Quick info for tool installations:

• App cast generator -- dotnet tool install --global NetSparkleUpdater.Tools.AppCastGenerator; available as netsparkle-generate-appcast on your command line after installation
• DSA Helper -- dotnet tool install --global NetSparkleUpdater.Tools.DSAHelper; available as netsparkle-dsa on your command line after installation

How updates work

A typical software update path for a stereotypical piece of software might look like this:

1. Compile application so it can be run on other computers (e.g. dotnet publish)
2. Programmer puts app in some sort of installer/zip/etc. for distribution (e.g. InnoSetup for Windows)
3. Programmer creates app cast file (see the app cast section of this document for more info on how to create this)
4. Programmer uploads files for distribution (installer, app cast file, appCast-file.signature file) to their download site.
5. Client opens app and is automatically notified of an available update (or the software otherwise detects there is an update)
6. Client chooses to update (or update is downloaded if the software downloads it automatically)
7. Update is downloaded and sitting on the user's disk
8. User is asked to close the software so the update can run. User closes the software.
9. Downloaded file/installer is run (or the update is otherwise performed)

Right now, NetSparkleUpdater does not help you with 1., 2., or 4. "Why not?", you might ask:

• 1. We can't compile your application for you since we don't know (or care) how you are compiling or packaging your application! :)
• 2. A cross-platform installer package/system would be difficult and may not feel normal to end users, although a system that uses Avalonia could maybe work I suppose (might take a lot of work though and make downloads large!). We do not provide support for getting your installer/distribution ready. To generate your installer/distribution, we recommend the following:
  • Windows: InnoSetup or NSIS or WiX
  • macOS: If you have a .app to distribute, use dotnet-bundle with create-dmg. If you want an installer, create a .pkg installer with macos-installer-builder (tutorial here), Packages, or your terminal. Otherwise, plop things in a zip file. If you need to run with sudo for whatever reason, there is an example of doing that in the macOS Avalonia sample.
  • Linux: Use dotnet-packaging to create an rpm, deb, or tar.gz file for your users.
• 4. We don't know where your files will live on the internet, so you need to be responsible for uploading these files and putting them online somewhere.

To create your app cast file, see the app cast section of this document.

We are open to contributions that could make the overall install/update process easier for the user. For example, adding upload functionality from the app cast generator to an FTP or GitHub release or similar might be a useful feature for some users. Please file an issue first with your idea before starting work so we can talk about it.

Basic Usage

Please look at the sample projects in this repository for basic, runnable usage samples!! There are samples on using each of the built-in UIs as well as a "do it yourself in your own UI" sample!

Quick Start

0. If you want a pre-built UI, install one of the UI NuGet packages. If not, install the core NuGet package.
1. Set up your project file as mentioned in the following section
2. Download the app cast generator CLI tool (requires .NET 6, 7, 8, or 9 runtime): dotnet tool install --global NetSparkleUpdater.Tools.AppCastGenerator
3. Create your ed25519 keys (save the generated keys somewhere for safe keeping!):

netsparkle-generate-appcast --generate-keys
# By default, your Ed25519 signatures are stored on disk in your local 
# application data folder in a subdirectory called `netsparkle`. 
# If you want to export your keys to the console, you can do:
netsparkle-generate-appcast --export

4. Add code similar to the following to your MainWindow or main form or similar:

private SparkleUpdater _sparkle;

// on your main thread...
_sparkle = new SparkleUpdater(
    "https://mywebsite.com/appcast.xml", // link to your app cast file - change extension to .json if using json
    new Ed25519Checker(SecurityMode.Strict, // security mode -- use .Unsafe to ignore all signature checking (NOT recommended!!)
                       "base_64_public_key_from_generate_app_cast_tool") // your base 64 public key
) {
    UIFactory = new NetSparkleUpdater.UI.WPF.UIFac