Program Updater for Windows

A lightweight, open-source program updater for Windows applications built with .NET Framework 4.8. This updater provides a modern UI with progress tracking and supports automatic updates for multiple files with hash verification.

Features

• Modern Windows Forms UI with progress tracking
• XML-based settings configuration
• JSON-based update configuration
• Secure file verification using SHA256 hashes
• Automatic backup of existing files
• Process management (stops running programs before update)
• Detailed logging with color-coded messages
• Cancellation support
• Error handling and rollback capabilities

Requirements

• Windows 10 20H2 or Later (server 2022 or later) (for using release artifacts)
  • .NET Framework 4.8.1
• Not Ensured, but it should work with .NET 4.8 and windows 7 or later (also you can self build targe framework with net48)
  • MS introduce no comapatibility change from .NET 4.8 to .NET 4.8.1
    • then, it should work with .NET 4.8 and windows 7 or later
• (For Development) Visual Studio 2022+
  • or .NET 8+ SDK for using dotnet build command

Building the Project

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/Program_updater_for_win.git

2. Open the solution in Visual Studio or your preferred IDE

3. Build the solution:

dotnet build --configuration Admin -f net481
dotnet build --configuration NonAdmin -f net481

• If you need to exe requires admin privileges, you need to build the project with the Admin configuration.
  • like update program in C:\Program Files\YourApp\
• If you need to exe does not require admin privileges, you need to build the project with the NonAdmin configuration.
  • like update program in C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\YourApp\

Configuration

Settings Configuration (settings.xml)

Create a settings.xml file in the same directory as the executable to customize the updater's behavior:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Settings>
  <UI>
    <WindowTitle>Program Updater</WindowTitle>
    <TitleText>Program Update in Progress</TitleText>
  </UI>
  <Configuration>
    <ConfigurationFilePath>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/your-username/your-repo/main/update_config.json</ConfigurationFilePath>
  </Configuration>
</Settings>

The settings.xml file allows you to:

• Customize the window title and update message
• Specify the update configuration file location (supports local files, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, or FTPS)

For the ConfigurationFilePath, you can use any of these formats:

• Local file path: C:\path\to\update_config.json
• File protocol: file:///C:/path/to/update_config.json
• HTTP/HTTPS: https://your-server.com/update_config.json
• FTP/FTPS: ftp://your-server.com/update_config.json

Update Configuration (JSON)

Create a configuration file (update_config.json) with your update details:

{
    "files": [
        {
            "name": "MainApplication",
            "isExecutable": true,
            "currentPath": "C:\\Program Files\\YourApp\\app.exe",
            "newPath": "C:\\Program Files\\YourApp\\app_new.exe",
            "backupPath": "C:\\Program Files\\YourApp\\Backup\\app.exe",
            "downloadUrl": "http://your-server.com/updates/app.exe",
            "expectedHash": "SHA256_HASH_OF_NEW_FILE"
        }
    ]
}

The configuration file can be hosted:

• Locally on your machine
• On a web server via HTTP/HTTPS
• On an FTP server:

  ftp://your-server.com/path/to/update_config.json
  or
  ftp://username:[email protected]/updates/app.exe
  

To get file hash from Windows PowerShell:

Get-FileHash -Path "C:\Program Files\YourApp\app.exe" -Algorithm SHA256

Config Manager

The Config Manager is a Windows Forms application that allows you to manage the update configuration file.

Detailed information about the Config Manager is available in the ConfigManager/README.md file.

Usage

1. Run the updater:

updater.exe

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built with .NET Framework 4.8.1
• Uses Newtonsoft.Json for JSON parsing
• Inspired by the need for a lightweight, open-source program updater

Disclaimer

This software is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Use at your own risk.