
• Compatible with electron-forge v6
• Supports basic updates with electron-updater
• Cross-architecture support (x64, ia32, arm64)

Installation

npm install --save-dev @electron-forge/maker-nsis

Configuration

To use this maker, add it to your electron-forge configuration in package.json:

{
  "config": {
    "forge": {
      "packagerConfig": {},
      "makers": [
        {
          "name": "@electron-forge/maker-nsis",
          "config": {
            // Optional: Code signing configuration
            "codesign": {
              "certificateFile": "./path/to/certificate.p12",
              "certificatePassword": "your-certificate-password",
              "signingHashAlgorithms": ["sha256"],
              "timestampServer": "http://timestamp.digicert.com"
            },
            // Optional: Auto-updater configuration
            "updater": {
              "url": "https://your-update-server.com",
              "channel": "latest",
              "publisherName": ["Your Company Name"]
            },
            // Optional: Additional app-builder-lib configuration
            "getAppBuilderConfig": async () => {
              return {
                // Additional app-builder-lib configuration
                "productName": "My App",
                "artifactName": "${productName}-Setup-${version}.${ext}",
                "compression": "maximum",
                "oneClick": false,
                "allowToChangeInstallationDirectory": true
              };
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Configuration Options

Code Signing Options

• codesign: Configuration object for Windows code signing
  • certificateFile: Path to the signing certificate file
  • certificatePassword: Password for the certificate file
  • signingHashAlgorithms: Array of hash algorithms to use for signing (e.g., ["sha256"])
  • timestampServer: URL for the timestamp server

Auto-updater Options

• updater: Configuration object for electron-updater compatibility
  • url: Base URL for update files
  • channel: Update channel (default: "latest")
  • publisherName: Array of publisher names for the app-update.yml file
  • updaterCacheDirName: Optional cache directory name for updates

Advanced Configuration

• getAppBuilderConfig: Async function that returns additional configuration for app-builder-lib

Usage

Once configured, you can build your installer with:

npm run make

This will generate a Windows NSIS installer in the out/make directory.

Code Signing

To properly sign your Windows application:

1. Obtain a valid code signing certificate from a trusted Certificate Authority
2. Configure the codesign option with the path to your certificate file and its password
3. Run the make command - your application will be automatically signed during the build process

Auto-updater Support

This maker includes built-in support for electron-updater:

1. Configure the updater option with your update server URL
2. Include electron-updater in your application dependencies
3. Publish your updates to the specified URL
4. The installer will include an app-update.yml file that electron-updater will use

Development

To build the maker from source:

npm run build

To lint the source code:

npm run lint

Requirements

• Node.js >= 20.0.0
• Windows platform for building (for code signing and NSIS compilation)

License

MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.