MainBoss, Version 4.2.4:
Installing ClickOnce Deployment for the First Time

ClickOnce is simple to use but complicated to set up.
It requires an IT department with some degree of technical sophistication.

Microsoft provides a good deal of information about ClickOnce at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/visualstudio/visual-studio-2008/wh45kb66(v=vs.90).

The web page you are reading now is for people who are installing ClickOnce MainBoss for the first time. If you have an existing ClickOnce MainBoss installation, click here for installation instructions.

Setting Up ClickOnce MainBoss for the First Time

To set up ClickOnce deployment, follow these steps:

  1. Create a virtual directory on your organization's web site to contain all the files that MainBoss needs for ClickOnce deployment. We will call this the MainBoss ClickOnce directory. (If you have installed a previous version of ClickOnce, you can use the same directory after you've moved out all the old contents.)
  2. Ensure the RequestFiltering for the ClickOnce deployment allows the file extension ".config". Either,
    1. remove the entry for ".config" from the request filter list if you have the "Allow unlisted file name extensions" turned on.
    2. or change the "Allowed" state from false to true.
  3. to obtain a ZIP file named Install.MainBoss.ClickOnce.4.2.4.20.zip containing the files you need for ClickOnce deployment.
  4. Extract the contents of the ZIP file into the MainBoss ClickOnce directory (i.e. the virtual directory created in Step 1 above).
  5. In the MainBoss ClickOnce directory, create a web page with a link to the file mainboss.application. Users should click on the mainboss.application link whenever they want to start MainBoss.

The files extracted above include a file named default.htm which you can modify to create the needed web page. Alternatively, you can write your own web page from scratch.

Prerequisite Software

In order to run MainBoss using ClickOnce, the user's system must have .NET Framework 4.6.2 or newer.

If you attempt to run MainBoss through the ClickOnce web page without .NET Framework 4.6.2, you will see the message "System update required". Note that all versions of Windows that are up to date from Windows 7 onwards will have .NET 4.6.2 installed so it is unlikely you will need to do anything.

Browser: In order to use ClickOnce, users must connect to your ClickOnce web page using Internet Explorer, or else they must download an appropriate plug-in (e.g. for Firefox or for Google Chrome). There are other extensions for ClickOnce for Chrome in the Chrome Web Store.

Caveats about ClickOnce

If several people use ClickOnce to run MainBoss on the same computer, the MainBoss software will be installed once for each such user. For example, if three people use the same computer at different times and all of them run MainBoss, the MainBoss software will be installed separately for each person.

People who invoke MainBoss through ClickOnce will not be able to specify command line arguments to the MainBoss software. They will also not be able to run the MBUtility program.

In general, you should not use a ClickOnce version of MainBoss to configure or start/stop MainBoss Service. Use a conventional installation of MainBoss, or the MainBoss Service command line interface.

Launching ClickOnce MainBoss without a Browser

You can launch a ClickOnce version of MainBoss without using a browser by using the following command line:

	C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe dfshim ShOpenVerbApplication URL
	

where URL is the URL of the file that contains the application you want to run. For example, you might have something like this:

	C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe dfshim ShOpenVerbApplication http://ourcompany.com/mainboss/mainboss.application
	

You can use this command line in a command prompt window or in the command line associated with a shortcut icon.