The Application Manager

4/19/2010

The Application Manager, CeAppMgr.exe, installs when a user installs ActiveSync, and then resides on the user's desktop computer. The Application Manager handles the installation and removal of applications on a Windows® phone. The Application Manager can install applications that are packaged into .cab files. For more information about .cab files, see CAB Files for Delivering Windows Mobile Applications.

Application Manager and .ini Files

In order for the Application Manager to install an application on a Windows phone, it requires an .ini file that provides information about the application to be installed. For more information about Application Manager .ini files, see Application Manager .ini File Format.

Invoking the Application Manager

While debugging your .cab and .ini files, you can test the installation of your application by invoking the Application Manager from the command line. You can find the location of the CeAppMgr.exe in the default registry value of the desktop registry key: HKLM\software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\CEAppMgr.exe. When you launch the application, you must provide the full path to your .ini file, and if the path contains spaces, it must be contained within quotes. The following is an example of a command line invoking the Application Manager.

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft ActiveSync\CEAPPMGR.EXE" "C:\temp\HelloWorld.ini"

You can use the /report switch to activate the debugging dialogs in the Application Manager.

You should not require end users of your application to invoke manually the Application Manager in order to install your application. Instead, you should create an installer application that will run on the desktop computer to invoke the Application Manager. For more information about creating installers, see Creating an Installer for Windows Mobile Applications.

See Also

Concepts

Registering with Application Manager
Troubleshooting the Application Manager