Squirrel Updates Server

A simple node.js server for Squirrel.Mac and Squirrel.Windows which uses GitHub releases. It also has an endpoint for Linux.

The server doesn't do any caching, and its responses don't include caching headers. Use a service like CloudFlare to cache requests and minimise load. CHANGED: From v0.6, I added server-side caching.

Make sure you tag your releases as vX.X.X and not just X.X.X.

Endpoints

/update

Squirrel.Mac

GET /update/darwin?version=x.x.x

Sample response:

{
  "url": "https://github.com/atom/atom/releases/download/v1.4.3/atom-mac.zip",
  "name": "1.4.3",
  "notes": "### Notable Changes\r\n\r\n* Fixed a bug that caused...",
  "pub_date": "2016-02-02T21:51:58Z"
}

Squirrel.Windows

GET /update/win32/<file>

It will redirect to the download url for that file. Usage:

• Electron's AutoUpdater: use /update/win32

  The AutoUpdater will request /update/win32/RELEASES when checking for updates, and the server will return the latest RELEASES file. It will also request files (e.g. /update/win32/atom-1.4.3-delta.nupkg), in which case the server will redirect to the correct download url on GitHub.

• Squirrel.Windows Releasify: use /update/win32

  When it will request packages (e.g. /update/win32/atom-1.4.3-delta.nupkg), the server will detect the version and redirect to the download url (e.g. https://github.com/atom/atom/releases/download/v1.4.3/atom-1.4.3-delta.nupkg)

Windows Portable

GET /update/win32/portable

It will return information about the latest Windows version.

Sample response:

{
  "url": "https://github.com/atom/atom/releases/download/v1.4.3/atom-windows.zip",
  "name": "1.4.3",
  "notes": "### Notable Changes\r\n\r\n* Fixed a bug that caused...",
  "pub_date": "2016-02-02T21:51:58Z",
  "version": "1.4.3"
}

Linux

GET /update/linux?pkg=<deb|rpm>&arch=<i386|amd64|x86_64>

It will return information about the latest Linux version.

Sample response:

{
  "url": "https://github.com/atom/atom/releases/download/v1.4.3/atom-amd64.deb",
  "name": "1.4.3",
  "notes": "### Notable Changes\r\n\r\n* Fixed a bug that caused...",
  "pub_date": "2016-02-02T21:51:58Z",
  "version": "1.4.3"
}

/download

OS X

GET /download/darwin/latest

Get the download url of the latest OS X release (dmg) and redirect to that url.

GET /download/darwin/latest?zip=1

If the zip query parameter is truthy, the server will redirect to the zip instead of the dmg.

Windows

GET /download/win32/latest

Get the download url of the latest Windows release (installer) and redirect to that url.

GET /download/win32/latest?zip=1

If the zip query parameter is truthy, the server will redirect to the portable zip instead of the installer.

Linux

GET /download/linux/latest?pkg=<deb|rpm>&arch=<i386|amd64|x86_64>

Get the download url of the latest Linux release, for the chosen arch and package type, and redirect to that url.

/stats

See download counts for all the releases. Stats returned:

• total: The total number of downloads (download count of every asset from every release).
• platforms_r: The number of downloads for each platform. Only assets matched by one of the patterns in config.patterns are counted (the rest are undetected).
• versions: The number of times each version has been downloaded. This includes every asset from every release.
• versions_r: The number of times each version has been downloaded. Only assets matched by one of the patterns in config.patterns are counted.
• versions_rd: The differences of downloads for each release, calculated from versions_r. Example: delta[2.0.8] = count[2.0.8] - count[2.0.7].
• versions_rdp: The same as versions_rd, but the differences are calculated as percentages.
• files: The number of downloads for each file, from every asset, from every release.

Note: draft releases are always ignored.

Sample response:

{
  "total": 2901,
  "platforms_r": {
    "darwin": {
      "dmg": 46,
      "zip": 154,
      "all": 200
    }
  },
  "versions": {
    "v2.0.8": 173,
    "v2.0.7": 490
  },
  "files": {
    "RELEASES": 1841,
    "whatsie-2.0.8-delta.nupkg": 26,
    "whatsie-2.0.8-full.nupkg": 0,
    "whatsie-2.0.8-linux-amd64.deb": 6
  }
}

Deployment

1. Clone the project

git clone https://github.com/Aluxian/squirrel-updates-server.git
cd squirrel-updates-server

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Create and edit the config file

vim src/config.js

4. Build and start

npm run build # this is now done automatically by npm start
npm start