Does ClickOnce auto update work for windows services applications?

Question

I think the question is clear.

Answer 1

No, use a Windows Setup Project instead.

ClickOnce installs the Application for the current user. Maybe it's possible (with some tweaking) under Windows XP with full access to the computer. But with the UAC, it's a hole different story.

Answer 2

If you users have enough permissions, you could use a one-click application as an "Installer" of a service. When the one-click opens up, it could stop the existing service and install the new version.

This is sort of a hack but it works for those instances where you need a service but also want the one-click deployment model.

Answer 3

Clickonce needs a logged on user since it installs and runs applications from the user profile.

You could just download a new copy of your services exe using your service, put it in the same directory as your service's exe, then spawn a process to copy that over the current exe and exit your service immediately, it will get restarted by windows (assuming you set it up to be).