1bf3cb2e1c
Two guards for a server deployed by hand, which the West Jefferson production box is. An existing venv is reused, which is right for a repair or an upgrade of an install this made, and wrong when the venv belongs to a different Python. The wheelhouse is tagged for one minor version, so pip finds no candidate for the compiled packages and dies partway through - after Python has been installed and the application tree replaced. The two versions are now compared up front and the run stops with both numbers and what to do about it. Switching deployment method removes the other method's IIS artifact. That is correct when this installer owns both and dangerous when it does not: a wrong -MountAlias would call Remove-WebApplication on a live mount with no prompt and no error, and the first sign would be the site returning 404. It now refuses unless a version stamp shows this installer made the install, or -AdoptExisting is passed, and the refusal lists exactly what it would have removed.
203 lines
9.3 KiB
Markdown
203 lines
9.3 KiB
Markdown
# Windows installer
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Builds a single self-contained `.exe` that installs ShopDB-Flask on an
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**air-gapped** Windows Server. Nothing here ever touches the network at install
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time: Python, the wheels, the SPA and (optionally) MySQL all ship inside it.
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Lives with the application on purpose. The installer depends on app internals -
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`flask plugin` verbs, `site-profile.json`, `MOUNT_PATH`, the plugin registry -
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so a separate repo would drift out of step with the thing it installs.
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## Files
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| File | What it is |
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| `shopdb-preflight.ps1` | Stage 1. Read-only. Changes nothing, reports what this server is missing. |
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| `shopdb-install.ps1` | Stages 0 and 2-5 plus `uninstall`. All the actual work. |
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| `shopdb-admin.ps1` | Operator console installed alongside the app: status, restart, logs, backup, plugins. |
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| `ShopDBFlask.iss` | Inno Setup wizard. A thin wrapper - it collects input and runs the stages. |
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| `build-installer.sh` | Stages the bundle from a site profile. |
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| `make-branding.py` | Generates wizard artwork and the icon from `frontend/public/*.svg`. |
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| `*.bmp`, `shopdb.ico` | Generated artwork, committed so a Windows build box needs no Python. |
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| `build-installer.ps1` | The same build, natively on Windows. No Bash needed. |
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| `bundle-lock.json` | The exact third-party payload this installer ships. Reviewed by commit. |
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| `bundle-lock.ps1` | Creates and checks that lock. Also runs on the target server. |
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| `refresh-bundle-lock.ps1` | Regenerates the lock, after showing what changed. |
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| `verify_bundle_lock.py` | The same check for the Bash builder, so Linux needs no pwsh. |
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## Building
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Two builders, same result. Use whichever machine you are on - `build-installer.ps1`
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does the whole job natively so a Windows work PC needs no Bash.
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```bash
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# Linux / WSL
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./build-installer.sh ../../site-profile.example.json
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```
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```powershell
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# Windows
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.\build-installer.ps1 -Profile ..\..\site-profile.example.json
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```
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Both stage the app tree, build the SPA twice, write `plugins.iss`, copy the
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installer scripts **from this directory**, and then verify the third-party
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payload against `bundle-lock.json`. They exit non-zero if it does not match.
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The payload itself is added by hand, and no longer needs Windows to produce:
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```
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bundle/wheels/ pip download -r requirements.txt --only-binary=:all: \
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--platform win_amd64 --python-version 314 \
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--implementation cp --abi cp314 -d wheels
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bundle/python/ python-3.14.x-amd64.exe
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bundle/httpplatformhandler/ httpPlatformHandler_amd64.msi
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bundle/urlrewrite/ rewrite_amd64.msi (client-IP rule; see below)
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bundle/mysql/ mysql-8.0.x-winx64.msi (bundled-database option only)
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```
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Then compile on Windows:
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```
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iscc ShopDBFlask.iss
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```
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**Inno Setup 6.6.0 or newer.** The wizard uses the built-in `windows11` custom
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style, which earlier versions reject. The script fails at compile time with that
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sentence rather than with a bare "WizardStyle is invalid".
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The wheelhouse is **cp314-locked**. A different Python minor version means a
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different wheelhouse; the installer will not use a Python it did not install.
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## What is pinned, and where
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Three layers, because no one of them covers the whole problem.
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| Layer | Covers | Enforced |
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| `requirements.txt` sha256 per package | every wheel is genuinely what upstream published | `pip --require-hashes` at install; aborts on mismatch |
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| `bundle-lock.json` | the EXACT payload: wheels, Python installer, MSIs | both builders, and again on the server before anything runs |
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| git | the application tree | code review |
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`--require-hashes` alone is not enough. pip lists every artifact of a pinned
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version - `cffi 2.1.0` has 100 hashes - so it proves the wheel is genuine, not
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that it is the wheel this bundle was built and tested with. It also ignores
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extra files in the wheelhouse, and says nothing about the Python installer or
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the MSIs, all of which run as SYSTEM on the target server.
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So `bundle-lock.json` records an exact file set with a sha256 and a byte size
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each, and verification is **set equality**: a missing file, an unexpected extra
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file, or changed content all fail. There is no install-time override.
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The lockfile is `--universal`, so one file serves Linux (dev, Docker, CI) and the
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Windows wheelhouse. A Linux-only resolve had silently omitted `colorama`, a
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win32-only dependency of `click` - which in hash-checking mode is a hard error
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rather than a quiet omission.
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### Changing what ships
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```powershell
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.\refresh-bundle-lock.ps1 # show what changed, write nothing
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.\refresh-bundle-lock.ps1 -Yes # write it
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```
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Then **commit `bundle-lock.json`**. That commit is the review - it is the only
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place a change to what runs as SYSTEM on a customer's server becomes visible to
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a human. `refresh-bundle-lock.ps1` refuses to overwrite an existing lock until
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you have seen the diff, for that reason.
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To stage a bundle before its lock exists: `ALLOW_UNLOCKED=1` (Bash) or
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`-AllowUnlocked` (PowerShell). Bundles built that way must not be shipped.
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Verifying a live server, months later and offline:
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```powershell
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shopdb-admin.ps1 verify
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```
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## Servers this installer did not build
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It is built for greenfield: its own Python, its own venv, its own IIS objects.
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Its upgrade path assumes the thing being upgraded came out of a previous run.
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Two guards keep it from damaging a server that was deployed by hand.
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**Python minor version.** An existing venv is reused, which is right for a repair
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or an upgrade. It is wrong when the venv belongs to a different Python - the
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wheelhouse is tagged for one minor version, so pip would die at the first
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compiled package, *after* Python was installed and the app tree replaced. The
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installer compares the two up front and stops with both version numbers.
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**IIS objects.** Switching deployment method removes the other method's artifact,
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which is correct when the installer owns both and dangerous when it does not: a
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wrong `-MountAlias` would delete a live mount with no prompt. It now refuses
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unless there is a version stamp proving it made the install, or you pass
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`-AdoptExisting`. The refusal lists exactly what it would have removed.
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An existing `web.config` is never overwritten in either case.
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For the West Jefferson production server specifically, this is a **migration, not
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an upgrade** - prod runs Python 3.13 against a hand-built deployment, so it needs
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a deliberate window, a database backup, and web.config reconciled by hand.
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## Client IP addresses
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IIS does not set `X-Forwarded-For` on its own, and HttpPlatformHandler connects
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from loopback. Without a rule, **every client reads as 127.0.0.1** - so the
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GE-Enforce IP allowlist, the dashboard's visitor-location lookup and per-host
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login rate limiting all stop working, silently.
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The wizard asks, because the two answers are mutually exclusive:
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- **Clients connect directly** (`-ClientIpSource direct`, the default) - installs
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URL Rewrite from the bundle and sets `X-Forwarded-For` from `REMOTE_ADDR`.
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Overwriting the header is what stops a client spoofing its own.
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- **A proxy sits in front** (`-ClientIpSource proxy`) - leaves the rule off.
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Behind ARR or a load balancer `REMOTE_ADDR` is the *proxy*, so applying the
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rule would discard the real client IP.
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An existing `web.config` is never overwritten - it is the one file on a server
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that legitimately carries hand-edits. The installer reports what it found
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instead.
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## Deployment methods
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Chosen in the wizard, and the bundle carries a SPA build for each because Vite
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compiles the base path in - it cannot be switched at install time.
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- **Its own site** on a port (default 8090).
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- **Subpath** under an existing site, e.g. `http://<server-fqdn>/shopdb/`. Needs
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no new DNS record. Three things must agree - the IIS application alias,
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`MOUNT_PATH` in `.env`, and the SPA's build-time base - so the alias is fixed
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per bundle (`SUBPATH_ALIAS`, default `shopdb`) and the installer refuses if the
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bundle's build does not match what was asked for.
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Switching between methods removes the other one's IIS artifact and reconciles
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`MOUNT_PATH` and `CORS_ORIGINS`, so a server never ends up with both.
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## Upgrades
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Run a newer installer over an existing install. It:
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- backs the database up first, **verifies** the dump is complete, and refuses to
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migrate if it cannot;
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- restores from that backup if migrations fail, and reports honestly that DDL
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the failed migration committed cannot be undone;
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- refuses to run a bundle older than what is installed;
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- keeps `.env` unless new credentials are supplied, and copies it aside first;
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- stops the app pool before replacing files, then starts it again.
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Whether a run is an upgrade is decided by probing the **target database**, not by
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whether the app directory exists - a rebuilt server pointed at an existing
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database is an upgrade, and treating it as fresh would drop tables.
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## Testing notes
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Verified end to end on Windows Server 2025 against both a bundled MySQL 8.0 and
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an existing MySQL 5.6: fresh install, upgrade, re-run idempotency, failure and
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rollback, uninstall, and both deployment methods including switching between
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them.
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**Not yet verified:** a fully air-gapped run with the network disabled at the
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hypervisor, and any load in a real browser (all HTTP checks so far used curl,
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which sends no `Origin` header - so `CORS_ORIGINS` is untested in anger).
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