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The top-level nsis key contains set of options instructing electron-builder on how it should build NSIS target (default target for Windows). These options also applicable for Web installer, use top-level nsisWeb key. Unicode enabled by default. Large strings are supported (maximum string length of 8192 bytes instead of the default of 1024 bytes).

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32 bit + 64 bit

If you build both ia32 and x64 arch (--x64 --ia32), you in any case get one installer. Appropriate arch will be installed automatically. The same applied to web installer (nsis-web target).

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Web Installer

To build web installer, set target to nsis-web. Web Installer automatically detects OS architecture and downloads corresponding package file. So, user don’t need to guess what installer to download and in the same time you don’t bundle package files for all architectures in the one installer (as in case of default nsis target). It doesn’t matter for common Electron application (due to superb LZMA compression, size difference is acceptable), but if your application is huge, Web Installer is a solution. To customize web installer, use the top-level nsisWeb key (not nsis). If for some reasons web installer cannot download (antivirus, offline):
  • Download package file into the same directory where installer located. It will be detected automatically and used instead of downloading from the Internet. Please note — only original package file is allowed (checksum is checked).
  • Specify any local package file using --package-file=path_to_file.

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Custom NSIS Script

Two options are available — include and script. script allows you to provide completely different NSIS script. For most cases it is not required as you need only to customise some aspects, but still use well-tested and maintained default NSIS script. So, include is recommended. Keep in mind — if you customize NSIS script, you should always state about it in the issue reports. And don’t expect that your issue will be resolved.
  1. Add file build/installer.nsh.
  2. Define wanted macro to customise: customHeader, preInit, customInit, customUnInit, customInstall, customUnInstall, customRemoveFiles, customInstallMode, customWelcomePage, customUnWelcomePage, customUnInstallSection.
!macro customHeader
  !system "echo '' > ${BUILD_RESOURCES_DIR}/customHeader"
!macroend

!macro preInit
  ; This macro is inserted at the beginning of the NSIS .OnInit callback
  !system "echo '' > ${BUILD_RESOURCES_DIR}/preInit"
!macroend

!macro customInit
  !system "echo '' > ${BUILD_RESOURCES_DIR}/customInit"
!macroend

!macro customInstall
  !system "echo '' > ${BUILD_RESOURCES_DIR}/customInstall"
!macroend

!macro customInstallMode
  # set $isForceMachineInstall or $isForceCurrentInstall
  # to enforce one or the other modes.
!macroend

!macro customWelcomePage
  # Welcome Page is not added by default for installer.
  !insertMacro MUI_PAGE_WELCOME
!macroend

!macro customUnWelcomePage
  !define MUI_WELCOMEPAGE_TITLE "custom title for uninstaller welcome page"
  !define MUI_WELCOMEPAGE_TEXT "custom text for uninstaller welcome page $\r$\n more"
  !insertmacro MUI_UNPAGE_WELCOME
!macroend

!macro customUnInstallSection
  Section /o "un.Some cool checkbox"
    ; You can add some uninstall section as component page
    ; If defined, then always run after `customUnInstall`
  SectionEnd
!macroend
  • BUILD_RESOURCES_DIR and PROJECT_DIR are defined.
  • build is added as addincludedir (i.e. you don’t need to use BUILD_RESOURCES_DIR to include files).
  • build/x86-unicode and build/x86-ansi are added as addplugindir.
  • File associations macro registerFileAssociations and unregisterFileAssociations are still defined.
  • All other electron-builder specific flags (e.g. ONE_CLICK) are still defined.
If you want to include additional resources for use during installation, such as scripts or additional installers, you can place them in the build directory and include them with File. For example, to include and run extramsi.msi during installation, place it in the build directory and use the following: 
!macro customInstall
  File /oname=$PLUGINSDIR\extramsi.msi "${BUILD_RESOURCES_DIR}\extramsi.msi"
  ExecWait '"msiexec" /i "$PLUGINSDIR\extramsi.msi" /passive'
!macroend
Use ${isUpdated}.
${ifNot} ${isUpdated}
  # your code
${endIf}

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GUID vs Application Name

Windows requires to use registry keys (e.g. INSTALL/UNINSTALL info). Squirrel.Windows simply uses application name as key. But it is not robust — Google can use key Google Chrome SxS, because it is a Google. So, it is better to use GUID. You are not forced to explicitly specify it — name-based UUID v5 will be generated from your appId or name. It means that you should not change appId once your application in use (or name if appId was not set). Application product name (title) or description can be safely changed. You can explicitly set guid using option guid, but it is not recommended — consider using appId. It is also important to set the Application User Model ID (AUMID) to the appId of the application, in order for notifications on Windows 8/8.1 to function and for Window 10 notifications to display the app icon within the notifications by default. The AUMID should be set within the Main process and before any BrowserWindows have been opened, it is normally the first piece of code executed: app.setAppUserModelId(appId)

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Portable

To build portable app, set target to portable (or pass --win portable). For portable app, following environment variables are available:
  • PORTABLE_EXECUTABLE_FILE - path to the portable executable.
  • PORTABLE_EXECUTABLE_DIR - directory where the portable executable is located.
  • PORTABLE_EXECUTABLE_APP_FILENAME - sanitized app name to use in file paths.

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Common Questions

It is very specific requirement. Do not do if you are not sure. Add custom macro:
!macro preInit
  SetRegView 64
  WriteRegExpandStr HKLM "${INSTALL_REGISTRY_KEY}" InstallLocation "C:\MyApp"
  WriteRegExpandStr HKCU "${INSTALL_REGISTRY_KEY}" InstallLocation "C:\MyApp"
  SetRegView 32
  WriteRegExpandStr HKLM "${INSTALL_REGISTRY_KEY}" InstallLocation "C:\MyApp"
  WriteRegExpandStr HKCU "${INSTALL_REGISTRY_KEY}" InstallLocation "C:\MyApp"
!macroend
Yes, you need to switch to assisted installer (not default one-click).package.json
"build": {
  "nsis": {
    "oneClick": false
  }
}
electron-builder.yml
nsis:
  oneClick: false

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Configuration

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oneClick
boolean
default:"true"
Whether to create one-click installer or assisted.
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perMachine
boolean
default:"false"
Whether to show install mode installer page (choice per-machine or per-user) for assisted installer. Or whether installation always per all users (per-machine).If oneClick is true (default): Whether to install per all users (per-machine).If oneClick is false and perMachine is true: no install mode installer page, always install per-machine.If oneClick is false and perMachine is false (default): install mode installer page.
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selectPerMachineByDefault
boolean
default:"false"
Whether to set per-machine or per-user installation as default selection on the install mode installer page.
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allowElevation
boolean
default:"true"
Assisted installer only. Allow requesting for elevation. If false, user will have to restart installer with elevated permissions.
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allowToChangeInstallationDirectory
boolean
default:"false"
Assisted installer only. Whether to allow user to change installation directory.
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removeDefaultUninstallWelcomePage
boolean
default:"false"
Assisted installer only. Remove the default uninstall welcome page.
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installerIcon
string
The path to installer icon, relative to the build resources or to the project directory. Defaults to build/installerIcon.ico or application icon.
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uninstallerIcon
string
The path to uninstaller icon, relative to the build resources or to the project directory. Defaults to build/uninstallerIcon.ico or application icon.
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installerHeader
string
default:"build/installerHeader.bmp"
Assisted installer only. MUI_HEADERIMAGE, relative to the build resources or to the project directory.
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installerHeaderIcon
string
One-click installer only. The path to header icon (above the progress bar), relative to the build resources or to the project directory. Defaults to build/installerHeaderIcon.ico or application icon.
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installerSidebar
string
Assisted installer only. MUI_WELCOMEFINISHPAGE_BITMAP, relative to the build resources or to the project directory. Defaults to build/installerSidebar.bmp or ${NSISDIR}\\Contrib\\Graphics\\Wizard\\nsis3-metro.bmp. Image size 164 × 314 pixels.
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uninstallerSidebar
string
Assisted installer only. MUI_UNWELCOMEFINISHPAGE_BITMAP, relative to the build resources or to the project directory. Defaults to installerSidebar option or build/uninstallerSidebar.bmp or build/installerSidebar.bmp or ${NSISDIR}\\Contrib\\Graphics\\Wizard\\nsis3-metro.bmp
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uninstallDisplayName
string
default:"${productName} ${version}"
The uninstaller display name in the control panel.
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uninstallUrlHelp
string
The URL to the uninstaller help page in the control panel. Defaults to homepage from application package.json.
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uninstallUrlInfoAbout
string
The URL to the uninstaller info about page in the control panel. Defaults to homepage from application package.json.
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uninstallUrlUpdateInfo
string
The URL to the uninstaller update info page in the control panel. Defaults to homepage from application package.json.
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uninstallUrlReadme
string
The URL to the uninstaller readme page in the control panel. Defaults to homepage from application package.json.
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include
string
The path to NSIS include script to customize installer. Defaults to build/installer.nsh. See Custom NSIS script.
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script
string
The path to NSIS script to customize installer. Defaults to build/installer.nsi. See Custom NSIS script.
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license
string
The path to EULA license file. Defaults to license.txt or eula.txt (or uppercase variants). In addition to txt, rtf and html supported (don’t forget to use target="_blank" for links).Multiple license files in different languages are supported — use lang postfix (e.g. _de, _ru). For example, create files license_de.txt and license_en.txt in the build resources. If OS language is german, license_de.txt will be displayed.Appropriate license file will be selected by user OS language.
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artifactName
string
default:"${productName} Setup ${version}.${ext}"
The artifact file name template.
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deleteAppDataOnUninstall
boolean
default:"false"
One-click installer only. Whether to delete app data on uninstall.
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displayLanguageSelector
boolean
default:"false"
Whether to display a language selection dialog. Not recommended (by default will be detected using OS language).
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installerLanguages
string | string[]
The installer languages (e.g. en_US, de_DE). Change only if you understand what do you do and for what.
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language
string
default:"1033"
LCID Dec, defaults to 1033 (English - United States).
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multiLanguageInstaller
boolean
Whether to create multi-language installer. Defaults to unicode option value.
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packElevateHelper
boolean
default:"true"
Whether to pack the elevate executable (required for electron-updater if per-machine installer used or can be used in the future). Ignored if perMachine is set to true.
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preCompressedFileExtensions
string | string[]
The file extension of files that will be not compressed. Applicable only for extraResources and extraFiles files.
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buildUniversalInstaller
boolean
default:"true"
Disable building an universal installer of the archs specified in the target configuration. Not supported for nsis-web
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unicode
boolean
default:"true"
Whether to create Unicode installer.
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guid
string
See GUID vs Application Name.
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warningsAsErrors
boolean
default:"true"
If warningsAsErrors is true (default): NSIS will treat warnings as errors. If warningsAsErrors is false: NSIS will allow warnings.
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customNsisBinary
CustomNsisBinary
Allows you to provide your own makensis, such as one with support for debug logging via LogSet and LogText. (Logging also requires option debugLogging = true)
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customNsisResources
CustomNsisResources
Allows you to provide your own nsis-resources.

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Common Installer Options

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runAfterFinish
boolean
default:"true"
Whether to run the installed application after finish. For assisted installer corresponding checkbox will be removed.
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createDesktopShortcut
boolean | 'always'
default:"true"
Whether to create desktop shortcut. Set to always if to recreate also on reinstall (even if removed by user).
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createStartMenuShortcut
boolean
default:"true"
Whether to create start menu shortcut.
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menuCategory
boolean | string
default:"false"
Whether to create submenu for start menu shortcut and program files directory. If true, company name will be used. Or string value.
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shortcutName
string
The name that will be used for all shortcuts. Defaults to the application name.

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Web Installer Configuration

Use the nsisWeb key for web installer specific options.
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appPackageUrl
string
The application package download URL. Optional — by default computed using publish configuration.URL like https://example.com/download/latest allows web installer to be version independent (installer will download latest application package). Please note — it is full URL.Custom X-Arch http header is set to 32 or 64.
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artifactName
string
default:"${productName} Web Setup ${version}.${ext}"
The artifact file name template for web installer.

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Portable Options

Use the portable target for portable app options.
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requestExecutionLevel
'user' | 'highest' | 'admin'
default:"user"
The requested execution level for Windows.
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unpackDirName
string | boolean
The unpack directory for the portable app resources.If set to a string, it will be the name in TEMP directory. If set explicitly to false, it will use the Windows temp directory ($PLUGINSDIR) that is unique to each launch of the portable application.Defaults to uuid of build (changed on each build of portable executable).
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splashImage
string
The image to show while the portable executable is extracting. This image must be a bitmap (.bmp) image.

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