How to automatically update an application without ClickOnce

Question

For the project I am working on  I am not allowed to use ClickOnce  My boss wants the program to look  real   with an installer  etc    I have installed Visual Studio 2012 Professional  and have been playing around with the InstallShield installer  and it definitely makes nice installers  but I can t figure out how to enable the application to  auto-update   that is  when it starts up  checks to make sure that it is using the latest version    I have been asked to make a tiny change to the code - switching an addition to a subtraction  and I don t really want people to have to uninstall the old version  and then have to reinstall the new version every time I make a small change like this   How can I make the application check for updates  and install them  Or is this not possible  or not easy

User · Answer

The most common way would be to put a simple text file (XML/JSON would be better) on your webserver with the last build version. The application will then download this file, check the version and start the updater. A typical file would look like this:

Application Update File (A unique string that will let your application recognize the file type)

version: 1.0.0 (Latest Assembly Version)

download: http://yourserver.com/... (A link to the download version)

redirect: http://yournewserver.com/... (I used this field in case of a change in the server address.)

This would let the client know that they need to be looking at a new address.

You can also add other important details.

User · Answer

I think you should check the following project at codeplex com http   autoupdater codeplex com   This sample application is developed in C  as a library with the project name    AutoUpdater     The DLL    AutoUpdater    can be used in a C  Windows application WinForm and WPF    There are certain features about the AutoUpdater    Easy to implement and use  Application automatic re-run after checking update  Update process transparent to the user  To avoid blocking the main thread using multi-threaded download  Ability to upgrade the system and also the auto update program  A code that doesn t need change when used by different systems and could be compiled in a library  Easy for user to download the update files    How to use   In the program that you want to be auto updateable  you just need to call the AutoUpdate function in the Main procedure  The AutoUpdate  function will check the version with the one read from a file located in a Web Site FTP  If the program version is lower than the one read the program downloads the auto update program and launches it and the function returns True  which means that an auto update will run and the current program should be closed  The auto update program receives several parameters from the program to be updated and performs the auto update necessary and after that launches the updated system      region check and download new version program   bool bSuccess   false    IAutoUpdater autoUpdater   new AutoUpdater      try           autoUpdater Update          bSuccess   true        catch  WebException exp            MessageBox Show  Can not find the specified resource          catch  XmlException exp            MessageBox Show  Download the upgrade file error          catch  NotSupportedException exp            MessageBox Show  Upgrade address configuration error          catch  ArgumentException exp            MessageBox Show  Download the upgrade file error          catch  Exception exp            MessageBox Show  An error occurred during the upgrade process          finally           if  bSuccess    false                    try                           autoUpdater RollBack                          catch  Exception                             Log the message to your file or database                            endregion

User · Answer

There are a lot of questions already about this  so I will refer you to those   One thing you want to make sure to prevent the need for uninstallation  is that you use the same upgrade code on every release  but change the product code  These values are located in the Installshield project properties   Some references    Auto update  NET applications Auto-update library for  NET  Auto update for WinForms application Suggest a method for auto-updating my C  program Automatic update a Windows application

User · Answer

A Lay men s way is  on Main   rename the executing assembly file  exe to some thing else check date and time of created  and the updated file date time and copy to the application folder     Rename he executing file System IO FileInfo file   new System IO FileInfo System Reflection Assembly GetExecutingAssembly   Location    System IO File Move file FullName  file DirectoryName          file Name Replace file Extension        -1    file Extension     then do the logic check and copy the new file to executing folder

User · Answer

This is the code to update the file but not to install This program is made through dos for copying files to the latest date and run your program automatically  may help you  open notepad and save file below with ext  bat    xcopy   IP address folder share name      s  y  d  q   start  label   b  youraplicationname exe

[c#] How to automatically update an application without ClickOnce?

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