Marcs Updater
There have been some reports about issues with the Updater not updating anymore. Please try the latest beta version and switch to another IP Check provider instead of the previous default dnsomatic.com. For some reason they are rate-limiting the number of requests to their service. The new IP Check provider selection allows you to choose another provider in such cases. You can test the functionality with the new "Test" panel.
If you want to add a custom provider to the unstable testing version, store a JSON file like the following under %PROGRAMDATA%\Marcs Updater\ServiceProviders\dyndns.json:
{
"name": "DynDNS.org (Test)",
"endpoint": "https://members.dyndns.org/nic/update",
"method": "GET",
"queryString": "hostname={HOSTNAME}&myip={MYIP}",
"dataPayload": "",
"defaults": {
"username": "test",
"password": "test",
"hostname": "test1.customtest.dyndns.org"
}
}Supported query and payload tags are {USERNAME}, {PASSWORD}, {HOSTNAME} and {MYIP}. Restart the background service and foreground application to apply any changes.
Discussion created on
Posted on
Oboyledk wrote:
Marc,
Would it be possible to get a list of possile switches for your program? I'm attempting to a large scale deployment of your program and could use some assistance.
I might be willing ot pay for your time!
Posted on
Marc wrote:
Hi, currently the updater itself does understand the following switches:
/install = Install and start the system service, activate autostart for all users (local machine).
/uninstall = Stop and uninstall the system service, deactivate autostart for all users (local machine).
/shutdown = Stop the system service and quit all running user instances (systray, settings, software updater).
/quit = Quit all running user instances (systray, settings, software updater).
/signature = Check the digital signature of the application.
/setting = [Internal] Launch as the setting instance which shows the main window.
/service = [Internal] Launch as the system service instance which runs in the background (cannot be used, because it can only run in the SYSTEM environment).
/update = [Internal] Launch as the software updater instance which checks for new versions and notifies the user about software updates.
Without one of those internal commands, the application launches as the systray instance, if that is already running it does launch the setting instance and if that is also already running it just tells the setting instance to bring the window to front again.
The installer itself uses some of those switches. Currently there are no switches to setup the settings. You would have to write to the registry directly to do that. The installer itself is compiled using Inno Setup and does not include any additional switches.
Hope this helps a little.
Posted on
Marc wrote:
Quick additional note: Be aware of the fact that you need to have the corresponding system privileges to do the actions mentioned above. All switches except /signature require admin privileges and/or evaluated privileges.
Posted on
Oboyledk wrote:
Marc,
Thanks for your response. Would you be able to reference the general location of the registry entries used by the updater for the user settings information?
Here's my issue:
I am attempting to deploy updater about 300 netbooks for use in combination with OpenDNS. OpenDNS requires that every computer have a unique "Hostname" field for things to work correctly. If I install your updater in my base image, all machines carry the same hostname as used in the original install
What I'd like to do is build a program that checks the computer name, and then updates that field in your updater. I can then deploy that program through Active directory. Any information you can offer about those registry entries would help me greatly in building that program. (I'll be happy to share it, and its source code, when I'm done!)
Sorry for the double post, but I wanted it make sure it was at the bottom of the thread.
Posted on
Marc wrote:
No problem. All information is stored in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Marcs Updater
Autostart entry is by default in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Marcs Updater"
or the corresponding key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER if you switch the setting.
I can add switches to the installer/updater if you want, maybe this weekend.
Posted on
Oboyledk wrote:
Marc,
Thanks for that information. I've written an application in AutoIT that will check the computer hostname and then apply it to that registry key value. I'd be happy to share my code/executable if you'd like. Speaking from a deployment perspective, this feature would be EXTREMELY useful for anyone else in my situation.
Thanks for making a great product.
Posted on
jdrash wrote:
Please share your AutoIT code.
Posted on
Oboyledk wrote:
Here's the code, it's very simple
Dim $computername
$computername=EnvGet("computername")
;This Line tests the computer name
;MsgBox(0,"Computer Name",$computername)
;Writes the registry entry
RegWrite("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Marcs Updater\","Hostname","REG_SZ",$computername)
One Issue I"m currently having is that Marcs updater does not start for all users. I am currently adding a line to the code to check if the updater is running and start it if its not.
Posted on
COW wrote:
Would this even be necessary. I haven't tried it yet, but does the updater automatically fill out the computer name in the registry if it is blank or missing. If that is the case, couldn't you just delete the key right before syspreping for deployment?
Posted on
Oboyledk wrote:
COW,
My deployment solution names the computer after a boot into windows (or renames it essentially , joining it to the domain) In this situation, if the key does in fact repopulate(not sure on that), it would still get the same value as the base image.
Posted on
Oboyledk wrote:
Marc,
Thanks for your response. Would you be able to reference the general location of the registry entries used by the updater for the user settings information?
Here's my issue:
I am attempting to deploy updater about 300 netbooks for use in combination with OpenDNS. OpenDNS requires that every computer have a unique "Hostname" field for things to work correctly. If I install your updater in my base image, all machines carry the same hostname as used in the original install
What I'd like to do is build a program that checks the computer name, and then updates that field in your updater. I can then deploy that program through Active directory. Any information you can offer about those registry entries would help me greatly in building that program. (I'll be happy to share it, and its source code, when I'm done!)