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Speeding up Chocolatey downloads and installs.

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nathan

04 Mar, 2015 05:40 AM

Hello, on http://www.appveyor.com/docs/build-cache, you mention caching chocolatey:

It is possible to specify a dependency for each cache item: cache: - C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib -> appveyor.yml

However, I don't think you want to cache C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib for packages that download an external installer. If the lib folder is cached, the build process decides they are installed already and skips them.

I did find out that the downloads are stored here: C:\Users\appveyor\AppData\Local\Temp\chocolatey\ and caching that directory will reuse the previous downloads.

Any advice on a complete approach? Does the --force option handle the case when the lib folder is cached?

1. Support Staff 1 Posted by Feodor Fitsner on 04 Mar, 2015 06:09 PM

   

   Anyway, caching Chocolatey packages/installations might be tricky as it depends on whether the package is "portable" or "native" (e.g. packages which are installed from MSI to Program Files).

   C:\Users\appveyor\AppData\Local\Temp\chocolatey\ is used as a temp location for downloading packages - I don't think it should be cached.

   Portable packages (7xip.commandline is a good example) are installed to C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib and "shim" is added to C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin. So, the solution for caching portable packages could be:

   cache:
   - C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin -> appveyor.yml
   - C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib -> appveyor.yml
   

   If your build logic is in some my_build.cmd you can use it as a dependency instead of appveyor.yml.

   • Edit

2. 2 Posted by nathan on 06 Mar, 2015 07:49 AM

   

   Evidently when I cancel a build, it removes the console output, otherwise I would have shown you that the caching of C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib for "native" installs (downloads an exe) causes the install to not take place because the [small] nupkg is already in place. The end result is the application doesn't work.

   For now, caching the Temp dir and not the lib and bin files is working.

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3. Support Staff 3 Posted by Feodor Fitsner on 06 Mar, 2015 03:04 PM

   

   So, every time you cancel a build its console cleared or it's sporadic error? How long does it take to build before you cancel?

   -Feodor

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4. Ilya Finkelshteyn closed this discussion on 25 Aug, 2018 01:54 AM.