Goal:
I am trying to make a setup file for my app. Futhermore the app must be able to be updated from a server or OneDrive.
Solution:
I am using windows application packaging project for this.
The issue:
The installer works fine when the installer location is on my local harddrive. But when i try to change the installer location to my online file manager or a public OneDrive folder I am unable to download and install the update or App for that matter.
My question:
Has anyone been able to use windows application packaging project where the app downloads updates from a server / OneDrive by uploading the installation file to a server / OneDrive and entering the path to the location, or am I on the wrong track?
Alternatives
The alternativ is of course to use Setup Project and perhaps AutoUpdaterDotNET (from NuGet) which works fine, but now I am interested in a solution which does not require several different third-party programs, and windows application packaging project seems to be the solution.
Have you tried creating an .appinstaller file? This XML file (which you can write in any code editor - you don't need VS or Advanced Installer to generate it, although that way is easier) should allow the OS to cache all the necessary information to auto-update the app accordingly.
Related
I have an application written in C# using VisualStudio 2015 and I want to publish it (eg give an exe or installer to somebody to use it on its PC). From VisualStudio there is possibility to click "publish" in solution explorer. The result files are:
-Application files (File folder)
-project.application (Application manifest)
-setup.exe (Application)
As far as I know "manifest" file should be some metadata, but I can execute that file and it gives me an installer (the same as setup.exe). After installing it runs an application (just like setup.exe). It makes me confused - what exactly project.application is? Can I delete it and use only setup.exe? What is the correct way of publishing an app? One last thing: why does the installer run installation on first execution and run an application on any other? I would expect to run installation any time (just like other software).
Thanks
It sounds like a ClickOnce application. See the following link for more information:
ClickOnce security and deployment
In a nutshell:
The installer copies the files to the users AppData and then runs the application.
There are also other options such as checking for updates from a network location or web address. Then when you run the application it checks for updates and uses the manifest to do an incremental update of the application files.
I've install the MetroLog package from Nuget into UWP solution (VS2015).
In debug mode everything works fine -
it create a log file in local folder and write contents inside.
When i create an .appx file, copy it into the WP device and install it,
nothing happend, the MetroLog does not create any log file.
Please, need help?
MetroLog is supported in UWP. And by default, in will store logs in the app's LocalState folder. So the key point here is how to access LocalState (LocalFolder) folder in Windows 10 Mobile.
Usually, we may use some third party tools like IsoStoreSpy or Windows Phone Power Tools to access Isolated Storage. With these tools, we can access LocalFolder, TemporaryFolder and RoamingFolder. However, these two tools can only works when the application is deployed in Debug mode.
For now, it is suggested to use App File Explorer to view and manipulate files stored by your sideloaded apps. This tool should be able to work no matter your application is deployed in Debug mode or Release mode. But please note that this is a new tool added to Windows Device Portal in the Anniversary Update.
To use this feature, we need enable Device discovery and Device Portal. For more info, please see Using the App File Explorer to see your app data.
Is it possible to create a fully-distributable application using C# that installs in a "proper" location (i.e. C:\Program Files\MyAppName) using only Visual Studio?
I'm new to creating stand-alone apps and I have created a first simple test app, but now wish to develop a home inventory-type application. It requires the distributable SQL Server database (which I used in my test app), and I would like it to install to a "normal" location. Right now, it seems to install to C:\Users\%Username%\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0.
Can this be done with C#, or does it require some 3rd party installation creation package?
As long as they don't rely on assemblies in the GAC, etc. .NET applications are standalone / "fully-distributable" by default. The most common way that I install my applications to other machines is by copying the output folder, (bin\Release for example) to my desired install location. For applications that are to be downloaded off of a website, zipping the folder should be sufficient, and the user can unzip to any location that they wish.
I finished this WinForms (Framework 4.0, Visual Studio 2012-2013) application and I have two(2) options to update it and I am stuck a little bit. Before explaining a bit more I also have a website built with ASP.NET that is also finished and from my website I want to update my application, I have two options:
Create an XML file with the file version that I will check when starting my application and compare the versions, I can do this but I have no idea how to update the application itself, let's say I do this and finally the application will check and compare version from user application with the XML file on the site and it will see that XML file version is newer than the version user uses.
In that case what do I have to do to update my winforms application is it a software out there or is it from the Visual Studio any tweak.
Second option is to use the Click Once still I have no clue about it.
Conclusion is I think is better to use the first option and smoother but I just don't know how to update the files(assemblies) and everything else.
You can not update your win app from asp.net directly but of course from desktop application you can create a separate class library which will compare your win app version with the XML file containing your updated file's location on web server. Now what you need to do is compare the version of win app with the XML file and download that new version.
Use ClickOnce deployment!
I have a number of WPF and Windows Forms applications that are deployed with ClickOnce. What you do, is set a folder in your ASP.Net application as the publish location of your client application. Once installed from that location, it will check for updates and install automatically without you having to code for it.
This has proved to be far more reliable than when I tried to use InstallShield for the same purpose.
I've built a Winforms Application, and I want to publish it. I'd like to have a link on a website https://sites.google.com/site/satsavvyboardgame/home where I can have the user download the application and have it install on their computer. So far, I haven't found any way to wrap everything up in one package, or successfully publish to the web. What are the specifications for the URL to publish to the web?
Is there any way to package everything into one item (the site won't allow me to upload/download folders), so that the user could download one item, then run that or something in it?
Is there another way to do this that I haven't seen?
I'm using C# Visual Studio 2010 Express, and my application has the code and a couple of XML files that I need to run. All are part of the project, and run fine when I install from a file using the CD publish settings.
I've never published an application before, so any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
You have 2 general options:
use "ClickOnce" which will enable automatic updates each time the user click to install and have several other benefits such as less problems with priviliges.
Use "Windows-Installer", which allows you more control of how to do and what to do during the installtion phase. However, shamefully, Package & Deployment project types do not exist anymore in vs2012. there are several 3rd party packages you can work with to create your setup-project.
The ClickOnce is preferable if what the user download is a just a simple standalone game application for example.. the MSI is for the more "rich" applications that should make extensive usage in the machine registry and etc..
The table in this link will give you the data you need to make a decision:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/142dbbz4(v=vs.80).aspx