Silent Update of Calibre Portable

[Rebel154]

I've done a search but I cannot find a solution...

Is there a command line option/parameter to avoid the "Update existing portable installation" (or words to that effect) dialogue when updating an existing Calibre Portable installation?

I'm trying to set up a silient update process and that is the only thing stopping it at the moment. I have the installation directory sorted as per the Calibre Portable download page.

Thanks in advance.

[kovidgoyal]

Read the section that says Automated install on the calibre portable download page.

[Rebel154]

Hi Kovid, I've read that bit and that is how I know how to specify the directory that Calibre Portable will install to (as stated in my initial post). What I want to avoid is the Yes/No dialogue that pops up asking if I want to update an existing portable installation.

Edit: I have added a picture of the dialogue box in question.

[kovidgoyal]

There's no way to avoid that using just the installer. If you want to avoid it, create a batch file that first deletes the existing install folder and then runs the update.

Of course, to be robust you would need to move the existing folder elsewhere instead of deleting it and then move it back on failure or delete it on success.

[Rebel154]

OK thanks for the info. I'll have a play and see what I can come up with.

Regards.

[kovidgoyal]

https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...5e9b3fce9d521d

[Rebel154]

I spent the majority of yesterday playing with AutoIt scripts, having it download the latest installer file, check to see if an install already exists and if it does, update it (moving the 'Calibre' folder to a back-up location first). During the update process, my script automatically closes the 2 pop-up dialogue windows - the 'Confirm update' as previously detailed above and the 'Success' dialogue. It's a bit messy but it works for me.

I now need to adapt my script for your changes. Now if you could just lose that 'Success' dialogue box as well, I wouldn't need my script at all .

For those wondering how Kovid's new option kicks in, you must specify an install path when running the portable install file e.g.

calibre-portable-installer.exe "C:\Calibre Portable"

[kovidgoyal]

There needs to be some feedback that the installation was done.

[At_Libitum]

Originally Posted by Rebel154

I've done a search but I cannot find a solution...

Is there a command line option/parameter to avoid the "Update existing portable installation" (or words to that effect) dialogue when updating an existing Calibre Portable installation?

I'm trying to set up a silient update process and that is the only thing stopping it at the moment. I have the installation directory sorted as per the Calibre Portable download page.

Thanks in advance.

Alternative method and 99.9% silent and proven to always work until something drastic changes in Kovid's portable installation process.

If you use PortableApps then go to portableapps.com and download the Calibre Portable launcher from there.

first time
Install it as you would any other portableapps program. After it is installed, copy the content of your Calibre/Calibre Settings into CalibrePortable/Data/Settings/Config.

at this point you still need to add the Calibre program, add it the same way as in the below update process

when installed
Whenever a new update for Calibre is released, download and drop it in the same folder as where the launcher lives (typically PortableApps/CalibrePortable). Restart the launcher if still running or simply start it to begin the update.

This will initiate a semi silent auto update. Semi in that Kovid's Calibre-Portable installer will prompt you to run Calibre or not when the update is finished. This is the important bit. always answer No since this is Kovid's portable installer asking this, not the PortableApps launcher. Since the launcher is already running at this point it will simply start Calibre after selecting No.

EDIT: When the update has finished, do not forget to (re)move the portable installer or it will be applied again on next run of the portableapps launcher.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by At_Libitum

EDIT: When the update has finished, do not forget to (re)move the portable installer or it will be applied again on next run of the portableapps launcher.

Vic Saville, who created the calibre PortableApps launcher, DID think of that. It deletes the calibre-ebook.com installation folder during the update.

[Rebel154]

Thanks for the advice but I don't use PortableApps.

[At_Libitum]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Vic Saville, who created the calibre PortableApps launcher, DID think of that. It deletes the calibre-ebook.com installation folder during the update.

I'm not sure if we are talking about the same launcher then, as mine just unpacks the installer, renames some folders, and when done deletes the backup. The original installer however is left behind

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by At_Libitum

I'm not sure if we are talking about the same launcher then, as mine just unpacks the installer, renames some folders, and when done deletes the backup. The original installer however is left behind

Confusion solved:

We are talking about the same installer. I checked the home page, and it turns out there was an update. I was running calibrePortable_0.9.16_Dev_Test_1.paf.exe, released in January of this year, and in August it was updated to calibrePortable_Launcher_Dev_Test_1.paf.exe which included the ability to update from Kovid's installer.

You can still update using the original method, which is to install to %DRIVE%:\PortableApps\calibrePortable\Calibre Portable\ using Kovid's installer, and the PAF launcher would update from there, and delete the install folder. This used to be the only method.

Thank you for alerting me to the new version, as otherwise I probably never would've found it, and I love new stuff!

I update weekly cuz I like to, and never saw a prompt from PA Updater that the launcher itself was updated. And rightly so, because I updated myself!

You should probably suggest on the home page that it delete the installer.exe -- maybe this could be fixed.

[eschwartz]

I wonder if the reason for the updated PAF is because of the whole "Path to Calibre Portable (%s) too long. Must be less than 59 characters." problem.