User:NThomas:Mar Generation: Difference between revisions

User:NThomas:Mar Generation (view source)

Revision as of 23:45, 22 June 2014

2,159 bytes added , 22 June 2014

no edit summary

NThomas

Confirmed users

4,293

edits

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 = Big picture =
-A 'mar file' is an update to a Mozilla application, an archive of files to add/patch/replace as well as a 'manifest' of instructions to be performed.
+A 'mar file' is an update to a Mozilla application, an archive of files to add/patch/replace as well as a 'manifest' of instructions to be performed. It is delivered by a query to an update server, which is out of scope for this page, we only want to talk about how the file is structured and created.
 = MAR archive =
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 [[Software_Update:MAR]] is the main documentation for the MAR format. To date the only major revision is ...
-== Signing (from Firefox 12.0) ==
+== Signing ==
-{{Bug|481815}} added a maintenance service on Windows, which can install updates without user intervention (no password or UAC prompts). It landed in mozilla-central during the Firefox 12.0 cycle (see comment 481), and rode the trains to release. Initially it was for administrator accounts, but {{bug|711475}} extended it to limited users accounts in Firefox 26.0.
+''From Version: Firefox/Gecko 12.0; {{Bug|481815}}.''
-To secure the update process a digital signature is included in the mar file, as well as a production information block. The latter labels the mar with a
+A maintenance service was added on Windows, which can install updates without user intervention (no password or UAC prompts). It landed in mozilla-central during the Firefox 12.0 cycle (see comment 481), and rode the trains to release. Initially it was for administrator accounts, but {{bug|711475}} extended it to limited users accounts in Firefox 26.0.
+To secure the update process a digital signature is included in the mar file, as well as a product information block. The latter labels the mar with a
 * ProductVersion - the application of the bits contained by mar file
 * ChannelID - the combination of the product name and code branch, eg firefox-mozilla-central, firefox-mozilla-beta.
@@ Line 36: / Line 38: @@
 === update.manifest (v1) ===
-This initial format dates back to the introduction of the update system at Firefox 1.5 branch (aka Mozilla 1.8.0). It supports the following actions:
+''From Version: Gecko 1.8.0, Firefox/Thunderbird 1.5''<br>
-* ADD <file> - replace <file>
+''Last Version: Gecko/Firefox 29.0, Thunderbird 24.x.y (End of 24 ESR)''
-* ADD-IF <testfile> <file> - replace <file> if <testfile> exists
-* PATCH <patchfile> <filetopatch> - apply binary diff <patchfile> to <filetopatch>
-* PATCH <testfile> <patchfile> <filetopatch> - apply <patchfile> to <filetopatch> if <testfile> exists
-* REMOVE <file> - delete <file>
-Support for v1 was removed in Firefox 30.0 by {{bug|896224}} (updater) and {{bug|896223}} (mar generation).
+This initial format dates back to the introduction of the current update system at Firefox 1.5 (aka Mozilla 1.8.0 branch). It supports the following actions:
+ ADD <file>                                   # replace <file>
+ ADD-IF <testfile> <file>                     # replace <file> if <testfile> exists
+ PATCH <patchfile> <filetopatch>              # apply binary diff <patchfile> to <filetopatch>
+ PATCH <testfile> <patchfile> <filetopatch>   # apply <patchfile> to <filetopatch> if <testfile> exists
+ REMOVE <file>                                # delete <file>
+Support for v1 was removed in Gecko/Firefox 30.0 by {{bug|896224}} (updater) and {{bug|896223}} (mar generation).
 === updatev2.manifest ===
-''INCOMPLETE''
+''From Version: Gecko/Firefox/Thunderbird 5.0; {{Bug|386760}}''<br>
+''Modified Version: Gecko/Firefox/Thunderbird 12.0; {{Bug|660038}} Removal of ADD-CC and REMOVE-CC; ''
+A new manifest, updatev2.manifest, was introduced to add support for directory removal and channel changing. The new actions were
+ RMDIR <deaddir>/                             # remove an empty directory <deaddir>
+ RMRFDIR <deaddir>/                           # recursively empty and remove <deaddir>
+ <strike>ADD-CC <file>                                # replace <file> if the channel is changing</strike> functionality removed by {{bug|660038}}
+ TYPE <type>                                  # 'partial' or 'complete', must be first line of manifest
+The updater looked first for updatev2.manifest, and if not present looked for update.manifest.
-{{Bug|386760}} added support for directory removal. The new actions were
+In addition, a <tt>precomplete</tt> file was added, which describes how to uninstall the current application using a subset of  instructions:
-* RMDIR
+ REMOVE <file>                                # delete <file>
-* RMRFDIR
+ <strike>REMOVE-CC <file>                             # remove <file> if channel is changing</strike> functionality removed by {{bug|660038}}
-* ADD-CC
+ RMDIR <deaddir>/                             # remove an empty directory <deaddir>
+The <tt>precomplete</tt> is used when a complete update is to be applied, removing the existing install before laying down the new set of files. In a partial update, deprecated files are deleted by REMOVE isntructions, and <tt>precomplete</tt> gets a PATCH. This change meant we no longer needed to maintain a list of files to remove on update (ie with [http://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/file/default/browser/installer/removed-files.in browser/installer/removed-files.in]), which greatly simplified update testing for rapid releases.
-{{Bug|y}} for the mar generation changes.
+{{Bug|386760}} was also where the mar generation changes happened, with channel change removals in {{bug|660038}.
 === updatev3.manifest ===