14.4 Updating the Filr Desktop Application

You can update the Filr desktop application on users’ workstations by updating the application on the Filr server or on a separate web server. You can also distribute the application using the .msi file in conjunction with client management software such as Novell ZENworks. However, there are certain dependencies that are not installed by default when using the .msi file. These are described in the following sections:

14.4.1 Understanding Missing Dependencies Related to Updating the Filr Desktop Application by Using the MSI File

If you use the .msi file to distribute the Filr desktop application to user workstations (by using client management software such as Novell ZENworks), you need to install the following items to each user workstation, independent of the Filr software:

  • One of the following versions of Microsoft .NET Framework, depending on whether there are workstations in your environment that are dependent on Windows XP:

    • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 (Applies to 64-bit Windows and Mac workstations. You should use this version if workstations in your environment are not dependent on Windows XP.)

      The ability for users to view the Novell Filr tab on the Windows Properties dialog (as described in Viewing Filr Properties for a File or Folder in the Novell Filr Desktop Application for Windows Quick Start) is available only with Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.

    • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 (Can be used with all supported operating systems; however, because Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is not supported on Windows XP, this is the only option for workstations that are running Windows XP.)

  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable Package (Applies to all workstations except for Windows XP workstations)

IMPORTANT:Workstations running Windows XP cannot see the Novell Filr tab on the Windows Properties dialog (as described in Viewing Filr Properties for a File or Folder in the Novell Filr Desktop Application for Windows Quick Start).

This is because Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is not supported on Windows XP.

14.4.2 Updating the Filr Desktop Application on the Filr Server or on a Separate Web Server

If you have configured your Filr system to deploy the Filr desktop application (as described in Section 14.2, Configuring the Filr Desktop Application for All Users or for Individual Users and Groups), or if you have configured a separate web server to deploy the Filr desktop application (as described in Section 14.3, Configuring a Separate Web Server to Deploy the Filr Desktop Application), you can replace the Filr desktop application download files on the Filr back end so that users are prompted to update the Filr desktop application on their individual workstations.

The files to use for updating the Filr desktop application are the same for all versions of Windows, except for Windows XP.

To download the Filr desktop application:

  1. Before downloading the new version of the Filr desktop application, you need to preserve your existing Filr desktop installation. This will allow you to roll back to the older version if the need arises.

    To preserve your existing installation of the Filr desktop application, rename the existing directory on the server so that the old files are not overwritten when the new version is downloaded:

    1. Change to the directory where the files are being stored. For example:

      cd /opt/novell/filr/apache-tomcat/webapps/desktopapp/

      This is the default location if the Filr desktop application is installed on the Filr server.

    2. Rename the novellfilr directory to novellfilr.bak. For example:

      mv novellfilr novellfilr.bak

    3. (Optional) If you need to roll back to the older version of the Filr desktop application, you can do so by deleting the new novellfilr directory and renaming the novellfilr.bak directory to novellfilr.

  2. Download and extract the NovellFilrAutoUpdate.tgz file onto your Filr server or separate web server.

    tar xvzf NovellFilrAutoUpdate.tgz

    You can download the NovellFilrAutoUpdate.tgz file from the Novell Downloads site.

    If you are installing onto the Filr server, download and extract this file to the opt/novell/filr/apache-tomcat/webapps/desktopapp/ directory.

    cd /opt/novell/filr/apache-tomcat/webapps/desktopapp

    This compressed file contains all of the files required for updating the Filr desktop application.

  3. Run the following commands on the extracted directory to appropriately modify the file permissions:

    chown -R wwwrun:www novellfilr/

    chmod -R g-w novellfilr/

    chmod -R o-rwx novellfilr/

  4. (Conditional) If you have Windows XP workstations in your environment that will run Filr, you need to rename a couple files so that they are used instead of the default files.

    IMPORTANT:Because Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is not supported on Windows XP, the NovellFilrSetup-winxp-version.exe and novellfilr/windows/x86/version-winxp.json files are provided for organizations that have workstations that are running Windows XP. This version of Filr contains Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 instead of 4.5.

    The only difference between this version of Filr and the version that runs Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is that the Filr tab is not available from the Windows Properties dialog box.

    1. Us the following command to change to the x86 directory:

      cd /opt/novell/filr/apache-tomcat/webapps/desktopapp/novellfilr/windows/x86

    2. Rename the version.json file to version-x86.json (or any other name of your choosing).

      If you do not rename version-x86.json, Windows XP users will be prompted to upgrade the Filr desktop application, but the upgrade will fail and Windows XP users will continue to be prompted to upgrade.

    3. Rename the version-winxp.json file to version.json.