Installing the .NET Framework Runtime

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Another related topic is that of upgrading applications that have already been installed on the target computer. Let's say you have written and deployed an application to a large number of users throughout your corporation. What happens when you need to update the application? Do you distribute a new setup program and ask your users to run it? It's inevitable that while some users will be running the new version, others will still be running the old one. If you upgrade the application (or some of its components) several times, it's certain that most versions of the application will be in use at your company. We will address the issue of upgrading an existing application in our discussion.

The client computers to which you're going to deploy your .NET applications must have the .NET Framework runtime installed. If not, the application won't run. To install the .NET Framework on the target computer, you must run the Dotnetfx.exe setup program. You can obtain this file from Microsoft and deploy it with your applications. This file is an installer that contains the Common Language Runtime and .NET Framework class libraries necessary to run .NET Framework applications. You can find this file on the Visual Studio CDs (it's on the .NET Framework SDK CD in the \dotNETRedist directory), or download it from Microsoft at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/downloads/list/netdevframework.asp or at http://www.windowsupdate.com. (Keep in mind that both of these links may be invalid by the time you're reading this book, so you should search the MSDN site).

Installing the .NET Framework takes a few moments, but it's an unattended process and it will either install the Framework successfully or will fail and the original computer configuration will be restored. You can install the .NET Framework on Windows 98 computers and your applications will also work under this pre-.NET operating system. The next version of the Windows operating system will come with the .NET Framework preinstalled. This will simplify the deployment of .NET applications even more (ignoring the fact that we'll have to deal with updates in the .NET Framework itself).

To install the .NET Framework on a client computer, the user must log on with administrator privileges. This isn't usually the case in a corporate environment, so it's best to leave this task to the system administrator, who can install the .NET Framework on all client computers using the Systems Management Server. You can also install the .NET runtime files silently, along with your application. The process is described in detail in the documentation (search for the item Redistributing the .NET Framework).

In the following sections we're going to look at the deployment methods for Windows forms-based applications, starting with the XCopy method, which is as simple as copying the executable files from the development machine to the production workstations. This is a very basic deployment method that can be used with simple applications—and it's a seriously limited deployment method, because it doesn't allow you to perform custom actions, such as installing a shortcut on the user's desktop, or a new font on the target computer.

The deployment method we'll explore in detail is the Internet-based deployment, or no-touch deployment, which is ideal for corporate intranets. The application's files are copied to a virtual directory of the web server and users can run the application by pointing their browser to the application's URL.

The last deployment method is to create a Windows installer package, distribute it to the target machines, and ask users to run the Setup program, which will install the application and integrate it

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