Support silent auto-update for DEB/RPM packages (no user interaction required)

[mipastgt]

I integrated the auto-updater in one of my desktop apps and for macOs (DMG/ZIP) and Windows (MSI) this seems to work like a charm. On Linux however I had to use AppImage as the packaging format in order to be able to use auto-update. I now got several reports from users which state that this version is practically unusable because the start-up of the software is incredibly slow. We are talking about more than 60s here. For comparison, on my Mac the same software starts up in roughly a second. From a web research I know that AppImages can be slow but can they really be so slow?

For this reason I would like to ask if it is possible to support the auto-start feature also for DEB and RPM packages. The electron builder seems to be capable of handling this.

[kdroidFilter]

Auto-update works with deb/rpm files but requires user interaction. Perhaps reducing compression for appimage formats will improve cold boot speed ?

[mipastgt]

I've set the compression level to Fast but that results in a lot of errors. It seem that option is not understood or not properly mapped. One should also have a look at the npm warnings although I don't they matter here.

> electron-builder failed with exit code 1
  Command: /opt/hostedtoolcache/node/24.14.0/x64/bin/npx --yes electron-builder --prepackaged /home/runner/work/AIPBrowserDE/AIPBrowserDE/composeApp/build/compose/binaries/main-release/AppImage/.app-image/AIP Browser DE --config /home/runner/work/AIPBrowserDE/AIPBrowserDE/composeApp/build/compose/binaries/main-release/AppImage/electron-builder.yml --config.electronVersion=33.0.0 --publish always --linux AppImage --project /home/runner/work/AIPBrowserDE/AIPBrowserDE/composeApp/build/compose/binaries/main-release/AppImage
  Stderr:
  npm warn deprecated rimraf@2.6.3: Rimraf versions prior to v4 are no longer supported
  npm warn deprecated inflight@1.0.6: This module is not supported, and leaks memory. Do not use it. Check out lru-cache if you want a good and tested way to coalesce async requests by a key value, which is much more comprehensive and powerful.
  npm warn deprecated glob@7.2.3: Old versions of glob are not supported, and contain widely publicized security vulnerabilities, which have been fixed in the current version. Please update. Support for old versions may be purchased (at exorbitant rates) by contacting i@izs.me
  npm warn deprecated boolean@3.2.0: Package no longer supported. Contact Support at https://www.npmjs.com/support for more info.
  npm warn deprecated glob@10.5.0: Old versions of glob are not supported, and contain widely publicized security vulnerabilities, which have been fixed in the current version. Please update. Support for old versions may be purchased (at exorbitant rates) by contacting i@izs.me
  
  Stdout:
    • electron-builder  version=26.8.1 os=6.17.0-1008-azure
    • loaded configuration  file=/home/runner/work/AIPBrowserDE/AIPBrowserDE/composeApp/build/compose/binaries/main-release/AppImage/electron-builder.yml
    ⨯ Invalid configuration object. electron-builder 26.8.1 has been initialized using a configuration object that does not match the API schema.
   - configuration.compression should be one of these:
     "maximum" | "normal" | "store" | null
     -> The compression level. If you want to rapidly test build, `store` can reduce build time significantly. `maximum` doesn't lead to noticeable size difference, but increase build time.
     Details:
      * configuration.compression should be one of these:
        "maximum" | "normal" | "store"
      * configuration.compression should be a null.
       How to fix:
       1. Open https://www.electron.build/configuration
       2. Search the option name on the page (or type in into Search to find across the docs).
         * Not found? The option was deprecated or not exists (check spelling).
         * Found? Check that the option in the appropriate place. e.g. "title" only in the "dmg", not in the root.
    failedTask=build stackTrace=ValidationError: Invalid configuration object. electron-builder 26.8.1 has been initialized using a configuration object that does not match the API schema.
   - configuration.compression should be one of these:
     "maximum" | "normal" | "store" | null
     -> The compression level. If you want to rapidly test build, `store` can reduce build time significantly. `maximum` doesn't lead to noticeable size difference, but increase build time.
     Details:
      * configuration.compression should be one of these:
        "maximum" | "normal" | "store"
      * configuration.compression should be a null.
       How to fix:
       1. Open https://www.electron.build/configuration
       2. Search the option name on the page (or type in into Search to find across the docs).
         * Not found? The option was deprecated or not exists (check spelling).
         * Found? Check that the option in the appropriate place. e.g. "title" only in the "dmg", not in the root.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  at validate (/home/runner/work/AIPBrowserDE/AIPBrowserDE/composeApp/build/compose/binaries/main-release/AppImage/.npm-cache/_npx/009083ec26dc578f/node_modules/@develar/schema-utils/dist/validate.js:86:11)
      at validateConfiguration (/home/runner/work/AIPBrowserDE/AIPBrowserDE/composeApp/build/compose/binaries/main-release/AppImage/.npm-cache/_npx/009083ec26dc578f/node_modules/app-builder-lib/src/util/config/config.ts:239:3)
      at Packager.validateConfig (/home/runner/work/AIPBrowserDE/AIPBrowserDE/composeApp/build/compose/binaries/main-release/AppImage/.npm-cache/_npx/009083ec26dc578f/node_modules/app-builder-lib/src/packager.ts:398:5)
      at Packager.build (/home/runner/work/AIPBrowserDE/AIPBrowserDE/composeApp/build/compose/binaries/main-release/AppImage/.npm-cache/_npx/009083ec26dc578f/node_modules/app-builder-lib/src/packager.ts:406:5)
      at executeFinally (/home/runner/work/AIPBrowserDE/AIPBrowserDE/composeApp/build/compose/binaries/main-release/AppImage/.npm-cache/_npx/009083ec26dc578f/node_modules/builder-util/src/promise.ts:12:14)

[mipastgt]

The extremely long start-up seems to be a server related issue which I haven't yet understood. I noticed that this happens from time to time and also seems to affect my mac version. AppImages have other issues though too, so for the time beeing I have abandoned AppImages and switched back to Debian installers. The user experience is far better and the update experience in particular is practically the same as on Windows or MacOS. Also the automatic restart works in contrast to AppImages, where it doesn't work.

[kdroidFilter]

The Nucleus updater is fully asynchronous — the update check runs inside a LaunchedEffect after the UI is already displayed, so it cannot increase boot time. You can see how it's used in our example app.

The 60s+ startup you're experiencing on AppImage is a well-known electron-builder issue when using compression: maximum. The squashfs/FUSE decompression on random file access is extremely slow (~35 MB/s), which causes massive startup delays. This is documented in several electron-builder issues:

• electron-userland/electron-builder#7483 — compression maximum increases startup by ~20,000%
• electron-userland/electron-builder#6317 — compression maximum makes AppImages run very slowly
• electron-userland/electron-builder#6316 — same issue

Solution: Use compression: normal (the default) or compression: store. The size reduction from maximum is only ~20% but the startup cost is enormous.

Regarding the Fast compression error — this is a bug on our side. electron-builder only accepts "store", "normal", "maximum", or null. We'll fix the invalid mapping in the plugin.

We'll also add documentation specifically about AppImage compression and its impact on startup performance, so users can make an informed choice.

[kdroidFilter]

Thanks for the report.

The plan for DEB/RPM auto-update support is the following:

The DEB/RPM package would act as a shell that:

1. On install: installs the actual application in the user's space (not system-wide)
2. On update: the app can silently update itself without requiring root privileges or user interaction, since it lives in user space
3. On uninstall: the DEB/RPM uninstall scripts (prerm/postrm) handle cleaning up the user-space application

This approach avoids the need for sudo or any user prompt during auto-update, while still providing a familiar install/uninstall experience through the system package manager.

Regarding AppImage: apart from the slow startup you mentioned, there is also the issue that the application does not restart after auto-update — tracked in #178.

The DEB/RPM approach would solve all three problems (slow startup, no restart after update, and the need for user interaction).