ClientDeploy

A set of tools for providing software installation and update facilities for use in closed environments - i.e. in-house.

Components

ClientDeployHost standalone http Server

• Requires .net core 2.0

• dotnet ClientDeployHost.dll http://192.168.0.22:8082 httprepo

• httprepo must point to a valid repository folder structure

• Repository structure:

• top level: JSON file named '.clientdeployrepo.config' with the following content: { "Key" : "" } where key is empty at the moment
• top level: a clientdeploy.zip file with the following content: ~/updater/0.0.0/... where 0.0.0 is the current ClientDeployUpdateProcess (CDUP) version and ... are all files required for CDUP
• top level: folders for product channel including one mandatory "ClientDeployUpdateProcess".
• channel folders - JSON file named '.config' with the following content: { "Name" : "ClientDeployUpdateProcess", "Displayname" : "ClientDeploy Updater", "Description" : "Internal" }
• channel folders - folders for product versions
• version folder: JSON file named ".version" with the following content: { "Version" : "0.2.0", "Deprecated" : false, "ReleaseNotes" : "ClientDeploy Update Process" }
• version folder: all files required for installing the product
• Caveat: at this time, the server needs to be restarted in order to detect changes in the repository

ClientDeploy dll (nuget)

• Requires .net 4.5
• Provides Updater class to check for updates at start time or peridically. The caller is informed about updates becoming available and needs to call Update.
• In the background, the Updater always provides for the newest CDUP version.

Standalone installer (setup.exe)

• Requires .net 4.5
• call with three arguments: repo product targetfolder
• setup will download the current ClientDeployUPdateProcess and instruct that to install the requested product

Roadmap

• Log install/update steps to local file
• Rollback on install/update error
• build script
• build ClientDeploy.dll into nuget package
• prepare a zip file with the server and a ready-to-run repository
• Support subfolders in repository
• Support manually defined Installer Expectations in .manifest file in version folder
• InstallerExpectation for Windows registry keys
• InstallerExpactation for local templated files
• InstallerExpectation for running the software immediately after installation
• move .clientdeploy.config from specialcasing to InstallerExpectation/templated file
• GUI info dispenser during update
• Zip resources in bundles for faster delivery and better caching
• Cache resource bundles on clients
• Allow Clients to connect to a local zip file in lieu of the http repository for offline installation and update
• ClientDeployUpdateProcess will collect Metadata and report on updatelevel of client deployments.