Installing¶

TrickWork comes in two forms built from one engine, so the desktop app and the container always produce the same art from the same image.

Requirements¶

Container: any amd64 or arm64 Docker host. No database and no volumes.
Desktop: Windows 10 or 11 (x64 or ARM), macOS, or Linux with libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0.

Desktop app¶

Download the build for your system from the latest release:

System	File
Windows 10/11, installer	`trickwork-windows-amd64-installer.exe`
Windows 10/11, portable	`trickwork-windows-amd64-portable.exe`
Windows 11 on ARM	`trickwork-windows-arm64-installer.exe` or `-portable.exe`
macOS	`trickwork-macos-universal.dmg`
Linux	`trickwork-linux-amd64`, on ARM `trickwork-linux-arm64` (both need `libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0`)

The portable Windows file and the Linux binary run without installing anything; on Linux, make the file executable first with chmod +x.

The Windows installer installs for all users under C:\Program Files\TrickWork and asks for an administrator once, while it installs; later updates ask nobody (see Updates). A page asks whether you want a Start menu entry and a desktop shortcut, both ticked at first, and both go to every user on the computer. The next install, silent or not, starts from your answer and removes a shortcut you left out.

The installer also cleans up after older versions. An installation from 1.3.0 or earlier under C:\Program Files\TrickWork\TrickWork goes, and so does a copy installed for you alone under AppData\Local\Programs, with its shortcuts and its entry under Apps. It never touches your settings in %AppData%\TrickWork or what the window keeps in %AppData%\TrickWork.exe.

Updates¶

The desktop app updates itself from GitHub. It asks for the newest release, downloads the file for your system in the background and checks it against the release's checksums.txt. The new version starts the next time you open TrickWork, so nothing changes while it runs, and a note in the corner of the window says when it is ready. Pre-releases are never installed. Update automatically in the General tab of Settings turns this off; it is on from the start.

The installed copy under Program Files cannot replace itself, since no user may write there. A scheduled task named TrickWork Update does it instead, once a day and five minutes after the computer starts, whether TrickWork is open or not. It replaces TrickWork.exe, sets the version shown under Apps and writes what it did, or why it did not, to %ProgramData%\TrickWork\update.log. There is one installation, so the switch applies to everyone on the computer: it lives in %ProgramData%\TrickWork\settings.json, which every user may change, and the task skips its run while it is off. An open window notices within a few minutes when the task has put a new version in place and shows the note. The replaced program waits beside the new one as TrickWork.exe.old until a later run removes it.

A portable copy, such as trickwork-windows-amd64-portable.exe, updates itself while it runs: a minute after it starts and once a day after that, in its own folder, and it stays portable. The app on macOS and Linux does the same. A folder it cannot write to, or a macOS app your account cannot change, stays as it is. The reason is in update.log next to the setting: %AppData%\TrickWork on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/TrickWork on macOS and ~/.config/TrickWork on Linux.

Why the task runs as SYSTEM¶

Program Files belongs to the administrators. A program that replaces itself there without asking anyone needs an account that may write there, and a scheduled task under the system account is how Windows provides one; Firefox's maintenance service and Chrome's updater task work the same way. The task writes to three places and nowhere else: the installation folder, C:\Program Files\TrickWork; the entry under Apps, in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\TrickWork; and %ProgramData%\TrickWork, for its log. It reads nothing from any user's profile and never opens a window. The folder under ProgramData belongs to the administrators, and only settings.json in it is open to other users. The installer has no page for choosing another folder. Together that leaves no file a user could swap for one the system account would run or write to. It downloads only from GitHub over HTTPS and installs a file only when it matches checksums.txt.

Uninstalling¶

Apps, TrickWork, Uninstall asks for an administrator and removes the program with its shortcuts, its entry under Apps and the remembered shortcut choice. The scheduled task goes too, and so does %ProgramData%\TrickWork with the switch and the log. In the installation folder it deletes only the files the installer and the updates put there. Every user's settings in %AppData%\TrickWork and %AppData%\TrickWork.exe stay, so a later install picks them up.

Windows SmartScreen

Windows may show "Windows protected your PC" the first time you run a freshly downloaded, unsigned program. Click More info, then Run anyway.

Docker¶

docker run -d \
  --name trickwork \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 3210:3210 \
  ghcr.io/junkerderprovinz/trickwork:latest

Then open http://localhost:3210/. The image runs on amd64 and arm64 and needs no environment variables and no volumes. It is also on Docker Hub as junkerderprovinz/trickwork.

Unraid¶

TrickWork is in Unraid's Community Applications: open Apps, search for TrickWork and install it (its page in the catalogue).

To add the template by hand instead, run this in the Unraid console:

mkdir -p /boot/config/plugins/dockerMan/templates-user && \
curl -fsSL -o /boot/config/plugins/dockerMan/templates-user/my-trickwork.xml \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junkerderprovinz/unraid-apps/main/trickwork/trickwork.xml

Then pick Docker, Add Container, trickwork under User templates, choose a port and press Apply. The file name keeps its my- prefix, which is what makes Unraid treat it as a user template.

From source¶

The source code of every release is on its release page, and How it works and building it explains how to build it.