
However, details of the URL still has to be specified.Īn example update file could look like: # this file's URL (to be able to move the location later) The URL of the update file should contain version and platform information, some examples could look like: call the installer (in effect ending a running wireshark program to be able to replace files).check integrity to detect download problems (info from the update file e.g.download the corresponding installer file (e.g.if updates available, show a dialog to ask the user to proceed with the update.download an update file from the internet according to the current version and platform (url and file format see below).

So the update mechanism should do the following: The basic mechanisms could be applied to other platforms as well, if there's demand for it. If there's a new version available, it displays a dialog asking if the user wants to install that update.Īs this seems to be a problem on Microsoft Windows systems only, the following will focus on MS Windows.

Under "Help/Check for Updates…" the user can trigger a version check (it's also done in a frequent way automatically). Firefox) have build their own version check / update mechanisms. There's the WSUS service, which is unfortunately only for microsoft products and not available for other projects.

On Windows, there's commonly no thing like a package manager as on (most?) linux systems.
