Desktop Portal v5 Installation & Common Issues

Edcel Ceniza Updated by Edcel Ceniza

Procedure to Install Desktop App - Version 5


Installation using the installer package
  1. Download evergreen standalone WebView2
  2. Download package from admin portal (Do not download MSI, MSI is only for people who are familiar with advanced installer concepts).
  3. Ensure .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0 (at least 6.0.2) is installed on target devices.
  4. Install WebView2 for given machine. Try install for everyone of that machine.
  5. Unzip whole package zip file under a folder
  6. Navigate inside the folder, you will see 4 files.
    1. MSI installer
    2. favicon.png which is your portal's default favicon.
    3. logo.png same as favicon, it is your portal's default.
    4. appsettings.json for individual customization of installation.
  7. Run the MSI file. It will install the desktop app.



Custom Installation using the MSI Installer

With version 5, you can modify the portal name, favicon and logo as you wish. The package installer is to provide a shortcut and simplifies the installation process. You can change favicon and logo files, as long as they are proper PNG format. (do not change JPEG image's extension to PNG. This is actually a common issue that repeatedly occur.)

{
    "Homepage": "https://your-domain.deskdirector.com",
    "PortalName": "Support portal",
    "CompanyName": "DeskDirector",
    "TechPortalMode": false
}

  • Homepage: We recommend using your DeskDirector subdomain, since it will remain with the server as long as you are with us. If you use a custom domain, the desktop application will need to be redeployed every time the domain changes.
  • PortalName: The shortcut name or application name that appears in the installed apps section.
  • CompanyName: The start menu folder name.
  • TechPortalMode: This should always be false. The flag allows the tab system in the application and also includes TECH-specific features, such as which menu item will be added to the system tray.

You can change the above settings or images before or after installation. If you customized any of them after installation, you can hit MSI again for repair.


How to disable app auto-start?

  • To disable app auto-start, set the ENABLEAUTOSTART parameter to 0(zero). Usage example:

msiexec /i "ddtech.msi" /L*V "install.log" ENABLEAUTOSTART=0


You can verify that this setting has applied under the following directory in the users registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Or in the local machine registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run



How to roll out version 5?

You can split the installation into 3 separate roll out tasks:

  1. Roll out .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0 (at least 6.0.2).
  2. Roll out WebView2 evergreen browser under machine wide installation. Different to Electron, where you are required to install electron for each application installation. WebView2 can serve any application that depends on it. Thus, our installer is not bundled with WebView2.
  3. Roll out desktop portal version 5. You can have script to dispatch and unzip package for given machine, then install by execute MSI. We will not provide download link for package, you can host your package under AWS S3 or Azure Blob storage.

If you want to automate installing the Desktop Portal v5, follow this guide.



Desktop v5 common installation issues

Missing appsettings.json error

This app settings file appsettings.json specifies the important settings of the desktop portal that is being installed, e.g. the portal branding name and the server endpoint of your DeskDirector instance. Please make sure the file exists in the same folder as the installer.

Note that when the installer package is downloaded from the Admin portal, the appsettings.json file is automatically created in the package. Please unzip the package first. Go inside the directory where the files are extracted, then attempt the installation of the app from there.

The error normally triggers if the installer is clicked from inside the zip file, thus, it does not see where the physical location is of the appsettings.json file.

Missing favicon.png or logo.png error

The branding icon files favicon.png and logo.png are required when installing the Client portal, please make sure they are in the same folder as the installer. When installing the Tech portal, these files are optional.

If installing the desktop app using the package, please unzip the package first. Go inside the directory where the files are extracted, then attempt the installation of the app from there.

The error normally triggers if the installer is clicked from inside the zip file, thus, it does not see where the physical location is of the favicon file.

.Net Core Needed

V5 of the desktop app runs on WebView2 and requires .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0 (at least 6.0.2) to be successfully installed. Please install it beforehand. You may open your computer's command prompt and run dotnet --info to confirm if the correct version is installed.

Is there a way for .NET and/or WebView2 to be packaged with the installer so we can easily deploy it?

As of the moment, there is no plan to bundle them with our installer. They must first be installed to the machine before the DD installer can be installed successfully.

Other installation issues

Please check the logs in the following folders in the machine that is having issues, if you contact us for support please also attach the log files.

For Client portal

%localappdata%\DeskDirector Portal\logs

For Tech portal

%localappdata%\DeskDirector Tech\logs

Copy-and-paste the path into the File Explorer's address bar and hit enter to open the folder.
No installation logs

If the installation of the desktop app is failing, and there are no logs in the directory mentioned above, you can create Windows installation logs.

Please follow this guide on how to create installation logs.

When are you fully deprecating v3 and v4 of the desktop portal?

v3 has already been deprecated, while v4 is aimed for December 2022.

How did we do?

Deploying DD Desktop Portal v5 via PowerShell

Contact