2. Installation

Warning

Go to the Update Procedure chapter if Keypirinha is already installed and you just want to update.

2.1. Requirements

Keypirinha works on Windows (7, 8, 8.1, 10) and does not require extra dependencies.

2.2. Installation

Keypirinha currently comes in a simple archive that can be uncompressed about anywhere you want. There is no installer.

Out of the box, it is configured to run in Portable Mode. All the configuration and runtime files are contained under Keypirinha’s directory.

Note

It is recommended to avoid installing Keypirinha under your Desktop or Start Menu folder as you will loose the benefits of having your catalog automatically refreshed when an application gets (un)installed.

2.3. Installed vs. Portable mode

Keypirinha can run in two different flavors: Installed Mode or Portable Mode.

Each time Keypirinha is being launched, it checks if the portable folder or the portable.ini file exist under Keypirinha’s directory. If they do, the application will run in Portable Mode, otherwise the Installed Mode is selected.

Note

There is currently no automated way to ease switching between the two modes so you will have to copy the directories manually if you wish to switch to the Installed Mode. Please ensure first that the application is not running.

2.3.1. Portable Mode

The Portable Mode keeps all the files needed by Keypirinha in a single folder, making it easy to be moved around on a USB stick for example.

By default, all the data files of Keypirinha and its plugins will be located under the portable directory, directly located in Keypirinha’s directory:

  • Configuration files and downloaded extra packages will be stored in portable\Profile

  • Cache files and any other kind of temporary files will be stored in portable\Local

Optionally, it is also possible to specify the location of the content of the portable directory by creating a portable.ini file in Keypirinha’s directory (i.e. same directory than keypirinha.exe) and define the portable_dir value in it.
Here is a sample portable.ini (only the portable_dir line is needed):

# Notes:
# * The specified directory must exist already when Keypirinha is started
#   and it must be readable and writable by Keypirinha
# * If the path is not absolute, it is assumed to be relative to
#   Keypirinha's directory
# * In this example, both sub-directories will be created automatically by
#   Keypirinha if needed:
#     C:\SomewhereUnderTheRainbow\KeypirinhaData\Profile
#     C:\SomewhereUnderTheRainbow\KeypirinhaData\Local
# * It does not have to be named KeypirinhaData
# * File must be encoded in UTF-8 (no BOM necessary)
# * Environment variables are expanded (e.g. %USERNAME%)
portable_dir = C:\SomewhereUnderTheRainbow\KeypirinhaData

Note

  • The portable.ini file takes precedence over the presence of the portable directory

  • The portable directory may be removed if you are using a portable.ini file

  • To avoid any trouble with your data, Keypirinha will exit immediately if any error occurs related to this setting.

2.3.2. Installed Mode

The Installed Mode complies to the Windows’ standard way of storing data under user’s dedicated folder (e.g. C:\Users\%USERNAME%).

  • Configuration files and downloaded extra packages will be stored in %APPDATA%\Keypirinha folder.
    e.g. C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Keypirinha

  • Cache files and any other kind of temporary files will be stored in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Keypirinha
    e.g. C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Keypirinha

Warning

In order to be able to run under this mode, both portable and portable.ini must not exist in Keypirinha’s directory.