Electron nsis Installer x 64 not including node_modules? - electron

Question

I have an electron app that runs very smoothly both in dev and prod envs.
I'm having issues with packaging a windows installer.
Here's what I'm doing.
$ npm install
-> Postinstall will take care of installing native production dependencies.
$ npm run prod-build
My output folder structure is :
--win-unpacked
--locales
-- resources
--app.asar.unpacked
--node_modules
**--node-datetime** ( no other node module is included)
--app
--electron
--elevate
...
--Some App Setup 1.0.0 .exe
Electron-builder generates an .exe file that I successfully install.
The app launches but nothing loads. Any idea where I should start?
Package.json
{
"name": "Some App",
"version": "1.0.0",
"license": "MIT",
"main": "./src/app.js",
"scripts": {
"ng": "ng",
"start": "ng serve --proxy-config proxy.conf.json",
"build":
"productName": "Some Product",
"win": {
"description": "Some Desc",
"author": "Me",
"target": "nsis",
"arch": [
"x64"
]
}
},
"test": "ng serve --proxy-config proxy.conf.json && electron . ",
"lint": "ng lint",
"e2e": "ng e2e",
"electron": "electron .",
"postinstall": " electron-builder install-app-deps",
"dev-build": "ng build -prod --aot=false && electron . ",
"prod-build": "ng build -prod --aot=false && electron-builder -w"
},
"private": true,
"dependencies": {
"#angular/animations": "^4.0.0",
"#angular/common": "^4.0.0",
"#angular/compiler": "^4.0.0",
"#angular/core": "^4.0.0",
"#angular/forms": "^4.0.0",
"#angular/http": "^4.0.0",
"#angular/platform-browser": "^4.0.0",
"#angular/platform-browser-dynamic": "^4.0.0",
"#angular/router": "^4.0.0",
"#swimlane/ngx-charts": "^6.0.2",
"#types/jspdf": "^1.1.31",
"#types/underscore": "^1.8.3",
"bluebird": "^3.5.0",
"body-parser": "^1.18.2",
"bootstrap": "^3.3.7",
"bootstrap-notify": "^3.1.3",
"chartist": "^0.11.0",
"core-js": "^2.4.1",
"d3": "^4.10.2",
"express": "^4.16.2",
"jasmine-core": "~2.6.2",
"jquery": "^3.2.1",
"moment": "^2.21.0",
"ng2-datepicker": "^1.8.3",
"ng2-modal": "0.0.25",
"ngx-modialog": "^3.0.4",
"node-datetime": "^2.0.3",
"rxjs": "^5.1.0",
"sqlite3": "^4.0.0",
"underscore": "^1.8.3",
"zone.js": "^0.8.4"
},
"devDependencies": {
"#angular/cli": "1.2.1",
"#angular/compiler-cli": "^4.0.0",
"#angular/language-service": "^4.0.0",
"#types/electron": "^1.6.10",
"#types/jasmine": "~2.5.53",
"#types/jasminewd2": "~2.0.2",
"#types/jquery": "^3.2.12",
"#types/node": "~6.0.60",
"codelyzer": "~3.0.1",
"electron": "^1.8.4",
"electron-builder": "^19.45.4",
"electron-packager": "^9.1.0",
"jasmine-spec-reporter": "~4.1.0",
"karma": "~1.7.0",
"karma-chrome-launcher": "~2.1.1",
"karma-cli": "~1.0.1",
"karma-coverage-istanbul-reporter": "^1.2.1",
"karma-jasmine": "~1.1.0",
"karma-jasmine-html-reporter": "^0.2.2",
"protractor": "~5.1.2",
"ts-node": "~3.0.4",
"tslint": "~5.3.2",
"typescript": "~2.3.3"
},
added this to the bottom of my package.json instead of where it was before
"build": {
"win": {
"target": "nsis"
}
}
}
app.js (entry point)
const electron = require('electron');
const express = require('express');
const e_app = express();
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const path = require('path')
const app = electron.app
const BrowserWindow = electron.BrowserWindow;
const url = require('url');
const fs = require('fs');
const os= require('os');
const ipc = electron.ipcMain;
const shell = electron.shell;
const router = require('./electron/routes/req-router');
const dateTime = require('node-datetime');
let win
let temp_win
//set to true for production release
function createWindow () {
win = new BrowserWindow({width:1200,height:750,webPreferences: {webSecurity: false}})
var serve_path = path.join('file://',__dirname,'/../build/index.html');
win.loadURL(serve_path);
win.on('closed', function () {
win = null
})
}
Project Folder Structure
--build
--db
--dist
--e2e
--node_modules
--src
--app
--assets
--electron
--environemtns
-app.js
-index.html
...
--typings

Answer 1

Installing electron-packager and referencing the packaged output when calling electron-build seems to do the trick.
$ npm install --save-dev electron-packager#9.1.0 ( which happens to be the release version that doesn't error out on me"
added the following script
"pack": "electron-packager ."
modified the prod-build script
"prod-build": "ng build -prod --aot=false && electron-builder -w --prepackaged ./Some-App-win32-x64",