TITLE=DOSINST
ROUTE=/dos/dosinst
LOCALE=en
MODIFIED=1792417593
URL=https://wiki.teletypegames.org/dos/dosinst
L=1 #18
L=2 https://git.teletypegames.org/dos/dosinst
L=3 #50
L=4 https://git.teletypegames.org/dos/dosinst/releases/download/v0.6.0/DOSINST-v0.6.0.zip
L=5 https://git.teletypegames.org/dos/dosinst/releases/download/v0.6.0/DOSINSTW-v0.6.0.zip
L=6 https://git.teletypegames.org/dos/dosinst/releases/download/v0.6.0/DOSINST.EXE
L=7 https://git.teletypegames.org/dos/dosinst/releases/download/v0.6.0/DOSINSTW.EXE
L=8 https://git.teletypegames.org/dos/dosinst/releases
L=9 https://github.com/open-watcom/open-watcom-v2
L=10 #17
L=11 http://www.brutman.com/mTCP/


q│ DOSINST is a DOS program (C++, Open Watcom, 8086 code) that installs,

q│ updates and removes programs from an FTP server. Every folder on the server

q│ is one program with an 
cINFO.INI
q; DOSINST lists them with the server's and

q│ the installed version, and copies the folder you pick to the local disk. Our

q│ store is 
cftp://ftp.teletypegames.org
q; 1GMENU is published there on every

q│ release.

q│

q│ The same source also builds 
cDOSINSTW.EXE
q for Windows 95 and later (Winsock,

q│ in a console window), with the same screen and commands — for Windows

q│ machines, where a DOS program does not reach the network.

• 
bRepository:
0 2git.teletypegames.org/dos/dosinst
• 
bStore:
0 
cftp://ftp.teletypegames.org/APPS
0 (anonymous, read-only, on the 3FTP
  3server)
• 
bDownload v0.6.0:
0 DOS: 4DOSINST-v0.6.0.zip · Windows 95 and later:
  5DOSINSTW-v0.6.0.zip · the executables alone: 6DOSINST.EXE, 7DOSINSTW.EXE
• 
bReleases:
0 8git.teletypegames.org/dos/dosinst/releases — once installed,
  DOSINST updates itself from the store


i[Image: DOSINST program list]


r──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────


1What it does

1════════════

• 
bLists
0 the program folders of the server with name, version, the installed
  version and a status: 
cnew
0, 
cinstalled
0, 
cUPDATE
0 (the versions differ) or 
clocal
  
conly
0 (installed, but no longer on the server).
• 
bInstalls
0 a program (Enter): downloads its folder with the subfolders to a
  temporary folder, checks every file (CRC32 and size), and only then moves
  them to 
cC:\APPS\FOLDER
0, 
cINFO.INI
0 last. A broken or interrupted download
  leaves the installed program as it was.
• 
bUpdates
0 it (Enter again): replaces its files and deletes the ones the new
  version no longer has (
cINSTALL.LST
0 lists what DOSINST installed). Files that
  exist only locally — saves, settings, GMENU's favorites — stay.
• 
bUpdates itself
0: DOSINST is in the store too (
cDOSINST
0 for DOS, 
cDOSINSTW
0 for
  Windows). Its update goes into the folder of its own executable, and
  
cDOSINST.CFG
0 is kept.
• 
bRemoves
0 it (Del, asks first): deletes 
cC:\APPS\FOLDER
0.
• Also from the command line, for batch files:


p DOSINST                  menu                                                

p DOSINST LIST             list the programs                                   

p DOSINST INSTALL GMENU    install or update a program                         

p DOSINST REMOVE GMENU     remove an installed program                         


1The store

1═════════


p /                                                                            

p   GMENU/                                                                     

p     INFO.INI                                                                 

p     FILES.LST           <- CRC32 and size of every file                      

p     GMENUPRG.COM                                                             

p     ...                                                                      

p   HELLO/                                                                     

p     INFO.INI                                                                 

p     HELLO.BAT                                                                

p     DATA/README.TXT     <- subfolders are copied too                         


p [program]                                                                    

p name=Hello World                                                             

p description=The description, in one line.                                    

p version=1.0                                                                  

p platform=DOS                                                                 

• Folders without an 
cINFO.INI
0 are skipped.
• 
cplatform
0 is optional, 
cDOS
0 or 
cWIN32
0. The DOS build does not list 
cWIN32
  programs; DOSINSTW lists both, since Windows runs DOS programs too.
  DOSINST's own store folders are 
cDOSINST
0 (DOS) and 
cDOSINSTW
0 (Win32): each
  build updates itself from its own and does not list the other.
• File and folder names must be DOS 8.3 names; DOSINST stops with an error on
  any other name.
• The installed version is read from the copied 
cINFO.INI
0, so there is no
  separate database on the DOS machine.
• 
cFILES.LST
0 (
ccrc32 size path
0 per line) is optional; 
cserver/mkfiles.sh FOLDER
  writes it. Without it DOSINST checks only the size, which it asks the server
  for.


bPublishing
0 a program means copying its folder to

c/srv/stacks/ftp-server/root/APPS/
0 on the server and running 
cserver/mkfiles.sh
on it; no restart is needed. The Woodpecker pipelines of DOSINST, GMENU,
BMAGIC and TTGWIKI do this on every 
cvX.Y.Z
0 tag (the 
cstore
0 step): it sends the
folders as a tar over SSH to the server's 
cdeploy
0 user, whose key is bound to
one fixed command, 
cci-deploy
0 (
cinfra/host-config
0); that unpacks the upload
unprivileged, accepts only the program's own folders with regular files, and
swaps them into 
cAPPS
0. No trusted volumes are needed.


1Setup

1═════

DOSINST needs a packet driver and mTCP (its 
cDHCP.EXE
0 fills in the network
settings). The settings are in 
cDOSINST.CFG
0 next to 
cDOSINST.EXE
0:


p SERVER=ftp.teletypegames.org                                                 

p PORT=21                                                                      

p PATH=/APPS                                                                   

p DEST=C:\APPS                                                                 


bDOSBox Staging
0 — the NE2000 emulation plus the Crynwr 
cNE2000.COM
0 packet driver
(mTCP and the driver in 
cC:\MTCP
0):


p [ethernet]                                                                   

p ne2000 = on                                                                  

p                                                                              

p [autoexec]                                                                   

p C:\MTCP\NE2000.COM 0x60 3 0x300 > NUL                                        

p SET MTCPCFG=C:\MTCP\MTCP.CFG                                                 

p C:\MTCP\DHCP.EXE                                                             

p PATH Z:\;C:\WINDOWS;C:\APPS\GMENU;C:\DOSINST                                 

In DOSBox every 
cPATH
0 line replaces the previous one, so all folders go into a
single line, starting with 
cZ:\
0 (DOSBox's own commands, like 
cMOUNT
0). For a
silent start, set 
cstartup_verbosity = quiet
0 in 
c[dosbox]
0, put 
c@echo off
0 first
in 
c[autoexec]
0 and send the output of the programs to 
cNUL
0 (
cC:\MTCP\DHCP.EXE >

cNUL
0).


bA real machine
0 needs the packet driver of its own network card instead of

cNE2000.COM
0. DOSINST.EXE does not work in a DOS window of Windows 95/98,
because Windows owns the network card there: use 
cDOSINSTW.EXE
0 there, which
needs nothing but Windows' own TCP/IP. Windows does not let a running program
be overwritten, so DOSINSTW's own update is finished right after it exits.


1The server

1══════════

The store is the 
cAPPS
0 folder of the Teletype Games 3FTP server
(
cinfra/ftp-server
0): anonymous and read-only, passive mode only, ports 21 and
30000–30019. DOSINST connects to the data port on the server's own address, so
it also works behind NAT. The root has only 
cAPPS
0 and 
cWIKI
0: a DOSINST older
than 0.6.0 has 
cPATH=/
0 in its 
cDOSINST.CFG
0 (an update never changes it) and
finds no program there, so set 
cPATH=/APPS
0 in it by hand.


1Building and tests

1══════════════════

The build needs 9Open Watcom v2 (the snapshot release has macOS and Linux
binaries):


p SOURCE/build.sh                                                              

The source is in layers, each using only the ones below it through their
interfaces (the rules are on the 10DOSLIB page): 
cmodel
0 (programs, FILES.LST,
INSTALL.LST, the configuration), 
crepository
0 (the store over FTP, the installed
programs, the staging folder of an install), 
cservice
0 (the program list,
install, remove), 
ccontroller
0 and 
cview
0 (menu and command line), 
capp
0 (puts them
together); the DOS and the Windows build only differ in 
cmain_dos.cpp
0 /

cmain_win32.cpp
0 and 
cplatform/
0. 
cSOURCE/lib
0 is DOSLIB.

The unit tests run on the host without DOSBox, on a fake store and an
in-memory disk (a bad checksum, an update that deletes the stale files, a self
update, the menu with scripted keys); they check the layers first:


p SOURCE/test/unit/run.sh                                                      


cSOURCE/test/run.sh
0 starts the FTP server on the host and runs DOSINST in a
headless DOSBox Staging: it lists, installs, updates and removes programs from
the command line and from the menu, and compares the copied files byte by
byte. The menu is driven by a test build that reads its keys from 
cTESTKEYS
0 and
saves the screen.


1License

1═══════

DOSINST uses the 11mTCP TCP/IP library by Michael B. Brutman, which is GPLv3, so
DOSINST is GPLv3 too.