Desktop: [Windows] Installer should not require administrator rights

[shadowlmd]

Expected behaviour

I should be able to install Nextcloud client on a machine where I am not an administrator.

Actual behaviour

Administrator rights are required to install Nextcloud client.

Steps to reproduce

1. Try to install Nextcloud client on a machine where you don't have administrator rights
   2.
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Client configuration

Client version:

Operating system: Windows 10

OS language: English

Qt version used by client package (Linux only, see also Settings dialog): N/A

Client package (From Nextcloud or distro) (Linux only):

Installation path of client: N/A

[misch7]

Currently admin permissions are needed to install the VC runtime and the shell extensions, used for showing the sync status icons in the folders and the context menu in Explorer.

When I rewrote the build scripts for 32-bit support (see #840) I also considered to modify the installer script to allow installation without admin privileges.

I'll run some tests soon.

[gwenlune]

Is it possible to give a zip version of the nextcloud-client windows version with the installer.exe version ?
to have an utilisable version on my windows (without administrator rights) I had to install the installer version on my linux with wine and recuperate files to put them on my windows laptop...

[stale[bot]]

This request did not receive an update in the last 4 weeks. Please take a look again and update the issue with new details, otherwise the issue will be automatically closed in 2 weeks. Thank you!

[shadowlmd]

No need to update anything.

[ingokeck]

As a workaround one can unzip the setup executable and just run the Nextcloud client directly from the setup folder. Took me some time to figure it out, so it would be great it there could be a small info about that on the install web page.

[ushills]

As a workaround one can unzip the setup executable and just run the Nextcloud client directly from the setup folder. Took me some time to figure it out, so it would be great it there could be a small info about that on the install web page.

This doesn't appear to work with the latest version (2.6.) although this approach worked for me with previous versions, i.e. 2.3.

[misch7]

Unzipping installer packages gets complicated once there are files for different platforms, like we have in our releases for 64- and 32-bit from version 2.5.3 on.

I decoupled the files collection from installer creation already in our build system, so zipping the files and providing these archives too shouldn't be a problem for us.
But please bear in mind that this type of deployment doesn't support shell integration (icon overlays and context menu) like the installer does.
On the other hand it's a really nice way to have some kind of semi-portable client, e.g. for development and testing.

[ingokeck]

I happily give up shell integration if that means I can use the client at all. In a company environment it is quite normal that you do not get admin access to windows. So all you can run are apps that do not require installers with admin rights.
Though it might be a good idea to put that info prominently in the non-installer package, so people who expect shell integration are not surprised.

[andre-paulo98]

Any update on this?

[keunes]

Indeed I'd like to use it on my employer's device to connect to my personal account. I, too, would happily live without shell integration.

EDIT: Based on @misch7's comment, 2.5.2 is the latest version you can unzip the installer from and use like that without admin rights. It can be downloaded here: https://download.nextcloud.com/desktop/releases/Windows/Nextcloud-2.5.2-setup.exe