wiki:HowTo/UseDropboxToTestInstallScripts

Version 16 (modified by sedwards@bbn.com, 10 years ago) (diff)

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How to Use Dropbox to Test Install Scripts

Writing install scripts often requires repeated cycles of testing and modification to get the tarball just right.

While any public webserver can be used to host the install scripts, not everyone has access to one that can easily be used for development.

As an alternative to a standard webserver, here's how to use Dropbox to test your install script.

Requirements

  • You must have a Dropbox account in order for this to work.
  • You can test install scripts with any tool using this method.
  • You can not use a Dropbox url to reference an RSpec in Flack using this method. (However you can use the load from a file feature with Flack.)

Instructions

  1. Install Dropbox for your system.
  2. Place the tarball in your Dropbox folder on your local system.
    1. Alternatively, place the relevant files in your Dropbox folder and then tar them up using the following command:
      tar -czvf file.tar.gz FILE1 FILE2 DIR1 DIR2 DIR3
      
  3. Share a link to the tarball (e.g. file.tar.gz in the example above). See the instructions for your OS.
  4. Create or modify your RSpec to point to the URL for the shared link. Drop the ?dl=0 off the end of the URL before using it in your RSpec.
  5. Test your RSpec using the tool of your choice. Remember you can NOT use a shared URL for your RSpec with Flack.