self-replace is a crate that allows binaries to replace themselves with newer versions or to uninstall themselves. On Unix systems this is a simple feat, but on Windows a few hacks are needed which is why this crate exists.

This is a useful operation when working with single-executable utilties that want to implement a form of self updating or self uninstallation.

For details about the implementation refer to the documentation.

If you are looking for some higher level update logic, have a look at self_update which uses self-replace under the hood but provides automatic updating from GitHub releases or other distribution channels. Note that self_update is maintained by other maintainers.

To uninstall a binary, use self_delete.

self_replace::self_delete()?;

To replace a binary for updating, use self_replace.

let new_binary = "/path/to/new/binary";
self_replace::self_replace(&new_binary)?;
std::fs::remove_file(&new_binary)?;

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• License: Apache-2.0