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Publish ClickOnce applications

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When publishing a ClickOnce application for the first time, publish properties can be set using the Publish Wizard. Only a few of the properties are available in the wizard; all other properties are set to their default values.

Subsequent changes to publish properties are made on the Publish page in the Project Designer.

Note

In ClickOnce for .NET Core 3.1 and .NET 5 or later, you set deployment properties using the Publish tool instead of the Publish wizard and the Publish page of the Project Designer. For more information, see Deploy a .NET Windows application using ClickOnce and ClickOnce for .NET.

Publish Wizard

You can use the Publish Wizard to set the basic settings for publishing your application. This includes the following publishing properties:

  • Publishing Folder Location - where Visual Studio will copy the files (local computer, network file share, FTP server, or Web site)

  • Installation Folder Location - where end users will install from (network file share, FTP server, Web site, CD/DVD)

  • Online or Offline availability - if end users can access the application with or without a network connection

  • Update frequency - how often the application checks for new updates.

    For more information, see How to: Publish a ClickOnce application using the Publish Wizard.

Publish Page

The Publish page of the Project Designer is used to configure properties for ClickOnce deployment. The following table lists topics.

Title Description
Specify where Visual Studio copies the files Describes how to set where Visual Studio puts the application files and manifests.
Specify the location where end users will install from Describes how to set the location where users go to download and install the application.
Specify the ClickOnce offline or online install mode Describes how to set whether the application will be available offline or online.
Set the ClickOnce publish version Describes how to set the ClickOnce Publish Version property, which determines whether or not the application that you are publishing will be treated as an update.
Automatically increment the ClickOnce publish version Describes how to automatically increment the Revision number of the PublishVersion each time you publish the application.

For more information, see Publish Page, Project Designer

Application Files dialog box

This dialog box allows you to specify how the files in your project are categorized for publishing, dynamic downloading, and updating. It contains a grid that lists the project files that are not excluded by default, or that have a download group.

To include files, exclude files, mark files as data files or prerequisites, and create groups of files for conditional installation in the Visual Studio UI, see How to: Specify which files are published by ClickOnce. You can also mark data files by using the Mage.exe. For more information, see How to: Include a data file in a ClickOnce application.

Prerequisites dialog box

This dialog box specifies which prerequisite components are installed, as well as how they are installed. For more information, see How to: Install prerequisites with a ClickOnce application.

Application Updates dialog box

This dialog box specifies how the application installation should check for updates. For more information, see How to: Manage updates for a ClickOnce application.

Publish Options dialog box

The Publish Options dialog box specifies an application's deployment options. For more information, see Specify ClickOnce Publish settings

Title Description
How to: Create file associations For a ClickOnce application Describes how to add file name extension support to a ClickOnce application.
How to: Retrieve query string information in an online ClickOnce application Demonstrates how to retrieve parameters passed in the URL used to run a ClickOnce application.
How to: Disable URL activation of ClickOnce applications by using the designer Describes how to force users to start the application from the Start menu by using the designer.
How to: Disable URL activation of ClickOnce applications Describes how to force users to start the application from the Start menu.
Walkthrough: Downloading assemblies on demand with the ClickOnce deployment API using the Designer Explains how to download application assemblies only when they are first used by the application using the designer.
Walkthrough: Download assemblies on demand with the ClickOnce deployment API Explains how to download application assemblies only when they are first used by the application.
Walkthrough: Download satellite assemblies on demand with the ClickOnce deployment API Describes how to mark your satellite assemblies as optional, and download only the assembly a client machine needs for its current culture settings.
Walkthrough: Manually deploy a ClickOnce application Explains how to use .NET Framework utilities to deploy your ClickOnce application.
Walkthrough: Manually deploy a ClickOnce application that does not require re-signing and that preserves branding information Explains how to use .NET Framework utilities to deploy your ClickOnce application without re-signing the manifests.
How to: Configure projects to target platforms Explains how to publish for a 64-bit processor by changing the Target CPU or Platform target property in your project.
Walkthrough: Enable a ClickOnce application to run on multiple .NET Framework versions Explains how to enable a ClickOnce application to install and run on multiple versions of the NET Framework.
Walkthrough: Create a custom installer for a ClickOnce application Explains how to create a custom installer to install a ClickOnce application.
How to: Publish a WPF application with visual styles enabled Provides step-by-step instructions to resolve an error that appears when you attempt to publish a WPF application that has visual styles enabled.

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