electron-iso-packager

Package your Electron app into a bootable .iso file (based on Tinycore Linux).
Now you can easily create a live cd from your code - no hard disk required at boot!
Iso files created by this script work with virtual machines as well.

The average output file size is around ~125mb, so it's even less than an .exe bundle.

Under the hood, this script calls electron-packager to obtain a linux32 packaged version of your app and then puts the result inside a remastered version of Tinycore Linux, a slim linux distro, with only the bare necessary to run Electron + a window manager (openbox) and a minimal terminal.
Check REMASTER.md for a complete list of included packages.

Screenshot (Activity monitor example, running on Virtualbox):

Installation and usage

Unfortunately, Linux is needed, as well as some basic utilities. On debian-like environments:

apt install coreutils zutils cpio genisoimage p7zip-full # Install dependencies

Then run (NO root permissions needed anymore):
(keep in mind that the first time, npx will download Tinycore, so it may stuck for some minutes)

npx electron-iso-packager <sourcedir> <appname> [postscript] [customiso.iso]

# Examples:
npx electron-iso-packager ./ MyApp
npx electron-iso-packager ./ MyApp "read -n 1" # Wait keypress before packaging iso

Where <sourcedir> is the base directory of the application source (same as electron-packager).
After a while, it will spawn a file called appname.iso inside your current directory. Enjoy!
You may specify a linux command as third argument, it will be executed after electron-packager has finished but before .iso is created, giving you the possibility to edit the electron-iso folder, where your app files are stored before compression. It also allows you to edit electron-iso/files/home/tc/app/autostart.sh to change boot options as explained below. You can also set a custom iso file as the base of your system instead of the default one (check the remaster guide).
No further customization is supported yet, but some options will be added soon. Feel free to open a github issue if you think something important is missing.

Autostart

After electron-packager has finished, a file called autostart.sh is added to the result. This is the file responsable of launching your app after boot.
You can replace it using a postscript command, for example:

electron-iso-packager ./ MyApp "cp customAutostart.sh ./electron-iso/home/tc/app/autostart.sh"

Default autostart:

#!/bin/sh

# Autostart electron-app
/home/tc/app/electron-iso --no-sandbox &

# Default tinycore desktop .xsession
"$DESKTOP" 2>/tmp/wm_errors &
export WM_PID=$!
hsetroot -add "#0E5CA8" -add "#87C6C9" -gradient 0 -center /usr/local/share/pixmaps/logo.png # Change to set custom background
[ -x $HOME/.mouse_config ] && $HOME/.mouse_config &
[ $(which "$ICONS".sh) ] && ${ICONS}.sh &
[ -d "/usr/local/etc/X.d" ] && find "/usr/local/etc/X.d" -type f -o -type l -print | while read F; do . "$F"; done
[ -d "$HOME/.X.d" ] && find "$HOME/.X.d" -type f -print | while read F; do . "$F"; done

Remaster and customize the result at runtime

Need some extra linux software to be included? Check the remaster guide.

As said before, aterm package is included, so you if you want, you can just right-click the desktop and install new packages at runtime or install the os on a persistent disk.
If your goal is to obtain persistency, you may also be interested in tinycore boot codes as explained here.

Changelog

Version 2: p7zip is used instead of mount, root is no longer required, also thanks to this trick

License

This package is licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later license or MIT license, as you wish.
Tinycore is licensed under gpl v2.