nsisbi Files

NSISBI aims to remove the current 2GB limit found in NSIS. This version adds support for using a separate file for storing the install data, therefore allowing installer sizes up to a theoretical max size of 8EB. Single files are still limited to 2GB.

The compiler (makensis) is designed to run on 64 bit machines as this is the feature needed to make installers bigger than 2GB.

The command to use an external file is: SetExOutFile auto | off | on. The 'off' setting is the same as classic nsis (all-in-one installers). The 'on' setting forces creation of external files regardless of size (except zero data installers). The 'auto' setting is the default, so it creates all-in-one installers up to the 4GB limit, past this limit it switches to an external file for the data. The only down side is that solid compression is not supported, due to its design it just isn't feasible to add support.

An undocumented 'Target' command also exists that allows the target architecture to be selected. It is: Target cpu-charset. Valid values are: x86-ansi, x86-unicode, amd64-unicode.

Built on 04/01/2017 on Windows 10, using Visual Studio 2008 with the Windows 7 SDK. This version creates native 32 bit ansi installers as the default, you can also target 32 bit unicode installers, as well as 64 bit unicode installers. The code is now based on NSIS 3.01. Linux support has been on my todo list for a while now, and with this release Linux is now supported. Compiling this build is the same as the official NSIS code, you just need a 64 bit OS to enable big installers to be created. If you have a 64bit cross-compiler installed, you can use that to build the 64bit stubs and plugins (this is optional if you don't need 64bit installers/plugins). I improved the on-the-fly CRC code, instead of doing it before the file is extracted it's now done during the file extract, this removes the need for reading data off the disk twice so now it is read just once (slight speed increase). I also improved the build system on windows, now you just need to run buildall.bat to compile everything. You can change the paths in build32/build64 to suit your environment. Happy New Year!