ClickOnce Deployment for Windows Forms Applications

ClickOnce is a deployment technology that enables self-updating Windows-based applications that can be installed and run with minimal user interaction.

In This Section

• ClickOnce Deployment Overview
  Describes the purpose of ClickOnce, and how it solves key problems in deploying Windows Forms applications to client computers.

• Choosing a ClickOnce Deployment Strategy
  Describes the different ways in which you can deploy a ClickOnce application to client computers, including the benefits and limitations of each strategy.

• Choosing a ClickOnce Update Strategy
  Describes the different options available for updating a ClickOnce application once it is installed, including automated update subscriptions and on-demand updates.

• How ClickOnce Performs Application Updates
  Describes some of the technical details behind how ClickOnce updates an application without downloading the entire file set.

• ClickOnce Deployment and Security
  Describes the security implications of deploying Windows Forms applications over the network, and how to instrument your deployment to request elevated permissions from the client computer.

• ClickOnce Deployment and Authenticode
  Explains how Authenticode is used in ClickOnce application deployment.

• Application Deployment Prerequisites
  Explains how to deploy key ClickOnce dependencies such as the .NET Framework to client computers.

• How to: Check for Application Updates Programmatically Using the ClickOnce Deployment API
  Demonstrates how to write code that checks for an application update in response to a user request or some other event.

• How to: Specify an Alternate Location for Deployment Updates
  Explains how to change the Web site or directory that ClickOnce uses to check for updates to your application.

• How to: Disable URL Activation of ClickOnce Applications
  Explains how to prevent users from launching installed applications via the deployment's URL.

• Troubleshooting ClickOnce Deployments
  Describes the most common problems encountered when deploying ClickOnce applications, and how to resolve them.

• Trusted Application Deployment Overview
  Describes a technology for securely elevating a ClickOnce application's permission level on the client computer.

• Walkthrough: Manually Deploying a ClickOnce Application
  Explains how to use .NET Framework utilities to deploy your ClickOnce application.

• How to: Specify a Support URL for Individual Prerequisites in a ClickOnce Deployment
  Demonstrated how to manually alter an application manifest to include individual support URLs for each prerequisite.

• How to: Add a Trusted Publisher to a Client Computer for ClickOnce Applications
  Demonstrates the steps for the one-time configuration required to deploy a ClickOnce application to a client using trusted application deployment.

• ClickOnce and Application Settings
  Describes how ClickOnce works with the new architecture for persisting application and user-configuration state.

• Walkthrough: Downloading Assemblies on Demand with the ClickOnce Deployment API Using the Designer
  Explains how to download application assemblies only when they are first used by the application.

• How to: Retrieve Query String Information in a ClickOnce Application
  Demonstrates how to retrieve parameters passed in the URL used to run a ClickOnce application.

• Accessing Local and Remote Data in ClickOnce Applications
  Describes the various ways you can store and access data on the client computer and fetch data from remote sources.

• How to: Include a Data File in a ClickOnce Application
  Explains how to mark a file in a ClickOnce deployment as a data file so that it is stored in the data directory on the client computer.

• ClickOnce Cache Overview
  Describes the cache used to store ClickOnce applications on the local client computer.

Reference

• System.Deployment.Application
  Describes the properties, methods and events available to developers who wish to implement custom upgrade behavior into their ClickOnce applications.