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winbox4-install-helper

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Mikrotik WinBox4 Install Bash Script Helper

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# Mikrotik WinBox4 Install Helper

This is a Bash script to automate the installation of Mikrotik WinBox4 on Linux distributions. The script downloads the official WinBox4 binaries, sets up a symlink for easy access, creates a desktop entry, and attempts to migrate previous WinBox data if available.

## Features

- Downloads the official Mikrotik WinBox4 binaries.
- Unpacks the archive and installs it to `/opt/winbox4`.
- Creates a symlink to `winbox` in `/usr/local/bin` for easy terminal access.
- Adds a desktop entry in `/usr/share/applications` for launching from the application manager.
- Migrates previous `Addresses.cdb` data from older installations (if found).
- Automatically checks the Mikrotik download page for updated versions of WinBox4.
- Avoids overwriting existing symlinks, desktop entries, and data.

## Prerequisites

- Linux distribution.
- Must be run as `root` or with `sudo` privileges to modify system directories.
- `wget` and `unzip` must be installed on the system.

## Installation

1. Clone the repository:

```bash
   git clone https://github.com/edyatl/winbox4-install-helper.git
   ```

2. Navigate to the repository directory:

```bash
   cd winbox4-install-helper
   ```

3. Make the script executable:

```bash
   chmod +x winbox4_install.sh
   ```

4. Run the script as root:

```bash
   sudo ./winbox4_install.sh
   ```

## Script Details

### What the script does:

1. **Download**: It downloads the official Mikrotik WinBox4 archive from the [Mikrotik website](https://mikrotik.com/download).
2. **Install**: Unpacks the downloaded archive and moves it to `/opt/winbox4`.
3. **Symlink**: Creates a symlink from `/opt/winbox4/WinBox` to `/usr/local/bin/winbox` for easy command-line access.
4. **Desktop Entry**: Adds a `.desktop` entry in `/usr/share/applications/winbox4.desktop` to allow launching WinBox from the application menu.
5. **Data Migration**: Attempts to find previous `Addresses.cdb` data in `~/.winbox/drive_c/users/<user>/AppData/Roaming/Mikrotik/Winbox/Addresses.cdb` and copies it to the new installation at `~/.local/share/MikroTik/WinBox/Addresses.cdb`.
6. **Version Check**: Automatically checks the Mikrotik download page for new versions of WinBox4 and updates the installation if a new version is found.
7. **Avoids Overwriting**: If any symlink, desktop file, or address database already exists, the script skips these steps.

## Uninstallation

To completely uninstall WinBox4, you can use the provided uninstall script `winbox4_uninstall.sh`:

1. Make the script executable:

```bash
   chmod +x winbox4_uninstall.sh
   ```

2. Run the script as root:

```bash
   sudo ./winbox4_uninstall.sh
   ```

### What the uninstall script does:

1. **Removes the symlink**: Deletes the symlink `/usr/local/bin/winbox` used to launch WinBox from the terminal.
2. **Removes the desktop entry**: Deletes the `.desktop` file at `/usr/share/applications/winbox4.desktop` used to launch WinBox from the application menu.
3. **Removes the installation directory**: Deletes the WinBox4 installation folder located at `/opt/winbox4`.
4. **Preserves user data**: The script does not automatically delete your saved `Addresses.cdb` file. It will notify you if the file is found at `$HOME/.local/share/MikroTik/WinBox/Addresses.cdb`, allowing you to decide if you want to remove it manually.

### Manual Removal of User Data

If you wish to remove your saved addresses and configuration data, you can manually delete the file:

```bash
rm -rf ~/.local/share/MikroTik/WinBox
```

After running the uninstall script and optionally removing user data, WinBox4 will be fully removed from your system.

### Manual Uninstallation

To uninstall WinBox4 without uninstall script, you can manually remove the following:

1. Remove the symlink:

```bash
   sudo rm /usr/local/bin/winbox
   ```

2. Remove the installation directory:

```bash
   sudo rm -rf /opt/winbox4
   ```

3. Remove the desktop entry:

```bash
   sudo rm /usr/share/applications/winbox4.desktop
   ```

## Update

To update WinBox4 to a new version, first run the uninstall script, then reinstall the latest version using the install script:

```bash
sudo ./winbox4_uninstall.sh && sudo ./winbox4_install.sh
```

This ensures that the previous installation is completely removed before installing the updated version. The script will automatically download the latest WinBox4 version available from Mikrotik’s official download page.

## Changelog

- **2026-07-18:**
    - Added validation of `DOWNLOAD_DIR` fallback.
    - Improved `get_current_version` to gracefully degrade to "Unknown" on failure.
    - Removed dead `exit 1` calls after error handling improvements.
    - Updated GitHub Actions workflow to use `actions/checkout@v6`.

- **2026-07-05:**
    - Fixed ownership and permissions of files placed in `/opt/winbox4` (`chown -R root:root` + `chmod -R go-w`).
    - Added timeout and retries to `wget` download (`--timeout=30 --tries=3`).
    - Added `-o` flag to `unzip` to prevent hangs on re-runs.
    - Added upfront checks for required commands (`wget`, `unzip`, `xdg-user-dir`).
    - Improved ERR trap to provide context (`Failed at line $LINENO: $BASH_COMMAND`).
    - Added `set -o pipefail` for better error handling in pipelines.

- **2026-06-20:**
    - Implemented WinBox4 version checking and update detection logic.
      - Added `get_current_version()` using the installed binary's `--version` flag (with proper DBUS session handling).
      - Compare current vs. latest version from MikroTik download page.
      - Show appropriate messages and exit early if already up-to-date.
      - Detect version from download URL path (e.g., `WinBox 4.0beta4`).

- **2026-06-17:**
    - Added User-Agent header to download requests (in both script and test) for better compatibility.
    - Minor debug and workflow adjustments (later partially reverted).

- **2026-02-03:**
    - Added automated testing for WinBox4 Linux download link extraction.
      - Introduced a GitHub Actions workflow to verify the download link against the Mikrotik website on a daily schedule.
      - The test reuses the link extraction logic from the install script to detect upstream page changes early.

- **2026-02-01:**
    - Updated WinBox4 Linux download link extraction logic after MikroTik page change.
      - Adjusted the parsing command to extract the download URL directly from the `href` attribute.
      - Improved resilience against changes in the Mikrotik download page structure, including dynamic modal-based markup.

- **2024-09-30:**
    - Updated the command used to fetch the latest WinBox4 Linux download link from the Mikrotik website.
      - Adapted the script to handle changes in the Mikrotik download page HTML structure.
      - The download link extraction now reliably matches the `<a>` tag with the keyword 'Linux' without depending on surrounding text like '64-bit'.

- **2024-09-10:**
    - Improved handling of `$HOME` and user environment when running the script with `sudo`:
      - The script now correctly identifies the original user invoking `sudo` using the `SUDO_USER` environment variable.
      - Updated file paths for downloading WinBox4 and migrating `Addresses.cdb` to reflect the original user's home directory, ensuring correct ownership and avoiding root's home.
      - Adjusted the `xdg-user-dir` call to use the original user’s environment by running it with `sudo -u $ORIGINAL_USER`.
      - Ensured file operations like `wget`, `unzip`, `mkdir`, and `cp` are executed as the original user to avoid permission issues.
    - Applied similar changes to the uninstall script to handle user-specific data correctly during the uninstallation process.

- **2024-09-09:**
    - Added automatic checking of new WinBox4 versions from the Mikrotik download page.
    - Improved script to detect and update the latest download link.

- **2024-09-07:**
    - Initial release with features to automate WinBox4 installation.

## License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.

## Contributions

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request if you have suggestions or improvements.

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