How to package an Electron app into a single executable?

Question

Using electron-packager I can create a 'packaged' version of my JavaScript application for various architectures and platforms. However, it does not package each build as a single binary which I can distribute.

When looking for alternatives I found out about EncloseJs, but it is not free (and I prefer a free solution).

Another one I found was electron-boilerplate, which only creates a *.deb, *.app or a Windows installer, but not a single executable which will run the program.

Is it possible to use Electron to create a single executable file?

Answer 1

Try using electron-builder -p --win. it will build up the production-ready .exe. I did it with [email protected]

for the publishable build, you'll need the publishing provider in your package.json file, consider the given example.

"build": {     "appId": "com.trinityinfosystem.electron.exchange.stream",     "productName": "Accurate",     "copyright": "Copyright © 2018 Trinity InfoSystem",     "mac": {       "category": "public.app-category.utilities",       "icon": "assets/icon.icns",       "target": [         "zip",         "dmg"       ],       "publish": [         "github"       ]     },     "win": {       "publisherName": "Trinity InfoSystem",       "publish": [         "github"       ],       "target": [         "nsis"       ]     },     "linux": {       "target": [         "AppImage",         "tar.gz"       ]     },     "dmg": {       "background": "assets/background.png",       "icon": "assets/icon.icns",       "title": "Accurate Installer"     },     "nsis": {       "oneClick": false,       "perMachine": false,       "allowToChangeInstallationDirectory": true,       "installerIcon": "assets/icon.ico",       "installerSidebar": "assets/sidebar.bmp",       "uninstallerSidebar": "assets/sidebar.bmp",       "license": "assets/agreement.html",       "createDesktopShortcut": true,       "createStartMenuShortcut": true     },     "publish": [       {         "provider": "github",         "owner": "vkiranmaniya",         "repo": "accurate",         "vPrefixedTagName": true,         "private": true,         "releaseType": "draft"       }     ]   }, 

Add the given pulishing config to your package.json as root proprty. You will need the Github personal access token (here is the Doc) to be exported while running a build.

You can export the token as env variable from main.js as given,

process.env.GH_TOKEN = 'YOUR_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN_HERE'; 

If you want to setup AutoUpdate using GitHub, you can use the given module and call checkForUpdates() method from main.js

const electron = require("electron"); const updater = require("electron-updater"); const autoUpdater = updater.autoUpdater;  autoUpdater.on('checking-for-update', function () {     sendStatusToWindow('Checking for update...'); });  autoUpdater.on('update-available', function (info) {     sendStatusToWindow('Update available.'); });  autoUpdater.on('update-not-available', function (info) {     sendStatusToWindow('Update not available.'); });  autoUpdater.on('error', function (err) {     sendStatusToWindow('Error in auto-updater.'); });  autoUpdater.on('download-progress', function (progressObj) {     let log_message = "Download speed: " + progressObj.bytesPerSecond;     log_message = log_message + ' - Downloaded ' + parseInt(progressObj.percent) + '%';     log_message = log_message + ' (' + progressObj.transferred + "/" + progressObj.total + ')';     sendStatusToWindow(log_message); });  autoUpdater.on('update-downloaded', function (info) {     sendStatusToWindow('Update downloaded; will install in 1 seconds'); });  autoUpdater.on('update-downloaded', function (info) {     setTimeout(function () {         autoUpdater.quitAndInstall();     }, 1000); });  function checkForUpdates(){     const data = {         'provider': 'github',         'owner':    'vkiranmaniya',         'repo':     'exchange',         'token':    'YOUR_PERSONAL_TOKEN_HERE'       };     autoUpdater.setFeedURL(data);     autoUpdater.checkForUpdates(); }  function sendStatusToWindow(message) {     console.log(message); }  module.exports = {     checkForUpdates, }  

Now you can run the command electron-build -p --win to build an auto updatable standalone .exe file. Use --mac or --linux to target specific platform for build.