Deployment

1
Deployment
Your Salvation from DLL Hell
2
Objectives

• Overview
• Assemblies
• XCopy Deployment
• Configuration
• Administration

3
Contents

• Section 1 Looking Back
• Section 2 Basic Deployment
• Section 3 Advanced Tasks
• Section 4 Putting it all together
• Summary

4
Section 1 Looking Back

• DLL Hell
• Version Conflicts
• Installation Directories
• Uninstall

5
Section 2 Basic Deployment

• Assemblies
• "Xcopy" Deployment
• Packaging
• Configuration
• Locating Assemblies

6
Assemblies 1/3

• Assemblies are the building blocks of an
  application
• Logical DLLs
• Self-describing via Metadata
• Versioning
• Security
• Private Assemblies
• Shared Assemblies
• More detailed Information see Module Assembly

7
Assemblies 2/3

• Private Assemblies
• Only visible for the application
• Stored in application folder or subdirectory
• Isolated from changes to the system
• No naming requirements (except uniqueness to
  application)

Application
App.exe
Assembly1.dll
Assembly2.dll
8
Assemblies 3/3

• Shared Assemblies
• Stored in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC)
• Strong Names required
• Versioning
• Signing
• Install with
• Installer for deployment tasks
• Gacutil.exe for development
• Gacutil i mydll.dll
• Admin rights required

9
XCopy Deployment

• Just copy assemblies to application path
• Local or network path allowed
• .NET Runtime required on executing machine
• Uninstall means just deleting assemblies

10
Avoiding DLL Hell

• No registration of components
• No copying to windir\System32 needed
• Side-By-Side Versioning for shared components
• No risk of overwriting components

11
Packaging

• Packaging a .NET Application
• Configuration Files
• Locating Assemblies

12
Packaging The Application

• Packaging a .NET Application
• as .MSI or .MSM files for Windows Installer
• as .CAB files for traditional installation
• Only one assembly per CAB file
• Same name as file in assembly that contains
  manifest Example MyDll.DLL ? MyDll.CAB
• as .CAB files for download with IE gt 5.5
• Specify location to search for referenced
  assembliesin configuration file

13
Configuration Files 1/4

• ltapplicationgt.cfg
• Used for application-specific configuration
• Must be in same location as applications main
  .EXE
• Admin.cfg
• Global for each computer
• Overrides any other configuration file
• Resides in windir (I.e. C\WINNT )
• XML-Files
• Human readable and editable

14
Configuration Files 2/4

• Specify behavior of Common Language Runtime
• AppDomain
• Tells runtime where to look for assemblies

app.cfg
RootDir
Subdir1
Assembly1
Subdir2
15
Configuration Files 3/4

• BindingMode
• Normal Use version policy (major.minor / QFE)
• Safe Bind to exact version
• BindingRedir
• Tells runtime to use specific version
• CodeBaseHint
• Explicitly causes runtime to look for assemblies
  in specified location

16
Configuration Files 4/4

• Application.cfg samplelt?xml version "1.0"?gt
• ltConfigurationgt
• ltAppDomain PrivatePath"binmycode"
• ShadowCopy"True"/gt
• ltBindingModegt
• ltAppBindingMode Mode"normal"/gt
• lt/BindingModegt
• ltBindingPolicygt
• ltBindingRedir Name"MyCode.dll"
• Originator"3e59bf1a5ed0ec84"
• Version"" VersionNew"3.3.3.3"
• UseLatestBuildRevision"no"/gt
• lt/BindingPolicygt
• ltAssembliesgt
• ltCodeBaseHint Name"MyCode.dll"
• Originator"3e59bf1a5ed0ec84"
• Version"3.3.3.3"
• CodeBase"http//codebasehint/Mydll.dll"/gt
• lt/Assembliesgt

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Locating Assemblies

• Searching for
• Files with extensions .mcl, .dll, .exe
• Shared Assemblies
• Steps
• Apply ltApplicationgt.cfg policy
• Search in
• Application directory
• Subdirectories specified in PrivatePath
• Subdirectory named like assembly
• Global Assembly Cache
• Apply admin.cfg policy

18
Section 3 Advanced Tasks

• Installation Components
• COM Components
• Serviced Components
• ASP.NET
• Using Installation Services
• Maintenance
• Administration

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Installation Components 1/2

• Installation Components
• Created in InstallerClass of your application
• Install associated Resources
• MessageQueues
• EventLog
• PerformanceCounter
• Services

20
Installation Components 2/2

• Installation Components
• Save state in text files
• Transactional Installation
• Commit, if succeeded
• Rollback, if at least one failed
• Support for uninstall
• Not transactional

21
COM Components

• Components that will be called via COM must be
  registered
• Using RegAsm /tlbfilename
• Assembly must be in path of calling application
• Runtime creates a COM Callable Wrapper (CCW)
• Reference counted like COM Object
• Transparent to assembly
• Handles marshalling

22
Serviced Components

• Typically hosted in COM
• Derived from ServicedComponent
• Dynamic Registration
• Xcopy to destination path
• Registers automatically on first use
• Manual Registration using RegSvcs.exe
• .NET Services Installation Tool
• Loads and registers an assembly
• Generates, registers and installs the type
  library into an existing COM application
• Compulsory for unmanaged clients

23
ASP.NET Deployment

• Deploy by simply xcopy to server
• WebPages
• WebServices
• Compiled Components
• Configuration (Meta)Data
• Advantages
• No registration needed
• No local server access needed
• No web server restarts needed

24
Using Installation Services

• Windows Installer 1.5 supports assemblies
• Use assemblies as components
• All Windows Installer Features available
• Local Remote installation
• Resiliency (Recover from broken installations)
• Installation-On-Demand
• Maintenance Installation
• Supported by
• SMS
• IntelliMirror

25
Maintenance

• Installing new version of private assembly
• Replace original file
• Developer is responsible for function
• Installing QuickFix of assembly
• Install in GAC
• Applications automatically use QuickFix version
• Except version policy denies this
• Install new version of shared assembly
• Install in GAC
• Depending on version policy (app.cfg or
  admin.cfg) application uses new or previous
  version

26
Administration 1/2

• Deleting Shared Assemblies
• Use Gacutil.exe
• Gacutil -u myDll,Ver1.1.0.0,Locen,PK874e
• Use Windows Explorer Shell Extension
• Right Click in Global Assembly Cache
• Admin rights required

27
Administration 2/2

• Clearing Download Cache
• Cleared automatically based on LRU Policy
• No manual action necessary
• Moving Applications
• Just move complete local file structure
• Managing Applications After Deployment
• Use DynamicProperties
• Change properties via XML files
• No need to recompile
• Changes will be applied after next start

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Section 4 Putting it all together

• Demo
• Creating a simple Application Package
• Creating a complex SetupProject

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Demo Simple Application
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Demo SetupProject
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Summary

• .NET simplifies Deployment
• Local
• Remote
• Web based
• .NET avoids DLL Hell
• No more need for third party Installers?
• Theres enough left to be done

32
Questions?