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boots is a .NET global tool for "bootstrapping" vsix & pkg files. Just "boots https://url/to/your/package"!

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# boots

![boots](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jonathanpeppers/boots/main/icon.png)

| NuGet |
| --           |
| `boots` <br/> [![NuGet](https://img.shields.io/nuget/dt/boots.svg)](https://www.nuget.org/packages/boots) |
| `Cake.Boots` <br/> [![NuGet](https://img.shields.io/nuget/dt/Cake.Boots.svg)](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Cake.Boots) |

| Azure DevOps | App Center | Github Actions | Bitrise |
| --           | --         | --             | --      |
| [![Build Status](https://dev.azure.com/jonathanpeppers/boots/_apis/build/status/jonathanpeppers.boots?branchName=main)](https://dev.azure.com/jonathanpeppers/boots/_build/latest?definitionId=1&branchName=main) | [![AppCenter](https://build.appcenter.ms/v0.1/apps/87931b9c-e617-4fb7-bfa9-9bfd74f39abb/branches/main/badge)][appcenter] | [![Github Actions](https://github.com/jonathanpeppers/boots/workflows/GitHub%20Actions/badge.svg)](https://github.com/jonathanpeppers/boots/actions) | [![Bitrise](https://app.bitrise.io/app/bb148b2cc62339da/status.svg?token=TEhuHdoNElmh2w8uQ-mYcQ&branch=main)](https://app.bitrise.io/app/bb148b2cc62339da) |

`boots` is a [.NET global tool](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tools/global-tools) for "bootstrapping" vsix & pkg files.

`boots` is useful for pinning a version of Mono, Xamarin, etc. when building projects on [Azure DevOps Hosted Agents](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/agents/agents?view=azure-devops). You don't get to _choose_ what versions of things are installed on each agent, so it makes sense to install things yourself for reproducible builds. It also allows you to install preview versions of things (or more recent!) before they come preinstalled on Hosted build agents.

## Use it

```bash
dotnet tool install --global boots
boots https://url/to/your/package
```

`boots` currently supports Windows & Mac OSX, therefore:

* On Windows - assumes the file is a `.vsix` and installs it into all instances of Visual Studio via `VSIXInstaller.exe`.
* On Mac OSX - assumes the file is a `.pkg` and installs it

### Builds from Stable & Preview Visual Studio Channels

By querying the Visual Studio updater manifests, `boots` 1.0.2 or
higher allows you to install the latest versions of Xamarin or Mono
from the stable or preview channels.

Some examples:

```bash
boots --stable Mono
boots --preview Xamarin.Android
boots --preview Xamarin.iOS
boots --preview Xamarin.Mac
```

This would install the latest stable Mono and the latest previews for Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS, and Xamarin.Mac.

### Cake

You can also use `boots` from a [Cake][cake] script:

```csharp
#addin nuget:?package=Cake.Boots&version=1.0.3.556

Task("Boots")
    .Does(async () =>
    {
        if (!IsRunningOnWindows ()) {
            await Boots (Product.XamarinMac, ReleaseChannel.Stable);
            await Boots (Product.XamariniOS, ReleaseChannel.Preview);
        }
        await Boots (Product.XamarinAndroid, ReleaseChannel.Preview);
    });
```

If you omit the second `ReleaseChannel` parameter, it will default to `ReleaseChannel.Stable`.

> NOTE! if you need to install Mono, do this in a separate process from the rest of your Cake build.

For example:

```csharp
Task("Mono")
    .Does(async () =>
    {
        await Boots (Product.Mono);
    });
```

Then invoke Cake twice:

```bash
dotnet cake --target=Mono
dotnet cake --target=Boots
```

[cake]: https://cakebuild.net/

### Network Resiliency

CI systems are somewhat notorious for random networking failures.
Starting in boots 1.0.4, you can control some of this behavior:

```
  --timeout <seconds>               Specifies a timeout for HttpClient. If omitted, uses the .NET default of 100 seconds.
  --read-write-timeout <seconds>    Specifies a timeout for reading/writing from a HttpClient stream. If omitted, uses a default of 300 seconds.
  --retries <int>                   Specifies a number of retries for HttpClient failures. If omitted, uses a default of 3 retries.
```

This can also be defined in a [Cake][cake] script with the
`BootsSettings` class:

```csharp
var settings = new BootsSettings {
    Channel = ReleaseChannel.Stable,
    Product = Product.XamarinAndroid,
    Timeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds (100),
    ReadWriteTimeout = TimeSpan.FromMinutes (5),
    NetworkRetries = 3,
};
await Boots (settings);
```

### Use the Azure Pipeline Extension Task

Install the extension into your DevOps instance and add the task to a build or release, or use it from YAML:

```yaml
steps:
- task: Boots@1
  displayName: Install Xamarin.Android
  inputs:
    uri: https://aka.ms/xamarin-android-commercial-d16-4-windows
```

You can install the [Boots Extension from the VS Marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=pjcollins.azp-utilities-boots).

See the [Boots Task Extension Source](https://github.com/pjcollins/azure-web-extensions#use-in-your-yaml-pipeline) for more details.

If you don't want to use the extension, alternatively you can:

```yaml
variables:
  DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT: true
steps:
- script: |
    dotnet tool install --global boots
    boots https://aka.ms/xamarin-android-commercial-d16-4-windows
```

`DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT` is optional.

`DOTNET_SKIP_FIRST_TIME_EXPERIENCE` is also a good idea if you are running on a .NET Core older than 3.0.

## Finding Builds

For more information on how to source urls for each platform, see [how to find builds](docs/HowToFindBuilds.md)

## Some Examples

Install Mono, Xamarin.Android, and Xamarin.iOS on Mac OSX:

```bash
boots https://download.mono-project.com/archive/6.4.0/macos-10-universal/MonoFramework-MDK-6.4.0.198.macos10.xamarin.universal.pkg
boots https://aka.ms/xamarin-android-commercial-d16-4-macos
boots https://download.visualstudio.microsoft.com/download/pr/5a678460-107f-4fcf-8764-80419bc874a0/3f78c6826132f6f8569524690322adba/xamarin.ios-13.8.1.17.pkg
```

Install Xamarin.Android on Windows:

```cmd
boots https://aka.ms/xamarin-android-commercial-d16-4-windows
```

### System.CommandLine

`boots` now uses `System.CommandLine`, so we get rich help text for free:

```
> boots --help
boots:
  boots 1.0.x File issues at: https://github.com/jonathanpeppers/boots/issues

Usage:
  boots [options]

Options:
  --url <url>                       A URL to a pkg or vsix file to install
  --stable <product>                Install the latest *stable* version of a product from VS manifests. Options include: Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS, Xamarin.Mac, and Mono.
  --preview <product>               Install the latest *preview* version of a product from VS manifests. Options include: Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS, Xamarin.Mac, and Mono.
  --file-type <msi|pkg|vsix>        Specifies the type of file to be installed such as vsix, pkg, or msi. Defaults to vsix on Windows and pkg on macOS.
  --timeout <seconds>               Specifies a timeout for HttpClient. If omitted, uses the .NET default of 100 seconds.
  --read-write-timeout <seconds>    Specifies a timeout for reading/writing from a HttpClient stream. If omitted, uses a default of 300 seconds.
  --retries <int>                   Specifies a number of retries for HttpClient failures. If omitted, uses a default of 3 retries.
  --version                         Show version information
  -?, -h, --help                    Show help and usage information
```

### App Center

`samples/HelloForms.sln` is a "Hello World" Xamarin.Forms project configured with `boots` installing newer versions than what is available on [App Center][appcenter]:

![AppCenter](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jonathanpeppers/boots/main/docs/AppCenter.png)

See [`appcenter-pre-build.sh`](samples/HelloForms.Android/appcenter-pre-build.sh) in this repo for an example of setting up `boots`. See the [App Center docs](https://aka.ms/docs/build/custom/scripts) for further detail about custom build scripts.

### GitHub Actions

I was able to get `boots` to work on both Windows & macOS agents in [Github Actions][actions].

See [`actions.yml`](.github/workflows/actions.yml) for an example.

### Other CI Systems

`boots` has been tested, and appears to work fine on:

* [Azure DevOps](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/devops/)
* [App Center][appcenter]
* [AppVeyor](https://www.appveyor.com/)
* [Bitrise](https://www.bitrise.io/)
* [Github Actions][actions]
* [Travis CI](https://travis-ci.org/)

Any build environment that can be configured to run .NET Core 2.1, can run `boots`. If you have success on other CI systems, let us know!

[appcenter]: https://appcenter.ms
[actions]: https://github.com/features/actions

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