Re: is it possible (re-)configure the portable version of miktex so that write access to the distribution is not needed?

Christian Schenk responded with several suggestions, including:

1) use the basic installer instead of the portable one and specify a
separate folder for data. I ran

basic-miktex-2.9.4813-x64 --common-install=c:\miktex
--common-data=c:\miktex_data --no-registry

2) to move MikTeX,  modify miktexstartup.ini in miktex\config to account
for the new location (You suggested this as well.):

For example
------------------------------------------------------------
;;; MiKTeX startup information

[Paths]

;; common install root
CommonInstall=C:\miktex2

;; common data root
CommonData=c:\miktex2_data
-------------------------------------------------------------

This approach does what I need.

These two steps were the key.
On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:23 AM, Ulrike Fischer <[email protected]> wrote:

> Am Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:48:35 -0700 schrieb Rick Pember:
>
> > Since there was some confusion, this is hopefully a clearer version of
> > my previous post.
> >
> > We include the portable version of MikTeX in our software distribution
> > because we have a report generation tool that uses MikTeX as a back end.
> > Our users don't actually use MikTeX directly. The report generation tool
> > is command line only. The MikTeX executables that we use are accessed by
> > our report generation tool and are used in "batchmode". (BTW, we include
> > copyright notices, etc., for MikTeX in the distribution.)
> >
> > What we did is this.
> >
> > 1) we downloaded the 2.9 portable version of MikTeX and installed it.
> >
> > 2) we ran the portable version on a tex file that downloads all the
> > packages to which our users need access for the report generation tool.
> >
> > 3) we then include the MikTeX distribution folder in our distribution.
> > Our report generation tool (python) executes the MikTeX executables it
> > needs to. Because we're using the portable version, no MikTeX
> > initialization or Windows registry access is needed.
> >
> > This actually works except for one small feature: MikTeX's pdflatex and
> > latex need the files texmf.fndb and mpm.fndb (in miktex/data/le)  to be
> > writeable by users, specifically, users with non-admin accounts. If we
> > make these two files writeable, this approach works without any problems.
> >
> > (If they aren't writeable, errors like "pdflatex: Windows API error 5:
> > Access is denied" occur.)
>
> I couldn't reproduce this problem. I downloaded miktex portable on a
> stick, made the two fndb non writable and then compiled without
> problem a small test file with pdflatex. I check that the files are
> really non-writable by triggering the on-the-fly installation: then
> I get an error that the database is non-writable.
>
> But things could be different if the installation is not on a stick
> but in program files.
>
>
> I also tried to change the location of the miktex-maintained roots:
>
> I created a folder localtexmf beside miktex-portable.
>
> I started miktex-portable.cmd and in the menu miktex options and
> added localtexmf as new root.
>
> Then I opened miktexstartup.ini in miktex\config and changed the
> path section to
>
> [Paths]
>
> ;; user TEXMF root directories
> UserRoots=..\..\..\localtexmf
> UserInstall=..\..\..\localtexmf
> UserData=..\..\..\localtexmf
>
> pdflatex then installed new packages installed on the fly in
> localtexmf. Perhaps such a configuration works for you too (you can
> also try to change the location of other miktex maintained roots
> like UserConfig or CommonConfig).
>
> This approach is a bit unstable: If I change miktexstartup before
> starting miktex-portable.cmd I don't get the icon in the task bar.
> But as your user don't need a menu this perhaps doesn't matter.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Ulrike Fischer
> http://www.troubleshooting-tex.de/
>
>
>
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