Deploying Your Console Tab

  • Article

[This topic is pre-release documentation and is subject to change in future releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]

After you have created your custom tab for the Windows Home Server Console, you will need to deploy it to the server. In order to add your custom tab to the Windows Home Server Console, you can include it in a Windows Home Server Add-in that you add to the Windows Home Server computer.

Deploying A Custom Console Tab

Use the following steps to deploy your custom tab:

Important

The final version of Windows Home Server will include the Windows Home Server Add-in feature. This feature provides a way for users to install MSI-based custom applications through the Windows Home Server Console. This feature is not present as of the Beta version of Windows Home Server.

To deploy a custom console tab

  1. Change your .dll configuration in Visual Studio to a Release configuration. To do so, while in Visual Studio 2005 and with your project open, click the dropdown arrow for Solutions Configuration and then click Release.

  2. Click Build and then click Build ProjectName where ProjectName is the name of your custom console tab project, for example "MyWHSApp." The output from your build should be a .dll file in the VisualStudio2005\ProjectName\ProjectName\bin\Release folder of your project directory, where ProjectName is the name of your custom console tab project.

  3. Package your .dll file that contains the code for your custom tab into a Microsoft Installer file (MSI). When an end-user with administrator rights on the server runs the MSI from the Windows Home Server desktop, it should copy your .dll file to the appropriate location on the server.

    Important

    You will need to configure your MSI so that it copies your .dll to the %systemdrive%\Program Files\Windows Home Server folder on the server during installation. If you do not copy the .dll to this folder, your custom tab will not display in the Windows Home Server Console.

  4. When the MSI completes, the end-user must close and then reopen the Windows Home Server Console.

  5. After the console reopens, your custom tab should appear.

See Also

Concepts

Extending the Windows Home Server Console
Deploying Your Custom Application
Setting Up Your Project
Creating a New Tab
Creating a Settings Tab
Changing Tab Order