Chat
Topic : Deploy Windows Forms like Web Applications – ClickOnce Chat Expert : Abhishek Kant
August
17, 2005
subhashini
(Moderator):
Hi all , a very good evening to all of you :) subhashini
(Moderator):
Welcome to today's chat on Deploying windows Forms like Web Applications
- Click Once by Abhishek Kant ( CPM, Microsoft India) subhashini
(Moderator):
To give a quick intro about him subhashini
(Moderator):
Abhishek is the Community Program Manager for India. He is responsible
for identifying and managing community in India .
He is passionate about empowering and enabling the communities. He
has done his B.E. in Chemical Engg. and MBA from NMIMS, Mumbai. He
is a Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD) Charter Member
on the .NET platform. He has worked with BizTalk Server 2004 and the
Solution Accelerators team. He likes to ponder on business issues
as much as the technical intricacies. Abhishek can be reached at:
abhishek@microsoft.com. subhashini (Moderator):
You can also catch him blogging often about community at http://abhishekkant.blogspot.com/ subhashini (Moderator):
As always , few chat rules just before we begin subhashini
(Moderator):
Please refrain from sending any private messages to the expert during
the chat subhashini (Moderator):
Chat Procedures:
This chat will last for one hour. During this hour, our Experts will
respond to as many questions as they can. Please understand that there
may be some questions we cannot respond to due to lack of information
or because the information is not yet public. We encourage you to
submit questions for our Experts subhashini
(Moderator):
We ask that you stay on topic for the duration of the chat. This helps
the Guests and Experts follow the conversation more easily. We invite
you to ask off topic questions after this chat is over. subhashini
(Moderator):
So let's get the chat rolling and hope all of you enjoy this one hour
chat session. subhashini (Moderator):
let us welcome Abhishek abhishek (Moderator):
Hi Everyone abhishek (Moderator):
It is a pleasure to talk about one of the new features in the core
.NET 2.0 framework - ClickOnce abhishek
(Moderator):
I would like to begin with the history of the deployment in Microsoft
Technologies: abhishek (Moderator):
1. At the dawn of MS technologies, we built COM applications and then
built Deployment applications in VS 6.0 abhishek
(Moderator):
2. When .NET 1.0 was introduced, we moved away from the DLL Hell and
moved into the realm of assemblies (private and public) abhishek
(Moderator):
3. With .NET 1.1, deployment became more secure with introduction
of partially trusted assemblies abhishek
(Moderator):
that would enable applications to run in CAS sandbox and not do anything
that it was not supposed to do abhishek
(Moderator):
4. At this time PAG group released an application block called Updater
Application Block. Simultaneously, there was another technology developed
called BITS. abhishek (Moderator):
5. In .NET 2.0, all the work done before it was assimilated into a
technology called ClickOnce. abhishek
(Moderator):
ClickOnce is a new technology in .NET 2.0 that allows you to deploy
and automatically update applications over an Intranet or the Internet.
abhishek (Moderator):
At the same time it is not appropriate for all applications (you wouldn't
deploy MS Office with ClickOnce), it should make deployment much better
for many line-of-business apps. abhishek
(Moderator):
The world today benefits from Web Applications primarily due to 2
reasons: abhishek (Moderator):
1. No deployment required really. It is as simple as clicking on a
link or typing a URL and using the web application abhishek
(Moderator):
2. No update hassles. Once a web server is updated all the people
accessing the web application, get to access the latest build. abhishek (Moderator):
But Web Applications have the following drawbacks: abhishek
(Moderator):
1. They still do not offer the richness of the Windows Applications abhishek (Moderator):
2. you have to be online all the time if you have to use Web application abhishek (Moderator):
ClickOnce brings the benefits of the web applications detailed above
and takes away the drawbacks making it a compelling technology to
use today and in future. abhishek (Moderator):
With “ClickOnce” running a Windows Forms application is
as simple as clicking a link in a web page. For administrators, deploying
or updating an application is simply a matter of updating files on
a server; no need to individually touch every client. abhishek
(Moderator):
Applications installed through ClickOnce are completely self-contained
& install per-user, meaning no-admin rights are required. abhishek (Moderator): “ClickOnce”
applications can be deployed via web servers, file servers or CDs.
A “ClickOnce” application can choose to be installed,
meaning it gets start menu & add/remove program entries, or an
app can simply be run & cached abhishek
(Moderator): “ClickOnce” applications run
in a secure sandbox provided by the CLR Code Access Security model.
For applications that need a higher level of trust, “ClickOnce”
supports both a user prompting model and an enhanced security policy
pre-deployment mechanism for administrators. abhishek
(Moderator): "ClickOnce" is supported by
a rich progamming API (System.Deployment.Application) that can be
used to do very imaginative things like install on demand, incremental
download abhishek (Moderator):
Please feel free to ask me questions using the "ask the expert"
checkbox located next to the Send button abhishek
(Moderator):
Hope this has given the capability overview of ClickOnce technology
of .NET 2.0 abhishek (Moderator):
Not only is ClickOnce a deployment technology but also a very robust
update mechanism abhishek (Moderator):
and the beauty of the whole framework is that it is fully supported
and integrated into Visual Studio 2005 abhishek
(Moderator):
You don't have to write a SINGLE line of code to get the broad range
of functionality that we discussed above. In some situations you might
want to leverage the ClickOnce API for your applications. abhishek
(Moderator):
the only prerequisite for ClickOnce is that the target clients should
already have the .NET Framework 2.0 installed. abhishek
(Moderator): Q: Since ClickOnce depends on .NET
Framework 2.0 does the client have the option of uninstalling .NET
Framework 2.0 if he has issues with .NET Framework 1.1 applications A: i am not sure of the question that you are asking me. Are
you asking me can .NET Framework 2.0 be uninstalled from the system?
Yes, like previous .NET frameworks .NET 2.0 supports side by side
installation and can be removed if you so desire. abhishek
(Moderator):
ClickOnce technologies are still in development and have seen changes
from VS 2005 Beta 1 to VS 2005 Beta 2. It is probable that there might
be changes before VS 2005 is released in the market. abhishek
(Moderator):
At this time please feel free to ask me questions on ClickOnce....
abhishek (Moderator): Q: Happy to see your message abhishek A: it is
nice to have you here. please feel free to ask me questions related
to ClickOnce technologies. abhishek (Moderator): Q: pls tell us what is Clickonce A: We have already
covered most of the this in theory. In short, ClickOnce is a technology
by which you are able to deploy and update rich windows applications
through the web interface abhishek (Moderator):
Let us launch into the architecture behind ClickOnce and then we will
see tool support in VS 2005 Beta 2. abhishek
(Moderator): Q: where do i get those theory A: refer to the Expert Chat window. I will be pointing to more
resources by the end of the chat too. abhishek
(Moderator):
The Win Form binaries have to get compiled as usual. abhishek
(Moderator):
when we include ClickOnce deployment, two extra manifests get generated
- a. Application Manifest b. Deployment Manifest abhishek
(Moderator):
The Application Manifest is like your VS .csproj / .vbproj file containing
the list of the assemblies that constitute an application. abhishek
(Moderator):
The Deployment Manifest refers to the location of the Application
Manifest and the version of the application. This is the endpoint
which is referred to through the web. abhishek
(Moderator):
the user clicks on the link to reach the deployment manifest. The
deployment manifest then points to the application manifest and the
application manifest provides the location of the assemblies. abhishek (Moderator):
The assemblies themselves are physically located on the web server
as well. abhishek (Moderator):
So there are 2 distinct processes in the deployment methodology: 1.
Staging 2. Launching abhishek (Moderator):
Staging is when all the assemblies are loaded on the web server abhishek (Moderator):
Launching is when a client refers to the deployment manifest and launches
the application abhishek (Moderator): Q: Hi abhishek.I have a basic doubt, can I add Bootstrapper
functionalities ie; if target machine don't have dotnet framework installed
i need to detect it and install it first from server..? A:
Yes. This functionality has been added in the Beta 2. You can install
pre-requisites (especially .NET framework) from the web interface
directly. If you have some other dependencies, you can point to the
relevant website. abhishek (Moderator): Q: i used a dll in my win app and i deployed it.If i change
my dll contents, simply copying & pasting the dll is enough to
work with the updated one. A: no it is not. the information
about updated assemblies is stored in the manifests. you will need
updated manifests if the application on the client has to be updated
using the latest assemblies. you can update it using SDK tools or
using the VS 2005 support by re-publishing the application. abhishek
(Moderator): Q: Do I need to stop the client
application to update it thru ClickOnce...In the web form scenario,
I just click "Refresh". How is it achieved in winForms A: Good question. when clickonce is started off a URL, it checks
for an update. If the application is already running this opportunity
is not there. However, you can use the ClickOnce API, to force a check
for update and then download the required assemblies. If the assembly
is to be loaded later you can load it once it is downloaded while
the application is running. abhishek
(Moderator): Q: Can we handle Patch management
with ClickOnce in WinForms App'ns A: yes we can. if i understand
you correctly you want to issue patches for your applications. you
can do that by re-publishing the application and the next time the
application starts it will update itself with the new assemblies.
Patch done. subhashini (Moderator):
We have the last 10 mins for the chat to conclude . subhashini
(Moderator):
Request all of you to wind up your queries or email Abhishek at abhishek@microsoft.com
with your queries. abhishek (Moderator): Q: what is the underlying mechanism in clickonce to download
the assembly that is how the downloader is different from http and
bits downloader and what are the fusion caching changes? A:
today the download doesn't use BITS. System.NET class libraries are
used to do it’s downloads.
in the longhorn timeframe, clickonce might start using the BITS framework.
Clickonce doesn't use the GAC either. it maintains its private cache. abhishek (Moderator): Q:
Is there any relation ship exists for click once with replication?
A: Replication is relevant to DB technologies. This is
application deployment and updation. this doesn't have relation to
replication technologies. abhishek (Moderator): Q: All the patches don't require a restart of application. Like
some windows updates..... For example, I have a winForm wwith menus.
User is working on one menu, I want to update another menu, without
letting the user to know abt the patch/update.. A: that's
what i mentioned. if you are going to be using an assembly that is
not loaded currently but might be needed in future, you might be able
to download it and update it without restarting the application. However,
in most cases a restart is required. abhishek
(Moderator): Q: Replication deals the same (Updation
of patches) A: could you please elaborate on this? what
replication are you referring to? DB or something else? abhishek
(Moderator):
In the final phase, let us discuss the VS 2005 Beta 2 support for
ClickOnce abhishek (Moderator):
It is as easy as Right Clicking the project name in Solution Explorer
and clicking on the Publish menu.. abhishek
(Moderator):
a wizard steps you through the final options involved in actually
publishing the application to a deployment server so that it can be
presented to ClickOnce clients. abhishek
(Moderator):
There are additional ClickOnce options that affect the way the application
will be updated, and these options can be accessed through the Project
Properties dialog. abhishek (Moderator):
Under Project Properties, there are two new subsections of project
settings: Security and Publish abhishek
(Moderator):
There is also signing Tab that you need to use for signing the manifests. abhishek (Moderator):
The Security section allows you to specify which permissions the application
needs to execute. These requirements get published as part of the
application manifest and are used on the client to determine whether
to prompt the user to allow elevated permissions for the application. abhishek (Moderator):
The SDK provides some tools that you can use to modify the manifests
as well - MageUI.exe under \Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio
8\SDK\v2.0\Bin abhishek (Moderator): Q: Using this click once technology and while publishing it
there is some warning indicating security what's it how can we rectify
it A: Yes. At the security tab of Project Properties, VS
2005 can help you calculate the permissions required for the application.
You can then further fine tune the permissions. also, you can specify
the Zone from where the clickonce application will be running i.e.
internet zone, intranet zone or a custom zone. VS 2005 even lets you
test the application under simulated conditions of the zone you are
going to use later. abhishek (Moderator): Q: While publishing its showing an error window as unknown
publisher A: ClickOnce needs a trusted publisher. For testing
purposes you can generate a test certificate to sign from the Signing
Tab of the Project properties. While actually deploying the application
you can use the widely accepted publishers who exist in the trusted
publishers root in the machines e.g. Verisign abhishek
(Moderator): Q: Can we change the options in
Test Certificate A: what options are you referring to in
test certificate? Since this is a test certificate you are not allowed
to change anything there. It is meant for individual machine that
the developer is working on subhashini
(Moderator):
This brings to the end of the chat. Please feel free to email Abhishek
for any queries subhashini (Moderator):
at abhishek@microsoft.com abhishek (Moderator): Q: In Security they are indicating Partial Security what does
it mean A: explaining Partial Security mode is a BIG topic
in itself. In short, it was introduced in .NET 1.1. When you declare
a .NET application as partially trusted (that you always should -
BEST practice) you benefit from the CAS sandbox. Your code will need
explicit permissions from the admin to do certain activities e.g.
access the IO system, access registry etc. this makes the code more
secure and less prone to doing unintentional damage to the system. abhishek (Moderator): Q:
Thanks a lot Abhishek A: your welcome. subhashini
(Moderator):
Thanks to Abhishek for delivering such an informative chat session
and hope all of you enjoyed it. subhashini
(Moderator):
Thanks to all of you for attending this chat and hope you found it
informative . abhishek (Moderator): Q: When will be the next chat to share the technologies A: We conduct chats every week on Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00
PM. subhashini (Moderator):
The chat transcript will be available at http://www.microsoft.com/india/communities/chat/Transcripts.aspx subhashini (Moderator):
please volunteer to host any webchat by emailing us at commind@microsoft.com subhashini (Moderator):
or indiamvp@microsoft.com subhashini
(Moderator):
Thanks again and have a lovely evening :) abhishek
(Moderator):
Finally, few resources to get more information on ClickOnce: subhashini
(Moderator):
Please pour in your feedback about these chats at commind@microsoft.com abhishek (Moderator):
<http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/04/05/ClickOnce/> abhishek (Moderator): http://msdn.microsoft.com/smartclient/understanding/windowsforms/2.0/features/clickonce.aspx abhishek (Moderator): http://www.windowsforms.net/FAQs/default.aspx?PageID=1&CategoryID=24&tabindex=2 abhishek (Moderator): http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnvs05/html/ClickOnceVS05.asp abhishek (Moderator): http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwinforms/html/clickoncetrustpub.asp subhashini (Moderator):
Thanks again and enjoy your evening .:) abhishek
(Moderator):
If you would like to try hands on lab for Clickonce: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/tryit/hosted/vstudio2005/clickoncedeployment/ abhishek (Moderator):
Catch more discussions on ClickOnce at: http://forums.microsoft.com abhishek (Moderator):
Thanks for your time today and enjoy the "smart client"
experience on Win Form applications! subhashini
(Moderator):
thanks to Abhishek and all of you
