Suggest a method for auto-updating my C# program

Question

Hi,

I need to keep a program I've written up to date, this will happen frequently over the next year or so, this will need to be done over the Internet. Where would you suggest I start, are there any common techniques? Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks

Answer 1

ClickOnce is perfect for this sort of scenario.

Answer 2

ClickOnce works fairly well.

Answer 3

ClickOnce is a good solution, but if you wish to have total control then you can roll-your-own. I would suggest polling a webservice to find if there are later versions available, downloading required files to a side-by-side directory, and using a launcher (or updating a shortcut) to automatically launch the latest version.

This is a little complicated, but caters for situations where the application may be running, and can therefore not be overwritten.