punktfunk/packaging/windows

Windows host packaging — signed Inno Setup installer

A one-file, signed setup.exe for the punktfunk streaming host on Windows, published to Gitea's generic package registry (punktfunk-host-windows) by .gitea/workflows/windows-host.yml.

Full picture (drivers-from-source, toolchain, CI, dev loop): design/windows-build-and-packaging.md. This README is the packaging/windows/ file index.

x64 only (no ARM64)

Unlike the client (which ships x64 + ARM64 MSIX), the host is x64-only by design. It is coupled to an NVIDIA GPU (NVENC, via nvEncodeAPI64.dll from the driver) and the pf-vdisplay virtual-display driver — neither exists on Windows ARM64 (no ARM64 NVIDIA driver; the driver builds x64-only). An ARM64 host would install but couldn't encode or create a virtual display, so we don't build one. Revisit if NVIDIA-ARM Windows PCs ever ship.

Why not MSIX (like the client)

The host installs a LocalSystem SCM service that CreateProcessAsUserW's from Session 0 into the interactive session for secure-desktop (UAC / lock screen) capture, adds firewall rules, and depends on the pf-vdisplay UMDF/IDD virtual-display driver. MSIX's sandbox can install neither a SYSTEM service of this kind nor a driver. So the host ships as a classic elevated installer.

The installer is deliberately thin: the real install logic lives in punktfunk-host subcommands, not in PowerShell — service install (SCM registration, firewall rules, the default host.env, the SYSTEM→interactive-session supervisor; service.rs), driver install [--gamepad] and web setup (driver/console provisioning; windows/install.rs). The installer lays the exe into C:\Program Files\punktfunk\ and calls those subcommands elevated. Keeping the logic in the compiled exe — not a .ps1 file PowerShell reads in the machine codepage — is the fix for the ANSI-codepage parse breakage that silently failed installs on non-English boxes.

What the installer does

• Installs punktfunk-host.exe (+ host.env.example, this README) to {app} (C:\Program Files\punktfunk).
• Optional task Install the pf-vdisplay virtual display driver — punktfunk-host.exe driver install imports the driver's self-signed cert (machine Root + TrustedPublisher), creates the root\pf_vdisplay device node (only if absent, via nefconc — never devgen), and stages the driver with pnputil /add-driver /install. Best-effort: a driver failure warns but never aborts the install (the host degrades to a physical display without it).
• Runs punktfunk-host service install (idempotent; writes a default host.env only if absent, so user config survives upgrades) and, by the Start service now task, service start.
• Web management console (bundled when packed with -WebDir/-BunExe, which the CI always is): lays down the built self-contained .output server (Nitro noExternals — deps bundled + tree-shaken, ~75 files, no node_modules) + a portable bun, prompts for a console login password (pre-filled with a secure random default, shown again on the final page; kept on upgrade), then punktfunk-host.exe web setup writes the ACL'd %ProgramData%\punktfunk\web-password, registers the PunktfunkWeb scheduled task (boot, SYSTEM, restart-on-failure → web-run.cmd → bun on :3000), opens TCP 3000, and starts it. It proxies the host's loopback mgmt API with the host's own %ProgramData%\punktfunk\mgmt-token.
• Upgrade: stops a running PunktfunkHost service and waits for STOPPED before replacing files (otherwise the locked exe / respawning supervisor would block the copy), then re-points the service; the existing console password is kept (the wizard page is skipped).
• Uninstall (Add/Remove Programs): runs service uninstall (stop + delete service + remove firewall rules) and removes the PunktfunkWeb task + its firewall rule. The pf-vdisplay driver and the %ProgramData%\punktfunk config (incl. web-password) are intentionally left in place.

Silent install: punktfunk-host-setup-<ver>.exe /VERYSILENT (omit the driver with /MERGETASKS="!installdriver"). A silent fresh install uses the generated random console password — read it from %ProgramData%\punktfunk\web-password.

Prerequisites on the target box

• A GPU for hardware encode: an NVIDIA GPU + driver (NVENC), or an AMD/Intel GPU (AMF/QSV) — the exe is built --features nvenc,amf-qsv. Software H.264 is the GPU-less fallback.
• Virtual gamepads need no prerequisite. The DualSense / DualShock 4 / Xbox 360 (XUSB) UMDF drivers are bundled in the installer (the Install the virtual gamepad drivers task) and pnputil-installed. ViGEmBus is no longer used.
• The streaming microphone uses VB-CABLE, bundled + silently installed by the installer (the Install VB-CABLE virtual audio task). The host writes the client's mic into VB-CABLE's input; its CABLE Output capture endpoint surfaces as a host mic. A Windows audio device can only be created by a kernel-mode driver (no UMDF path exists), so unlike our self-signed UMDF drivers we cannot ship our own — VB-CABLE is a vendor-signed cable that loads with no test-signing. It is donationware by VB-Audio, redistributed under VB-Audio's bundling grant (only the single base cable); see licenses/VB-CABLE-NOTICE.txt. The package binary is not in the repo — supply it to the packer via -VbCableDir / $env:VBCABLE_DIR (the extracted official package, containing VBCABLE_Setup_x64.exe). Absent → the installer is built without it and the host falls back to auto-installing the Steam Streaming pair. (Endgame: attestation-sign our own MIT virtual-audio driver to drop this dependency.)

Files here

File	Role
punktfunk-host.iss	Inno Setup script (the installer definition).
pack-host-installer.ps1	Orchestrator: cert + sign exe, build + sign the drivers from source, stage them + FFmpeg + the web console (.output + bun) + the HDR layer, run ISCC, sign setup.exe.
build-pf-vdisplay.ps1	Build pf-vdisplay from source (the drivers/ workspace) + clear FORCE_INTEGRITY + sign .dll/.cat + export .cer.
build-gamepad-drivers.ps1	Sign + catalog the gamepad drivers (pf-dualsense + pf-xusb) from the same workspace build (-SkipBuild), one shared cert.
install-vbcable.ps1	On-target: seed VB-Audio's cert into TrustedPublisher, silently install the bundled VB-CABLE (-i -h). Run by the installer's Install VB-CABLE virtual audio task; idempotent + always exits 0 (non-fatal).
clear-force-integrity.ps1	Clear the /INTEGRITYCHECK PE bit so a self-signed driver loads (reused by every driver build).
stage-pf-vdisplay.ps1	Stage the just-built pf-vdisplay bundle + fetch/verify the pinned nefcon release.
../../scripts/windows/web-run.cmd	The PunktfunkWeb task action: loads the mgmt token + login password env, runs the bundled bun on the Nitro server (:3000).
drivers/	The all-Rust IddCx driver source workspace: the pf-vdisplay crate on wdk-sys / windows-drivers-rs + the owned pf-driver-proto ABI + wdk-iddcx / wdk-probe, plus deploy-dev.ps1 (build/sign/install for dev).
reset-pf-vdisplay.ps1	Dev: recover a wedged driver — stop host → reap ghost monitor nodes → reload the adapter → start host (no reboot). See Dev iteration below.
redeploy-pf-vdisplay.ps1	Dev: one-shot redeploy — (optional) build → stop host → deploy-dev.ps1 -Install → reload adapter → start host.
nvenc/nvenc.def, nvenc/gen-nvenc-importlib.ps1	Synthesise nvencodeapi.lib for the --features nvenc link (llvm-dlltool / lib.exe).
pf-vkhdr-layer/	HDR Vulkan layer (standalone cdylib): lets Vulkan games (Doom: The Dark Ages, etc.) enable HDR over the virtual display by advertising the HDR surface formats the NVIDIA/AMD ICDs hide on an indirect display. Built by the packer, laid into {app}\vklayer, registered under HKLM64\…\Khronos\Vulkan\ImplicitLayers (opt-out Install the HDR Vulkan layer task). Self-gated on the display's HDR state. See its README.

Drivers are built from source, not vendored. All three (pf-vdisplay + the gamepad pf-dualsense / pf-xusb) are members of the all-Rust drivers/ workspace (windows-drivers-rs / IddCx) and are rebuilt + signed every release by build-pf-vdisplay.ps1 + build-gamepad-drivers.ps1 - the checked-in prebuilt binaries were deleted (a stale .cat once stopped covering its .inf → SPAPI_E_FILE_HASH_NOT_IN_CATALOG on every box, and a frozen binary predated a driver IOCTL the host needed). Building from source keeps .dll/.inf/.cat in lockstep. nefcon (the device-node tool - the install creates the root\pf_vdisplay node with it, never devgen, which leaves persistent phantom devices) is fetched + SHA-256-verified from its pinned release in stage-pf-vdisplay.ps1. See design/windows-build-and-packaging.md for the toolchain

• signing details.

Dev iteration on the test box (driver)

Two helpers wrap the painful manual steps of iterating on the pf-vdisplay driver against a live host service. Run elevated; both default to the PunktfunkHost service.

# Recover a WEDGED driver. Symptom: every session fails with
#   create virtual output: pf-vdisplay ADD ...: DeviceIoControl(0x222400): Element nicht gefunden (0x80070490)
# i.e. ERROR_NOT_FOUND — sustained ADD/REMOVE churn exhausted the IddCx monitor slots (ghost
# "Generic Monitor (punktfunk)" nodes pile up, target_ids climb). A host restart's CLEAR_ALL does NOT
# fix it; the driver instance must be reloaded. This clears the ghosts + cycles the adapter (no reboot —
# this box boots to Proxmox).
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File reset-pf-vdisplay.ps1 -Verify -Probe C:\t-goal1\debug\punktfunk-probe.exe

# Redeploy a driver build cleanly (stop host → install with a strictly-increasing DriverVer → reload
# adapter → start host). -Build runs `cargo build` first, but ONLY from an MSVC dev shell
# (LIBCLANG_PATH + Version_Number=10.0.26100.0); otherwise build separately and omit -Build.
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File redeploy-pf-vdisplay.ps1 -Build -Verify -Probe C:\t-goal1\debug\punktfunk-probe.exe

The driver should reclaim monitor slots on REMOVE so churn can't wedge it; until it does, reset is the recovery. From a Linux box drive either over SSH, e.g. ssh user@box 'powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:\...\reset-pf-vdisplay.ps1'.

Build locally (Windows, MSVC + Windows SDK + Inno Setup)

# 1. import lib for the nvenc link
pwsh -File packaging\windows\nvenc\gen-nvenc-importlib.ps1 -OutDir C:\t\nvenc
$env:PUNKTFUNK_NVENC_LIB_DIR = 'C:\t\nvenc'

# 2. build the host
cargo build --release -p punktfunk-host --features nvenc

# 3. pack (self-signed unless MSIX_CERT_PFX_B64/MSIX_CERT_PASSWORD are set; -NoDriver to skip pf-vdisplay)
pwsh -File packaging\windows\pack-host-installer.ps1 -Version 0.0.0-dev -TargetDir C:\t\release -OutDir C:\t\out

Release

Push a vX.Y.Z tag — one tag releases every platform (see Release Channels). The workflow builds, signs, and publishes punktfunk-host-setup-X.Y.Z.exe + the public .cer, refreshes the stable latest/ alias, and attaches the installer to the unified Gitea Release. Main pushes publish rolling 0.3.<run> canary builds to the canary/ alias.