threads / discuss / 9393

Bootstraper for Git Dev Environment for Windows (Light version)

Subject: Bootstraper for Git Dev Environment for Windows (Light version)

## tl;dr

6 messages between Aug 5, 2007 and Aug 16, 2007.

replies: 5people: 4as markdown or json

Dmitry Kakurin· Aug 5, 2007, 11:00 UTC · lore

Please give it a try and tell me how it works for you: http://msysgit.googlecode.com/files/GitMe-1.exe (1.6 MB)

Here is the idea that this installer implements:
Now that we have both msysGit and mingw git as .git repositories here is what we can do:
* Create a small bootstrap download with git-clone and it's dependencies
* After you download and run it, it will first clone msysGit repository
* Then it will clone mingw.git repository
* Start msys and run 'make install' for git
* Clear leftovers of bootstrap
There are huge advantages IMHO:
* the bootstrap download is very small (1.6MB) and will (almost) never change
* msysGit will not contain git sources at all (this causes very inconvenient overlap between 2 repositories right now)
* after initial setup process user will be left with 2 fully-functioning repositories (msysGit and git), so staying up to date with 
both mingw.git and msys dev/build environment will be trivial: just use git pull for both.
If we want to stick with this installer here is what we need to do:
* Remove /git directory from msysGit.git
* Bring mingw.git up to date so we can remove patching step from installer
If you want to change it/see how it works internally do the following:
* start the GitMe.exe
* answer yes to popup dialog
* cmd window will open and ask you for installation directory, don't enter anything, just leave this window alone

At this point all installer files will be unpacked in %temp%\RarSFX0\GitMe. Setup.cmd is the one to look at/tweak.

To repack just use any compressor that can create SFX archives that can also start a file execution. I've used WinRAR. But the whole idea is that this bootstrap download should require very little/no tweaking. All changes should happen in msysgit.git and mingw.git.

- Dmitry
Johannes Schindelin· Aug 5, 2007, 12:27 UTC · re: Dmitry Kakurin · lore

Re: Bootstraper for Git Dev Environment for Windows (Light version)

Hi Dmitry,
[Mike, Marius and Hannes Cc:ed, since I reference their work]
On Sun, 5 Aug 2007, Dmitry Kakurin wrote:
> Please give it a try and tell me how it works for you:
> http://msysgit.googlecode.com/files/GitMe-1.exe (1.6 MB)

That file size is intriguing... And I think you are on a good idea here. Yesterday I was a bit negative, but after sleeping over it, I think that you have a point there.

Some comments:
- It works very well!  Good job.
- we can have this bootstrap installer, the full package, snapshots 
  (Marius had this idea, and is probably going to install some cron job 
  of some sort or other), and an installer without the development 
  environment (code name WinGit?) for the end user.
- How about calling your package msysGit-netInstall-<version>.exe?
- I'd like to have the full package, too...
	- Partly for size reasons (msysGit.exe is an almost self-contained 
	  19MB package, while the pack in the repository is something like 
	  40 MB).  But in this sense, I would have to include the pack for 
	  mingw.git as well...  Still, on dial-up, 40MB or 60MB makes a 
	  difference, no?
	- Partly because I do not like net installers myself... I like to 
	  download a big installer and be done with it.
- There is one big caveat with your bootstrapper: things have been known 
  to break, and I think msysgit.git is no exception.  So I'd like to have 
  a fallback in case things go awry, also to have something that is tested 
  (for example, Mike tested msysGit-0.4.exe before releasing it).  Of 
  course, we could solve that issue by branching off of the last release 
  tag.
- I agree, though, that your approach is more convenient for us.
- Your work is very valuable: it is the first step towards WinGit, because 
  you already identified some parts that are necessary to run git.
- AFAICT it is possible to make nicer installers with 7-Zip, and also 
  smaller ones, and most importantly (for me), you can script it.  See for 
  example the script release-msysGit.sh which resides in /bin in 
  msysgit.git.  It's a hands-free no-hassle installer maker.
- my idea is to turn /git into a subproject, but I want to make sure 
  first, that it works, and that a transition is-subdirectory -> 
  is-submodule goes smooth.  (There is one more submodule that will be 
  nice to have in msysgit.git... a shell extension similar to TortoiseCVS 
  is finally gathering way... stay tuned!)
- I wanted to hold off a little, until Hannes can apply the fix-up patch 
  we need in mingw.git.  Because when he does, your bootstrap will run 
  into problems...
> If we want to stick with this installer here is what we need to do:
> * Remove /git directory from msysGit.git
> * Bring mingw.git up to date so we can remove patching step from installer
Sounds like a plan.  Hannes? (I know that Hannes was/is in holiday...)
> To repack just use any compressor that can create SFX archives that can 
> also start a file execution. I've used WinRAR. But the whole idea is 
> that this bootstrap download should require very little/no tweaking. All 
> changes should happen in msysgit.git and mingw.git.

Like I said, I prefer 7-Zip (if only because it is Open Source). It would be nice to have insight in how you went about to identify what is needed?

Eventually, I'd like to have a script which creates that installer, in msysgit.git...

Ciao, Dscho

Dmitry Kakurin· Aug 5, 2007, 12:51 UTC · re: Johannes Schindelin · lore

Re: Bootstraper for Git Dev Environment for Windows (Light version)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Johannes Schindelin" <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de>
> - How about calling your package msysGit-netInstall-<version>.exe?
No problem. Feel free to reupload it with a different name.
>   mingw.git as well...  Still, on dial-up, 40MB or 60MB makes a 
>   difference, no?

Sorry, I didn't have dialup for years so I don't take it into consideration. Still 60MB is not that dialup unfriendly.

Show 6 quoted lines
> - There is one big caveat with your bootstrapper: things have been known 
>  to break, and I think msysgit.git is no exception.  So I'd like to have 
>  a fallback in case things go awry, also to have something that is tested 
>  (for example, Mike tested msysGit-0.4.exe before releasing it).  Of 
>  course, we could solve that issue by branching off of the last release 
>  tag.
That, or better yet always maintain master branch in a working condition. Seriously.
If it (VERY rarely) breaks we'll just revert the offending checkin to bring it back in shape.
Where I come from, 'main' or 'master' should ALWAYS be functional.
 
> - AFAICT it is possible to make nicer installers with 7-Zip, and also

I have no preference here. I just use what I know (WinRAR). If you feel strongly about 7zip (which I can see you do for some reason :-) feel free to repackage it.

> - I wanted to hold off a little, until Hannes can apply the fix-up patch 
>  we need in mingw.git.  Because when he does, your bootstrap will run 
>  into problems...
Not sure why...
> It would 
> be nice to have insight in how you went about to identify what is needed?

Well, I've set path to a single directory (C:\GitMe\bin), copies over bash and git-clone and started running it until it worked. Which happened surprisingly fast.

- Dmitry
Johannes Schindelin· Aug 5, 2007, 13:51 UTC · re: Dmitry Kakurin · lore

Re: Bootstraper for Git Dev Environment for Windows (Light version)

Hi,
On Sun, 5 Aug 2007, Dmitry Kakurin wrote:
Show 6 quoted lines
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Johannes Schindelin"
> <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de>
> 
> 
> > - How about calling your package msysGit-netInstall-<version>.exe?
> No problem. Feel free to reupload it with a different name.
I'll do so later... When it has to change.
Show 5 quoted lines
> >   mingw.git as well...  Still, on dial-up, 40MB or 60MB makes a 
> > difference, no?
>
> Sorry, I didn't have dialup for years so I don't take it into 
> consideration. Still 60MB is not that dialup unfriendly.
Okay.
Show 11 quoted lines
> > - There is one big caveat with your bootstrapper: things have been 
> > known to break, and I think msysgit.git is no exception.  So I'd like 
> > to have a fallback in case things go awry, also to have something that 
> > is tested (for example, Mike tested msysGit-0.4.exe before releasing 
> > it).  Of course, we could solve that issue by branching off of the 
> > last release tag.
>
> That, or better yet always maintain master branch in a working 
> condition. Seriously. If it (VERY rarely) breaks we'll just revert the 
> offending checkin to bring it back in shape. Where I come from, 'main' 
> or 'master' should ALWAYS be functional.
Okay, let's try to be anal then.
Show 5 quoted lines
> > - AFAICT it is possible to make nicer installers with 7-Zip, and also
>
> I have no preference here. I just use what I know (WinRAR). If you feel 
> strongly about 7zip (which I can see you do for some reason :-) feel 
> free to repackage it.

Yeah ;-) I like it because it is Open Source... and easily scriptable. Even if you want to make a graphical installer.

Show 5 quoted lines
> > - I wanted to hold off a little, until Hannes can apply the fix-up 
> > patch we need in mingw.git.  Because when he does, your bootstrap will 
> > run into problems...
>
> Not sure why...
Neither am I anymore.
What would you say about this idea:
- upload a branch "mingw-devel" to msysgit.git, which is identical to 
  mingw.git's devel, plus our patches.
- convert /git to a submodule, fetching from msysgit.git's mingw-devel 
  branch.
- adjust /etc/profile for the changes.
- make a new net installer and upload it.
- But keep doing some full releases in the meantime, which do not clone 
  anything, but rather initialise /git/.git so that people can send in 
  patches?
Show 6 quoted lines
> > It would be nice to have insight in how you went about to identify 
> > what is needed?
>
> Well, I've set path to a single directory (C:\GitMe\bin), copies over 
> bash and git-clone and started running it until it worked. Which 
> happened surprisingly fast.
Ah, thanks.  Valuable work, this.

Ciao, Dscho

Johannes Sixt· Aug 16, 2007, 09:06 UTC · re: Johannes Schindelin · lore

Re: Bootstraper for Git Dev Environment for Windows (Light version)

Johannes Schindelin wrote:
Show 9 quoted lines
> - I wanted to hold off a little, until Hannes can apply the fix-up patch
>   we need in mingw.git.  Because when he does, your bootstrap will run
>   into problems...
> 
> > If we want to stick with this installer here is what we need to do:
> > * Remove /git directory from msysGit.git
> > * Bring mingw.git up to date so we can remove patching step from installer
> 
> Sounds like a plan.  Hannes? (I know that Hannes was/is in holiday...)

I gladly accept patches or merge or cherry-pick from one of the repos that have appeared recently.

BTW, I'm about to push a new mingw.git that is at v1.5.3-rc4. I'm only waiting for the tests to complete (which takes an awful lot of time on Windows).

-- Hannes
Nguyen Thai Ngoc Duy· Aug 7, 2007, 20:18 UTC · re: Dmitry Kakurin · lore

Re: Bootstraper for Git Dev Environment for Windows (Light version)

On 8/5/07, Dmitry Kakurin <dmitry.kakurin@gmail.com> wrote:
> Please give it a try and tell me how it works for you:
> http://msysgit.googlecode.com/files/GitMe-1.exe (1.6 MB)

Sorry, can't help it. After making more commands built-in and stripping all executables, I can make a 1.4 MB zip archive containing a (mostly) functional git! I bet no other SCM can be that small yet as powerful as git. Thanks git team! (Okay, rant's over)

-- 
Duy

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