Using SmartUpdate Builder

The Mission Control Desktop package includes a step-by-step tool called SmartUpdate Builder that lets you create SmartUpdate JARs a matter of minutes. SmartUpdate Builder is currently only available on Windows 32-bit platforms. With SmartUpdate Builder, you can create a JAR in just four steps:

Before You Start

Before you begin using SmartUpdate Builder, you must:

Creating a Test Certificate

Before you create your test certificate, you must know the following:

Note: Netscape Signing Tool is case-sensitive. Make sure to observe capitalization when typing commands.

  1. Exit Communicator.
  2. Choose Run from the Start menu.
  3. Type the command for creating a test certificate. The format for this command line is:
  4. <location of Signing Tool> -d <location of your certificate database> -G <certificate nickname>

    For example, suppose Signing Tool is located at C:\mcontrol\tools\signtool.exe, your username is "jdoe," your certificate database is located at C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\jdoe, and the name you want to give the certificate is "my test cert". In this case, you type the following: C:\mcontrol\tools\signtool.exe -d "C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\jdoe" -G "my test cert". Make sure you type the quotes as shown.

  5. Press Enter.
  6. Type "Y" and press Enter again to confirm that Communicator is not running.
  7. (Optional) Type your certificate’s nickname, your company’s name, your organizational unit’s name, your state or province, country, user name, and email address. Note: this step is optional.
  8. Type the password for the certificate database.
  9. The certificate creation is either confirmed or denied.

Verifying the MIME Type Information for stlaunch.exe

  1. In Navigator, open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. From the Navigator category, select Applications.
  3. Select Netscape SignTool Commands in the Description of Type field.
  4. Click Edit.
  5. Note: If stcmd is not listed as an extension, click New Type.

  6. Verify that stcmd is listed as the extension.
  7. Verify that application/x-signtool-commands is listed as the MIME Type.
  8. Verify that "Use this MIME as the outgoing default for these file extensions" is selected and "Ask me before opening downloaded files of this type" is not selected.
  9. Verify that the Application path appears as ...\mcontrol\Tools\stlaunch.exe -f %1.
  10. SignTool.exe and stlaunch.exe must be located in the same directory.

  11. Click OK twice to exit the Preferences panel.
  12. If the above information is not present in the Preferences panel, click New Type to add the stcmd MIME type information.

    After you have installed Netscape Signing Tool and made plans to obtain a signing certificate, you can prepare your items to be installed.

Preparing the Working Directory

Before you start, create a directory in an easily accessible location on your hard drive and give it a name. This will be the "working directory." Every item to be installed must reside in this directory. You can place three types of items in the working directory for installation:

You can include any combination of these items in the working directory. For example, you can install a plug-in, a directory of files, and launch an executable -- all in one SmartUpdate JAR. This is called a "multi-type installation."

Note: To add Mac OS files to the working directory, use an FTP utility (such as Fetch) and upload the files to a Windows-based server as an AppleSingle file. After you have done this, download the files onto your Windows-based machine and include them in the JAR.

When SmartUpdate Builder creates the JAR file, two other items are added to the working directory. The install.js file contains the JavaScript code which is executed by SmartUpdate Builder to install the files contained in your JAR. The META-INF directory contains the signature information SmartUpdate Builder uses to guard against tampering with the JAR file.

Step 1: Provide Product Details

In this step, you will give SmartUpdate Builder the product information it needs to create the SmartUpdate JAR.

  1. In the Working Directory field, type the name (including the path) of your working directory.

  2. In the Company Name field, type the name of the company under which you want to register the product in the Netscape registry.
  3. This information is used to determine the first part of the default registry name.

    Netscape has created a cross-platform registry that resides in the Netscape file hierarchy. This registry tracks the version numbers of Netscape products or any other products installed by SmartUpdate. You can use this registry to keep track of version information for the product you are installing.

    The SmartUpdate JAR you create will check the registry to determine whether the product has already been installed and whether a new version (based on the version number you provide in step 6, below) is being installed.

  4. In the Product Name field, type the name of the product you are installing.
  5. This information is used to determine the second part of the default registry name and will also be displayed to the user during installation.

  6. In the Product Target Folder field, specify where you want the product to be installed. You must specify a folder on the user’s machine.
  7. The folder you choose will be the default suggested for individual items to be installed in "Step 2: Define Items to be Installed." For a complete listing of product target folder types and their descriptions, see Appendix C in the Mission Control Desktop Administrator's Guide.

  8. Specify the path where your templates are located.
  9. By default, the templates are located in C:\mcontrol\su_bldr\template but you can change their location at any time. For more information, see Customizing the Templates. Select the Use Default Path option to keep the default registry path as it is, or select the Specify Path option to specify your own path for the registry.

  10. Specify the product version number to be assigned for this product.
  11. Choose the product’s platform from the "Install on" drop-down list.
  12. Select the Display URL After Install option and specify a URL if you want the user to view a particular HTML file after the installation is complete.
  13. This option is convenient for displaying a read-me file when the installation is complete.

  14. Select the "Display error message for silent installs" option to notify the user if a silent install fails. Type the message that you want to appear.
  15. Silent installs are determined by the trigger script used to launch the installation.

Customizing the Templates

Note: this section is for advanced users only.

The templates (templat1.txt, templat2.txt, and templat3.txt) consist of JavaScript code combined with code created by SmartUpdate Builder to generate the install script. They are entirely customizable, so you may create different templates for different types of installations. For example, you can add code to the templates to show a splash screen during the installation process. However, most administrators can use the templates as they are provided, without modification.

The default template location is already specified for you in the "Use Templates from" field. Changes made to these templates will apply to every subsequent install. However, if you want to make a change only for the current install, you can save the modified templates in a different location and point to them for that particular install.