ClickOnce not getting updates?

Question

Hi,

I've published my Windows Forms application to a network share and installed it on a user's computer as the domain admin thinking it would install for all users.  But I noticed that when a standard user launched the app from the shortcut I placed in the Public user's Desktop, it re-installed the application.  I believe now that that is the designed behavior of ClickOnce, it installs per user rather than per computer.

Problem is that now I've added new functionality to my app and I re-installed it as the domain admin, from the same initial published folder.  But the user is not getting the new features and still running the old version.

Question is, how do I ensure that the user gets the new version?  From my research it appears that the user installed version resides in C:\users\<username>\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0, can I simply delete the files under there?  I see two folders there; 6T6OYLTY4.6MT and Data.

I'm still more comfortable with the old fashioned installation of per computer so that I only need to install it once and any user on the computer can access it but I'm kind of attracted to the auto-update feature.  Assuming I can get it to work.

Another question I have is regarding floating users.  We have a lot of users that move from computer to computer on a daily basis.  Guessing that means the users need to install the app on every computer they use, seems a bit inefficient.  Maybe I'm better off sticking with the msi installation model?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hi lkubler,
First, you can delete the caches under the 6T6OYLTY4.6MT and Data folder, then republish it.
If not successful, you can try the following steps.
1. In the Publish Tab, input a value in for Installation Folder URL.
2. Click the Updates button and put the same URL in the Update location box.
3. In the "Application Updates" window, confirm that "the application should check for updates" and "specify a minimum required version for this application" has been checked.
4. Click the Publish Now button.
Best Regards,
Daniel Zhang

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