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# Brigadier
A Windows- and OS X-compatible Python script that fetches, from Apple's or your software update server, the Boot Camp ESD ("Electronic Software Distribution") for a specific model of Mac. It unpacks the multiple layers of archives within the flat package and if the script is run on Windows with the `--install` option, it also runs the 64-bit MSI installer. It currently _does not_ support installation on 32-bit Windows. If 32-bit Windows support is important to you, there is an [issue](https://github.com/timsutton/brigadier/issues/2) created to track it.
A Windows- and OS X-compatible Python script that fetches, from Apple's or your software update server, the Boot Camp ESD ("Electronic Software Distribution") for a specific model of Mac. It unpacks the multiple layers of archives within the flat package and if the script is run on Windows with the `--install` option, it also runs the 64-bit MSI installer.
On Windows, the archives are unpacked using [7-Zip](http://www.7-zip.org) and [dmg2img](http://vu1tur.eu.org/tools), so these are downloaded and installed (and removed later) as needed. 7-Zip can convert .dmgs to ISOs as well, however I experienced inconsistent results across different currently-offered BootCampESD.pkgs, and haven't had any issues with dmg2img. More details on the extraction on Windows can be found below.
This was written for two reasons:
1. We'd like to maintain as few Windows system images as possible, but there are typically 3-5 BootCampESD packages available from Apple at any given time, targeting specific sets of models. It's possible to use the [Orca](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255905) tool to edit the MSI's properties and disable the model check, but there are rarely cases where a single installer contains all drivers. Apple can already download the correct installer for a booted machine model in OS X using the Boot Camp Assistant, so there's no reason we can't do the same within Windows.
2. Sometimes we just want to download and extract a copy of the installer for a given model. The steps to do this manually are tedious, and there are many of them. As of the spring of 2013, Apple has made a number of Boot Camp installer packages available on their support downloads page, but they are still a split across many different different sets of models.
2. Sometimes we just want to download and extract a copy of the installer for a given model. The steps to do this manually are tedious, and there are many of them. As of the spring of 2013, Apple has made a number of Boot Camp installer packages available on their support downloads page, but they are still a split across many different different sets of models and it is still inconvenient to ensure you have the correct package.
It was originally designed to be run as post-imaging step for Boot Camp deployments to Macs, but as it requires network connectivity, a network driver must be already available on the system. (See Caveats below)
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Additional options shown below.
## Windows requirements
You can find a pre-compiled binary of the most recent [release version](https://github.com/timsutton/brigadier/blob/master/VERSION) [here](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/429559/brigadier.zip). This was built using [PyInstaller](http://www.pyinstaller.org).
If you'd rather run it as a standard Python script, you'll need [Python for Windows](http://www.python.org/download/releases) (this was tested with the latest 2.7 release) in order to execute the script.
If you'd rather build it yourself, you can use the included build script. It requires [Python](http://www.python.org/download/releases) and the matching version of [pywin32](http://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/files). It handles downloading PyInstaller for you. Simply run it with no arguments, and it will build a zip file in the current working directory:
`c:\python27\python build_windows_exe.py`
## Getting it
You can find a pre-compiled binary for Windows in the [releases](https://github.com/timsutton/brigadier/releases) area. This can be useful if you don't already have Python installed on Windows. This was built using [PyInstaller](http://www.pyinstaller.org). More details on building it yourself [below](#runningbuilding-from-source-on-windows).
It can also be run directly from a Git checkout on either OS X or Windows.
## Configuration
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By default, when `--install` is used, it will clean up its extracted files after installation, unless the `--leave-files` option is given, so unless you want to keep the files around you shouldn't need to clean up after it.
## Running/building from source on Windows
If you'd rather run it as a standard Python script, you'll need [Python for Windows](http://www.python.org/download/releases) (this was tested with the latest 2.7 release) in order to execute the script.
If you'd rather build it yourself, you can use the included build script. It requires [Python](http://www.python.org/download/releases) and the matching version of [pywin32](http://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/files). It handles downloading PyInstaller for you. Simply run it with no arguments, and it will build a zip file in the current working directory:
`c:\python27\python build_windows_exe.py`
## Unpack details on Windows
On OS X, we have the native hdiutil and pkgutil commands to do the work of unpacking the driver files. On Windows, we:
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## Caveats
* It requires an internet connection, which therefore requires that a working network driver be available. The simplest way I've found to do this is to place the various network drivers from BootCampESDs inside a "BootCamp" (or similar) folder within `C:\Windows\INF`. This folder is the default search location for device drivers, and it should automatically detect and install drivers located here for all unknown hardware. You can also modify the `DevicePath` <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731664(v=ws.10).aspx">registry key</a> to add a custom location, but using the existing `INF` folder means no other changes besides a file copy are required to update an existing image's drivers, so this can be done without actually restoring the image and booting it just to install a driver.
* It requires a network connection, which therefore requires that a working network driver be available. The simplest way I've found to do this is to place the various network drivers from BootCampESDs inside a "BootCamp" (or similar) folder within `C:\Windows\INF` on a sysprepped image. This folder is the default search location for device drivers, and it should automatically detect and install drivers located here for all unknown hardware. You can also modify the `DevicePath` <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731664(v=ws.10).aspx">registry key</a> to add a custom location, but using the existing `INF` folder means no other changes besides a file copy are required to update an existing image's drivers, so this can be done without actually restoring the image and booting it just to install a driver. Offline driver servicing using Windows and DISM is easy for WIM images, but most admins are likely not deploying WIM images to Macs, but rather using tools that wrap ntfsprogs.
* It currently performs almost no error handling.
* The 7-Zip and dmg2iso tools download from URLs hardcoded in the script. Soon the `brigadier.plist` will support overriding these URLs with your own copies stored on a private webserver.
* After installation, it sets the `FirstTimeRun` registry key at `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Apple Inc.\Apple Keyboard Support` to disable the first-launch Boot Camp help popup, and there's currently no option to disable this behaviour.
* Only tested on 64-bit Windows 7. It's worth mentioning that the December 2012 Boot Camp driver ESDs seem to be 64-bit only, so extra work would need to be done to support 32-bit Windows.
* Only supports installations on 64-bit Windows. It's worth mentioning that the December 2012 Boot Camp driver ESDs seem to be 64-bit only, so extra work would need to be done to support 32-bit Windows. If 32-bit Windows support is important to you, there is an [issue](https://github.com/timsutton/brigadier/issues/2) created to track it.