This page outlines your choices for deploying Smart Client applications and provides resources to help you choose the deployment technology best suited for your scenario. These resources will also help you better design your application to have it target the technology you plan to deploy it with.
When deploying Windows Forms applications, you have three main choices: ClickOnce, Windows Installer and System Management Server.
Application Deployment Scenarios
Each of these three techniques is aimed at particular types of deployment scenarios.
- ClickOnce
- ClickOnce is a deployment technology that ships with the .NET Framework 2.0. It is designed to extend today's Web based applications to provide a richer client experience in providing Web like streamlined application deployment and updates for .NET applications. ClickOnce applications may be configured to run in full or partial trust; however, the installation process is managed and isolated to prevent potentially destabilizing operations such as updating the local registry and overwriting global assemblies.
For per user applications that do not impact machine state on install, ClickOnce is the deployment technology of choice. - Windows Installer
- Windows installer is ideal for deploying per Machine application that impact machine state on install. Provides for customization of the installation by the end user, custom actions, driver installation and other machine-level changes. Can perform the installation based on Administration settings without end user interaction.
- Systems Management Server
- System Management Server is an enterprise software distribution infrastructure. Ideal for pushing your application to a large number of clients within an enterprise. Application installation can be completely Administrator configured or provide for end-user customization.
Deployments using Systems Management Server require the enterprise to have the Systems Management Server infrastructure installed.
Selecting your deployment scenario
- Is your application a per user application that does not impact machine state on install? Is the ability to auto update your application important to you scenario?
Then ClickOnce is the recommended deployment technology for you.
- Does your application require administrative access, or additional changes to the Registry or to Windows?
Then Windows Installer is the recommended deployment technology for you.
- Not sure which of the two scenarios above better works for you?
Choosing Between ClickOnce and Windows Installer dwells into this in more detail.
- Does your enterprise have an investment in System Management Server infrastructure? Does your deployment scenario require applications and their updates to be pushed down to machines without user interaction? Does your enterprise need to be able to track usage metering, inventory, and/or bandwidth control for the installed application?
Then Systems Management Server is the recommended deployment technology for you.
Deploying Applications using ClickOnce
"ClickOnce" is a new application deployment technology that makes deploying a Windows Forms based application as easy as deploying a web application. Using ClickOnce, you can deploy and update applications to your clients through the Web, or a file share. You can deploy new versions of the applications by copying them to the install point. Clients will receive this version when they next start the application.
