Update Packs (Web Updates and Analytics)

The Update Packs page allows you to define the updates that are available for your applications on the field. An update can consist of any downloadable file, and will typically be a setup executable; such as an incremental update built using the Patches page, or a full blown major version installer that completely uninstalls the previous version.

An update pack may be served to more than one version of an application. You associate update packs with your available application versions on the Versions page.

Your edits to this page are written immediately to an updates.ini file, which is saved in your project folder. You may also manually edit this regular INI-format file. This INI file will also be copied to your build output location every time you execute a build.

At runtime, setup attempts to download this file from the location specified in the Monitor URL field of the Project Properties page to determine if updates are available for your application. Of course, the Receive Application Updates check-box must be checked in the Project Properties page for setup to check for application updates.

Creating a New Update Pack

To define a new update pack , follow these steps:

1. Click the New button. The Update Pack dialog box appears.
2. Enter the full name of your update in the Update name field. This will be the update title that is visible to end-users at runtime.
3. Enter the full download location of your update in the Full download URL for update installer field. When the end-user selects this pack at runtime, setup attempts to download it from this exact location.
4. Enter a detailed description for your update in the Update description field. This description will be available for the end-user to read and decide whether to install the update.
5. Check the Reboot after running update installer box if you require that the target computer should be restarted after installing your update. To improve the end-user experience, individual reboots are always supressed while multiple update packs are being silently installed. If at least one update pack has specified this option, a single global reboot will be performed once all selected update packs have been installed.
6. Check the Silently run update installer box to allow your update to be silently installed. To improve the end-user experience, it is recommended that updates be silently installed.
7. If there are any command line parameters you would like to pass to the update program, enter them in the Additional command line parameters for update installer field.
8. Click OK to accept your changes.

Editing an Update Pack

To change the properties of a previously defined update pack, follow these steps:

1. Select the update pack to edit.
2. Click the Edit button.
3. Update the necessary fields in the Update Pack dialog box.

Deleting an Update Pack

To delete a previously defined update pack:

1. Select the update pack to delete.
2. Click the Delete button.