GitHub CLI (Portable)

Sections: How To Create a CLI Executable Package | What Is a CLI Executable | Why Might You Use an Executable Package | Using Shimgen | Creating a CLI Executable Package | Creating Package Structure | Compiling Your Package | Installing Your Package | Uninstalling Your Package | Conclusion Main Community Docs Blog Install Light Dark Auto Chocolatey product releases We recently released a new version of multiple Chocolatey Products. View August's highlights Highlighted documentation What's been happening in documentation land. See our documentation highlights Chocolatey - Software Management for Windows Why Chocolatey? Features Made for Automation Packaging for the masses - PowerShell Package anything Create your own packages Host Packages Internally Integrates With Anything Extend Chocolatey With PowerShell Modules (extensions) Extend Chocolatey With PowerShell Scripts (Hooks) Executable shimming (like symlinks but better) Self Service Anywhere (C4B) - Support modern workforce Chocolatey Central Management (C4B) - Endpoint Management Package Internalizer (C4B) Package Builder (C4B) Package Audit (C4B) Package Reducer (Pro+) Branding Chocolatey Applications (C4B) Runtime Malware Protection (Pro+) CDN Download Cache (Pro+) Ubiquitous Install Directory Option (Pro+) Package Throttle (Pro+) Package Synchronization Automatic Sync (Pro+) Choco Sync Command (C4B) Packages to Programs (C4B) FAQs Troubleshooting Configuration Getting Started Chocolatey Products Dependencies and Support Lifecycle Chocolatey Community Repository (CCR) community.chocolatey.org Packages Disclaimer API Querying Script Builder Users Software Vendors/Authors Package Triage Process How To Request a New Package Maintainers Take Over Package Maintenance Exclusively Deprecate a Package List / Unlist a Package Common Errors and Resolutions Moderation Package Validator Moderation Service Package Validator Rules CPMR0001 - Copyright Character Count Below 4 (nuspec) CPMR0002 - Description Missing (nuspec) CPMR0003 - Install Script Named Incorrectly (package) CPMR0004 - Do Not Package Internal Files (package) CPMR0005 - LICENSE.txt file missing when binaries included (package) CPMR0006 - VERIFICATION.txt file missing when binaries included (package) CPMR0007 - License Url Missing / License Acceptance is True (nuspec) CPMR0008 - Portable Package Uses Program Files (script) CPMR0009 - ProjectUrl Missing (nuspec) CPMR0010 - Script Contains Choco Commands (script) CPMR0011 - Script Imports Chocolatey Module (script) CPMR0012 - Script Uses Internal Variables (script) CPMR0013 - Source Control Files Are Packaged (package) CPMR0014 - Tags Have Commas (nuspec) CPMR0015 - Uninstall Script Named Incorrectly (script) CPMR0016 - Script Contains Usage of Installation Arguments (script) CPMR0017 - Deprecated Packages Must Have A Dependency (nuspec) CPMR0018 - Install Script Shouldn't Call Uninstall Script (script) CPMR0019 - Nuspec Contains Templated Values (nuspec) CPMR0020 - Nuspec Contains Email (nuspec) CPMR0021 - Operating System Index Files are packaged (package) CPMR0022 - Comments Are Not Cleaned Up (script) CPMR0023 - Tags Missing (nuspec) CPMR0024 - Prerelease information shouldn't be included as part of Package Id (nuspec) CPMR0025 - Source Control Ignore Files Are Packaged (package) CPMR0026 - Description Character Count Above 4000 (nuspec) CPMR0027 - Checksum Should Be Used (script) CPMR0028 - Scripts Do Not Download Software From FossHub (script) CPMR0029 - Package Id Does Not End With .config (nuspec) CPMR0030 - Description Contains Invalid Markdown Heading (nuspec) CPMR0031 - Invalid URL (nuspec) CPMR0032 - Description Character Count Below 30 (nuspec) CPMR0033 - IconUrl Missing (nuspec) CPMR0034 - Use of SourceForge (script) CPMR0035 - Use of Get-BinRoot (script) CPMR0036 - Install-BinFile With No Remove-BinFile (script) CPMR0037 - Custom Action In Install With No Uninstall (script) CPMR0038 - LicenseUrl Matches ProjectUrl (script) CPMR0039 - LicenseUrl Missing (nuspec) CPMR0040 - PackageSourceUrl Missing (nuspec) CPMR0041 - ProjectSourceUrl Matches ProjectUrl (nuspec) CPMR0042 - ReleaseNotes Missing (nuspec) CPMR0043 - Script Is Too Long (script) CPMR0044 - Script Contains Install-ChocolateyDesktopLink (script) CPMR0045 - Script Contains Write-Chocolatey* Method (script) CPMR0046 - Script Contains Start-Process (script) CPMR0047 - Summary Missing (nuspec) CPMR0048 - Tags Contain Chocolatey (nuspec) CPMR0049 - Title Missing (nuspec) CPMR0050 - Title Matches Id (nuspec) CPMR0051 - More Than 3 Installation Scripts (script) CPMR0052 - Dependency With No Version (nuspec) CPMR0053 - Deprecated Package Title Should Start With [Deprecated] (nuspec) CPMR0054 - Nuspec File Should Be UTF-8 (nuspec) CPMR0055 - Script Uses Custom Downloaders (script) CPMR0056 - Invalid URL (nuspec) CPMR0057 - Nuspec Enhancements Missing (nuspec) CPMR0058 - Use PNG or SVG for package icons (nuspec) CPMR0059 - Don't Use Get-WmiObject For Finding Installed Packages (script) CPMR0060 - Binaries Included (package) CPMR0061 - Id Contains "." (nuspec) CPMR0062 - Chocolatey Dependency (nuspec) CPMR0063 - Usage of WScript (script) CPMR0064 - Usage of .CreateShortcut (script) CPMR0065 - Usage of Rundll32 (script) CPMR0066 - Usage of msiexec (script) CPMR0067 - notSilent tag is being used (nuspec) CPMR0068 - Author Does Not Match Maintainer (nuspec) CPMR0069 - Package Id is too long, and doesn't contain dashes (nuspec) CPMR0070 - Package Id uses underscores (nuspec) CPMR0071 - Script uses commercial cmdlets (script) CPMR0072 - Usage of Private Environment Variables CPMR0073 - Script do not validate downloaded files CPMR0074 - Dependency On Hook Package (nuspec) CPMR0075 - Script uses GitHub Comment assets (script) CPMR0076 - Raw GitHub Icon URL Is Used (nuspec) Package Verifier Moderation Service Package Scanner Moderation Service Package Cleaner Moderation Service Package Cacher Moderation Service Chocolatey Community Repository FAQ Chocolatey CLI (choco) Release Notes - Chocolatey CLI What's new in Chocolatey CLI v2.0.0 Setup / Install How to uninstall Sensitive Inputs Commands Cache Config Download Export Find Feature Features Help Info Install License List Optimize Outdated Pin Rule Search SetApiKey Source Sources Support Sync Synchronize Uninstall UnpackSelf Upgrade Features HTTP Caching in Chocolatey CLI Version Number Normalization Automatic Uninstaller Chocolatey CLI Troubleshooting Dependency Troubleshooting in Chocolatey CLI Unable to Load Service Index Errors Chocolatey GUI Release Notes - Chocolatey GUI Setup Installation Uninstallation Configuration Features Show Console Output Default to Tile View for Local Source Default to Tile View for Remote Source Use Delayed Search Prevent Preload Prevent Automated Outdated Packages Check Exclude Installed Packages Show Aggregated Source Show Additional Package Information Allow Non Admin Access to Settings Use Keyboard Bindings Hide Package Download Count Prevent All Package Icon Downloads Hide All Remote Chocolatey Sources Default To Dark Mode Hide This PC Source Prevent usage of Update All button Settings Default Source Name Outdated Packages Cache Duration in Minutes Use Language User Interface Main Window Local Source Remote Source Package Details Actions View Package Arguments Install Advanced Install Pin Unpin Reinstall Uninstall Update Actions Search Check for outdated packages Refresh Update All Export Switch Tile/List View Toggle Light/Dark Mode Settings Chocolatey GUI Chocolatey Sources Add Source Edit Source Delete Source Actions Purge Outdated Packages Purge Icons About About - History About - Credits About - Release Notes (Chocolatey GUI) Commands Config Feature Purge Business Features Branding Admin Only Sources Localization Known Issues Chocolatey Licensed Extension Release Notes - Chocolatey Licensed Extension Setup / How to install licensed edition Compatibility Intune Prerequisites for Intune functionality Intune Configuration Converting Chocolatey Packages to Intune Packages Pushing Converted Intune Packages Upgrading Chocolatey versions through Intune Intune Frequently Asked Questions Chocolatey GUI Licensed Extension Release Notes - Chocolatey GUI Extension Setup Installation Uninstallation Chocolatey Agent Release Notes - Chocolatey Agent Setup Upgrade Chocolatey Central Management (CCM) Release Notes - Chocolatey Central Management Setup Database Service Website Client Upgrade Usage Website Dashboard Deployment Plans Groups Computers Software Reports Administration Roles Users Sensitive Variables Audit Logs Maintenance Settings General Dashboard Website User Management Security Email (SMTP) Retention Policies General Service Configuration Message Processing API Examples Examples Deployment Plans FAQs Chocolatey for Business Environments Azure Environment Release Notes - Chocolatey for Business Azure Environment Package Selection Client Setup RDP Access Certificate Update License Update Upgrading Nexus C4B Quick Start Environment C4B Quick Start Guide Advanced Endpoint Configuration Firewall Rules Certificate Renewal Upgrading Nexus Upgrading Jenkins Package Creation Create Packages Quick Start Commands New Pack ApiKey Push Template Templates Convert Package Dependencies in Chocolatey PowerShell Cmdlet Reference Get-EnvironmentVariable Get-EnvironmentVariableNames Install-ChocolateyPath Set-EnvironmentVariable Test-ProcessAdminRights Uninstall-ChocolateyPath Update-SessionEnvironment PowerShell Functions Reference Format-FileSize Get-ChecksumValid Get-ChocolateyConfigValue Get-ChocolateyPath Get-ChocolateyUnzip Get-ChocolateyWebFile Get-FtpFile Get-OSArchitectureWidth Get-PackageParameters Get-ToolsLocation Get-UACEnabled Get-UninstallRegistryKey Get-VirusCheckValid Get-WebFile Get-WebFileName Get-WebHeaders Install-BinFile Install-ChocolateyEnvironmentVariable Install-ChocolateyExplorerMenuItem Install-ChocolateyFileAssociation Install-ChocolateyInstallPackage Install-ChocolateyPackage Install-ChocolateyPinnedTaskBarItem Install-ChocolateyPowershellCommand Install-ChocolateyShortcut Install-ChocolateyVsixPackage Install-ChocolateyZipPackage Install-Vsix Install-ChocolateyWindowsService Set-PowerShellExitCode Start-ChocolateyProcessAsAdmin Uninstall-BinFile Uninstall-ChocolateyEnvironmentVariable Uninstall-ChocolateyPackage Start-ChocolateyWindowsService Stop-ChocolateyWindowsService Uninstall-ChocolateyZipPackage Write-FunctionCallLogMessage Uninstall-ChocolateyWindowsService Automatic Packaging Hook Scripts Guides Upgrading To Chocolatey Products v2.0.0 and Chocolatey Licensed Extension 6.0.0 Using Chocolatey Use Chocolatey w/Proxy Server Change Download Cache Location aka Don't use TEMP for downloads Install/Upgrade a Package w/out running install scripts Set up a Development Environment Set up Tab Completion Package Creation How To Prepare a Package Creation Environment How To Create an MSI Installer Package How To Create a Zip Package How To Create a CLI Executable Package How To Create a Script Package How To Create a Configuration Package How To Create a Chocolatey Meta Package Manually Recompile Packages, Embedding/Internalizing Remote Resources Parse Package Parameters Mount Iso How To Create Chocolatey Packages With Large Files Create Custom Package Templates How to create a Package Template How To Create an Extension Package How To Create a Hook Package How To Export Your Packages Organizations Chocolatey for Business Organizational Deployment Guide Repository Solution Automation Solution Chocolatey Central Management Client Setup Proxying the Chocolatey Community Repository Automate Package Internalizer (MSP/C4B) How To Set Up a Repository With Certificate Authentication How to Configure Chocolatey Central Management to Use HSTS Running on Non-Windows Systems Information Release Notes Index Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) Licensed Security Legal Terms of Use History More Learning Resources Resources Videos Presentations Third Party Integrations Microsoft Intune Create an Azure AD Application How To Create a CLI Executable Package Chocolatey Guides Package Creation How To Create a CLI Executable Package How To Create a CLI Executable Package Chocolatey Guides Package Creation How To Create a CLI Executable Package Chocolatey packages can also just contain executables - and you won’t even need to write an installation script to use them! We’re going to walk you through creating a CLI executable package now - assuming you’ve already run through Preparing Your Environment for Package Creation . What Is a CLI Executable We’d class just about any executable (or EXE file) that can be run without installation as a CLI executable, and developers of software projects will sometimes publish a separate version of software available to just download and run rather than install. Why Might You Use an Executable Package These packages can be very helpful for users who want to have tools quickly available without installation - sometimes referred to on the Chocolatey Community Repository as portable packages. They’re generally extremely quick to install, as there’s no additional logic being run, and leave little to no footprint on the computer after removal. This can be very helpful on a build container, or for tools that just don’t need to be installed. Using Shimgen Normally, we’d talk about a function included with Chocolatey CLI that allows us to install some files - in this case, we’re just dropping an EXE onto disk (and in the package directory, at that) - how is this going to work? Nobody will want to find and use the entire path to the tool every time! Happily, this has been solved for a while: `Shimgen.exe` is a long-term feature included with Chocolatey CLI, and is used so that you can have items available on the PATH (allowing them to be run on the command-line) without adding a new entry to the PATH for every package that needs it. EXEs that are found within the package directories at the end of installation have a shim created in the $env:ChocolateyInstall\bin folder, which is on the PATH . If you have an EXE file within your package that you don’t want to have shimmed, you should create an empty file named .ignore in the same directory as the EXE will be found. You can find more details around uses for Shimgen on the docs page . Creating a CLI Executable Package In this example, we will create a package that contains gh.exe , the GitHub CLI executable. NOTE For this example, we’ll provide URLs that are based on versioned URL that worked at the time of writing. These were found in the GitHub releases for the tool. Creating Package Structure This package type is very simple, mostly needing the EXE itself, and a package metadata file - often referred to as the .nuspec . In your tutorials folder, create a new folder for this package. For the example, we will call it gh.portable . Within this folder, create gh.portable.nuspec , with the content as shown below . Navigate to the GH GitHub Releases page, and download the latest version of GitHub CLI windows amd64 (e.g. GitHub CLI 2.39.2 windows amd64.zip - you may need to click Show all releases to find it). a. This will be a zip file so, after the download has completed, extract it directly into the package directory. Package Metadata Content gh.portable $version$ __REPLACE_YOUR_NAME__ GitHub CLI (Portable) GitHub https://cli.github.com/ https://github.com/cli/cli/blob/trunk/LICENSE https://github.com/cli/cli/ https://github.com/cli/cli/issues gh cli portable example

GitHub on the Command Line

https://github.com/cli/cli/releases You’ll want to update the following fields in the metadata section: owners : This field shows who maintains the package - your name or handle should be added! We have already filled many of the other included fields, including the following: id : We have chosen the example package name, including the .portable suffix - which is often used to denote non-install packages on the Chocolatey Community Repository. version : We have used $version$ here, as we’re going to introduce a neat trick later to update this during choco pack . files : We have added paths matching the files within the release artifact you downloaded above in order to pack the extracted files correctly. Compiling Your Package You can now run choco pack to compile your Chocolatey package, creating a file with a .nupkg extension, ready for installation! In VS Code, press Ctrl+Shift+ P or use the View menu and click on Command Palette . Select Chocolatey: Package Chocolatey package(s) from the prompt. Select gh.portable.nuspec from the prompt. Add --version 2.39.1 (or the most recent version), which will override the version in the metadata, and press Enter . You should have a new package generated in your root directory. Installing Your Package You can now test installation of the package. Beware Installing and uninstalling the example package may affect existing installations (as you’re essentially testing in production). We recommend testing on a separate environment that is not crucial to your workflow. In an elevated PowerShell command prompt , run the following: choco install gh.portable --source='tutorials' -y The command should run, and gh.exe should now be available on the command li

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