[archived] Previous, now Deprecated Whonix Windows Installer Testing

Development
182

@Razor12911 Thank you for stopping by, I have a few questions, is the pZlib_source.7z file the source for this version: pzlib_1210.7z? It doesn’t include win64 object files, if we add them, would it compile the 64 bit binary as well? Do you think it is easy to compile the zlib object files from source? DelphiZLib 1.2.7 includes C++ Builder project files whereas 1.2.8 does not

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183

Well you could get the already object files for x64 from here.

http://www.base2ti.com/

The reason I didn’t include them is because I’m a developer based on Delphi, anything other than that is just not my thing so the problem with x64 obj files was that they were 2 times slower than the x86 which is totally weird, but there is source as well in the attachment from the site, you can generate new obj files if you know how to do it because certainly, I have no clue how it’s done. I don’t they may not be slower for you but do check, I have been constantly changing obj files, it may or may not have been these ones that had this problem.

Goodluck.

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184

Good day,

First of all, thank you very much for joining our Forum and being willing to Support us in such a Major way. That is incredibly nice of you.

Furthermore, you may take a look at the current source Code and compilation methodology here and here.

Secondly, thank you very much for Clearing up the licensing question. Just for legal reasons, may I ask whether it would be ok to use your source Code, obviously with proper Attribution under the MIT license?

Thirdly, the x86 vs x64 Speed inconsistencies are likely caused by the requirements for extending the string lenght when running AMD64 based Systems in 64-Bit mode while the string lenght doesn’t fully utilize more then 32bits causing an increased requirment in using Cache which doesn’t yield any improvements while limiting the small amount of low Level Cache available on most consumer CPUs. That though is only a hypothesis. Maybe I simply misunderstood something my CS teacher told me, though that’s how I recall his reasoning on certain aspects of x64 being slower then x86.

Again, thank you very much for your help, if you have any questions or require anything, don’t hesitate to ask and have a great day,

Ego

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185

As I know for Linux and Mac there is only 32bits versions and for Qubes only 64bits. For Windows what versions there are ?

186

Good day,

The installer includes both the 32 and 64bit version of VirtualBox. Whonix itself is currently being distributed in 32bit, which may run on any system, see also: 32-bit or 64-bit?

Have a nice day,

Ego

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187

Good day,

Adding to that, in the comming days, I shall release a completley new version of the Installer. It will be based on Inno Setup, increasing compatibility, decreasing size and optimizing stability. Furthermore, it has been designed in such a way as to make the compilation as easy as possible. After all the required files are in the same folder, you’ll only have to launch a batch file and everything will be handled automatically.

You may already compile it yourself: GitHub - EgoBits1/Whonix-Windows-Installer: Maintained, InnoSetup and 7-Zip based version of a simple automated installer, setting up Whonix, Whonix-UI and accompanying software.

Have a nice day,

Ego

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188

Are you sure,

  • 7zSD.sfx
  • 7za.exe

should be shipped since these are binary executable files?

189

Good day,

Problem is, the only way to currently utilize 7-Zip SFX in combination with a custom logo is by having these premodified via Resource Hacker. We can of course exclude them, though the installer would then carry the “7z” icon.

Have a nice day,

Ego

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190

The binary package can have them, but I don’t think we should have binary executable files within the source package.

191

Good day,

I’ll adjust the process then, as to keep the checksum between the binary and the compilation comparable.

Have a nice day,

Ego

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192

You mean referencing and checking the checksums of 7z before executing these? That would be good.

193

Good day,

I was actually refering to the compiled binaries checksum. What I meant was that I shall change the entire process in a way that is not going to necessitate the inclusion of these binaries while still allowing for both the premade and the self-compiled installer to be the exact same including the icon.

Have a nice day,

Ego

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194

Working on fixing the Stop - Stop button. Nothing happens when its clicked. However, the smaller advanced button that opens the Virutalbox interface works.

The biggest issue is getting grips on Windows logs and debug :wink:

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195

Start-Stop button fixed. Had to update Whonix VM names. Whonix-Workstation → Whonix-Workstation-XFCE

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196

I know the files that need to be altered to change the installer name. Tested by have not createed a PR yet

Currently 'Install Whonix.exe'

Any preference for file names? I prefer the first one.

whonix-installer.exe

install-whonix.exe

anything else?

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197

Very good.

198

Looks like we skipped testing and went live already.

If there are any issues, we can redirect users to the usual Whonix ™ for Windows, macOS, Linux inside VirtualBox

Which versions of Windows are tested, supported?

(We still can keep versions which aren’t tested by developer (perhaps 7, 8?) listed there if they are working.)

(I’ve removed XP and Vista from page title - since these are end of life by Microsoft. Dunno if we’d be using a significant amount of users due to that or gain more due to more simplicity.)

Therefore there not much testers only about https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Windows_Testers_Only_Version

Could you move https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Windows_Testers_Only_Version please to

or so?

(I am hesitate to move pages by myself - that clears mediawiki history and taking away all edit log history. So I’d prefer if the most major writer of a page did that. [Doesn’t apply to pages by me, since my credit is already “complete”.])

When done, please also add a link here:

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199

Tested Windows 10 only. We could support both 10, 8 . I’ll have to get an 8 image. Would be good to test on different releases anyways. Support for Windows 7 for a little while since it reaches EOL in a few months.

https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/windows-7-end-of-life-guide

Microsoft recently announced that it will officially begin the Windows 7 end of life phase on Jan. 14, 2020. On that day, the company will stop supporting Windows 7 on laptops and desktops, and will no longer patch it with security updates.

Done.

https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Verify_the_Whonix_Windows_Installer

Done.

https://www.whonix.org/w/index.php?title=Verify_the_Whonix_images&diff=50613&oldid=43931

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200

Downloaded and installed from Whonix.org.

  • First time extracting had an error. My guess would be Norton antivirus or Windows defender interrupted the process which cause the issue? Started the extraction over and everything went fine. Repeated the Download/installation a few more time with no issues.
  • When installing from Whonix.org, Windows automatically restarts (to finish installation?) This only happened after build when:
    • Norton quarantined Whonix.exe at the start of build and the installer obviously wouldn’t work. But a file is created .\Output\InstallWhonix.exe that works to install Whonix when executed. However, when run this also restarted Windows the same as above. The whonix-installer.exe did not do this.(Windows restart)

https://github.com/Whonix/Whonix-Windows-Installer/blob/master/config.txt

;!@Install@!UTF-8!
Title="Whonix Installer"
RunProgram="Output\InstallWhonix.exe"
ExtractTitle="Extracting Whonix Installer"
GUIMode="1"
;!@InstallEnd@!
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201

False alarm. I take that back.

Just saw you moved Windows_Testers_Only_Version to Verify the Whonix Windows Installer. Wiki history intact:

Permission error - Whonix

(Either false memory by me or mediawiki improved that during an upgrade.)