winforms based product updates provision

[enzeez]

Hello,

I need to provide an updater exe along with my product executable in setup.

My product exe will check for updates if any, available and will launch
a process , updater.exe.
updater.exe downloads the updated version available.
This updater.exe needs to replace the current product exe with the new
ones thats downloaded.

Can someone guide me how do i achieve this?

Is it ok to just replace or delete the current exe and create a new exe
with same name?

I am new to such a task and i need to know the best possible solution.

I dont want users to uninstall and install the new version.
However, uninstalling silently by the updater.exe and then the
downloaded setup.exe run by updater.exe is also acceptable - is this
possible?


Thanks in advance
NZ

 

[Alex Meleta]

Hi

The best is depends. For example, you can use ClickOnce (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/bb308766.aspx,
with some limitations here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/142dbbz4(VS.80).aspx)
or ApplicationBlocks (http://codebetter.com/blogs/brendan.tompkins/archive/2004/06/10/16118.aspx)
or something custom, such as web service provides updates and versions descriptions
for app updater, but sure first ones good enough for deployment.

Regards, Alex :: http://devkids.blogspot.co

 

[enzeez]

Hello Alex,

I cant use click-once deployment as every user needs to install the
application.
My application also uses Registry keys in HKLM. Some other tasks need
full trust to execute.

I am looking for the custom updater solution that you have given, like
using a webservice to probe for updates etc.

My question is after downloading the updated exe file or or some other
files - Can i replace the older files without any problem?
MSI installer might be adding some keys in registry to designate the exe
file for the installed product. Can i replace that file with newer version?

Please help me out here as i havent come across this scenario earlier.

thanks in advance
nz

 

[Alex Meleta]

Hi

The problem can be if you tyry to replace currently executing assembly. So,
it's better to use the updater just before your primary application loaded
to check is there (loaded) updates exists.

Regards, Alex :: http://devkids.blogspot.co

 

[Marc Bernard]

Hello,

I need to provide an updater exe along with my product executable in setup.

My product exe will check for updates if any, available and will launch
a process , updater.exe.
updater.exe downloads the updated version available.
This updater.exe needs to replace the current product exe with the new
ones thats downloaded.

Can someone guide me how do i achieve this?

Is it ok to just replace or delete the current exe and create a new exe
with same name?

I am new to such a task and i need to know the best possible solution.

I dont want users to uninstall and install the new version.
However, uninstalling silently by the updater.exe and then the
downloaded setup.exe run by updater.exe is also acceptable - is this
possible?

We're using a custom updater, heavily based on the Updater Application
block.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...3a-d957-4b17-9b97-296fb4927c30&displaylang=en

Works great - we can choose to have multiple versions on a single
machine, update the app silently in the background, then prompt the
user to switch to the new one once it's downloaded, etc.

Marc
http://nomagichere.blogspot.com

 

[enzeez]

Thanks for the solution Marc,

Can i use the updater block in .net 2.0 ?
i look for the updated version of this block but could not find it over
msdn.

Can u guide me find the latest version if any?

thanks in advance
NZ

 

[Marc Bernard]

Thanks for the solution Marc,

Can i use the updater block in .net 2.0 ?
i look for the updated version of this block but could not find it over
msdn.

Can u guide me find the latest version if any?

thanks in advance
NZ

I think I've seen a 2.0 version somewhere, but we're still stuck in
the 1.1 world, so I've never pursued it.

The 1.1 flavour should still work for you though.

Marc

 

[Alex Meleta]

Hi enzeez,

Sure, it's included in the Enterprise Lib, follow the link to find more info
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...63-708F-4280-8F0C-637481C31718&displaylang=en

Regards, Alex