Veverke
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2020 8:54 am

Where does the deployed updater.exe file is taken from?

Tue Mar 22, 2022 10:00 pm

I am having trouble figuring out how to digitally sign Advanced Installer's updater.exe file.

I have an Azure pipeline that signs all dlls and exe files that result from running dotnet publish.
Problem is, since AI's updater.exe is not part the code base, rather an external AI file, it obviously does not show in dotnet publish results.

1. After installing an MSI package created with Advanced Installer - where does the updater.exe file - we see residing side by side with all the dlls and exes generated by dotnet publish - where does AI take it from to deploy it in the installation folder ?

2. I need to know this because my product is digitally signed using azure signtool - by issuing the command on each and every file dotnet publish generated (which are ultimately deployed
into the MSI's client installation folder). But since I do not know where `updater.exe` is taken from I can't sign it using the same procedure as for all other files. I am not that familiar with AI, I believe it must provide its own customized mechanism for doing that, but feels to me that simply knowing where the updater.exe deployed in the installation folder is taken from would be enough - I would use azure signtool to sign it just as well - and I will be sure all files are signed the same way, same certificate version, etc.

Is it safe to assume that its location is defined on screen Resources -> Files And Folders -> right click on updater.exe -> Properties , and that it is copied at MSI unpack time into the installation folder?

Catalin
Posts: 6537
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:49 am

Re: Where does the deployed updater.exe file is taken from?

Wed Mar 23, 2022 11:22 am

Hello,

The "updater.exe" is a separate tool that comes when installing Advanced Installer and, as you already know, it is used to deploy automatic updates of your product.

You cand find it in the Advanced Installer installation folder and the path may look like this:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Caphyon\Advanced Installer 19.3\bin\x86\updater.exe

Of course, the "Advanced Installer 19.3" part of the path might be different depending of your Advanced Installer version.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,
Catalin
Catalin Gheorghe - Advanced Installer Team
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