C #. Net deploying applications clickonce

Clickonce

Clickonce is a deployment technology that allows you to create self-update Windows-based applications that can be installed and run with minimal user interaction. Clickonce deployment overcomes three inherent problems:

It is difficult to update the application. When you use Microsoft Windows installer to deploy an application, you must reinstall the entire application every time you update the application. When you use clickonce to deploy the application, updates are automatically provided. Only the changed application is downloaded, and the complete and updated application is re-installed from the new parallel folder.

Impact on users' computers. When using Windows Installer for deployment, applications usually rely on shared components, which may lead to version conflicts. When using clickonce for deployment, each application is independent, it does not interfere with other applications.

Security permissions. For Windows Installer deployment, administrator permissions are required and only Restricted Users are allowed to install the program. clickonce deployment allows non-administrator users to install the application and only grant security permissions to the Code required by the application.

In the past, these problems sometimes allowed developers to decide to create Web applications rather than Windows-based applications, sacrificing the rich user interfaces and responsiveness of Windows Forms for ease of installation. For applications deployed using clickonce, you can combine the advantages of these two technologies.

What is a clickonce application?

Simply put, a clickonce application is a Windows form or console application released using the clickonce technology. You can publish a clickonce application in three different ways: publishing from a Web page, sharing from a network file, or publishing from a media such as a CD-ROM. Clickonce applications can be installed on the end user's computer and run locally (even when the computer is offline) or only in online mode, without permanently installing any content on the end user's computer. For more information, see select a clickonce deployment policy.

Clickonce applications can be updated by themselves. These applications can check the latest version when the new version is available and automatically replace all the updated files. Developers can specify the update behavior. The network administrator can also control the update policy, such as marking the update as mandatory. The end user or administrator can also roll back the updates to restore the application to an earlier version.

Because clickonce applications are essentially isolated, installing or running clickonce applications will not interfere with existing applications. Clickonce applications are completely independent. Each clickonce application is installed in a secure cache based on each user and application and runs from the cache. By default, clickonce applications run in the internet or Intranet security zone. If necessary, applications can request elevated security permissions.

 

Generate --- release wizard. (You can also perform advanced settings on the release tab of project properties)

Another technology used to generate the installation file is Windows install. The flexibility is better than click once.