Auto-Update Guide for MMEX Sync

This guide details how to keep your mmex-sync installation up-to-date using the built-in update mechanism.

🔍 Checking for Updates

You can check if a newer version of the synchronization tool is available on GitHub without modifying any database or server state. To do so, run:

mmex-sync --checkForUpdate

Output Example (Up to date):

Checking for updates... (Current version: v0.1.8)
✅ You are running the latest version (v0.1.8).

Output Example (New update available):

Checking for updates... (Current version: v0.1.7)

🎉 A new version is available: v0.1.8
Release Notes & Details: https://github.com/moneymanagerex/mmex-sync/releases/tag/v0.1.8
Run with --autoDownloadUpdate to automatically download and install it.

🆙 Automatic Download & Installation

To automatically download the latest version compatible with your operating system, extract it, and install it, run:

mmex-sync --autoDownloadUpdate

What this command does:

Version Verification: It checks if a newer version exists. If your version is already the latest, it does nothing and exits.
Platform Selection: It automatically determines your operating system (win32, linux, or darwin) and locates the corresponding ZIP archive asset in the latest GitHub release.
Download Progress: It downloads the update ZIP archive package, showing a progress bar inside the CLI.
Extraction: It extracts the binary archive into a temporary folder using your system’s native command-line tool (Powershell Expand-Archive, unzip, or tar).
Safe Replacement: It replaces your active executable.

🛠️ Windows Executable Lock Handling

On Windows, the operating system locks any running .exe file, preventing it from being directly overwritten or deleted.

To solve this, mmex-sync uses a safe renaming strategy:

It renames the active executable to mmex-sync.exe.old.
It writes the new executable to mmex-sync.exe.
When you run mmex-sync again, you will be using the updated version.
Cleanup: You can manually delete the mmex-sync.exe.old file from your directory after restarting the program.

On Linux and macOS, the running file handle is unlinked immediately, and the new executable is put in place with execution permissions (chmod +x) restored automatically.