Appendix F - Pre-Deploying Microsoft Office plugins from iManage Control Center

The iwccdownload tool enables administrators to deploy plugins for integrated Microsoft Office applications (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, MS Project, and Visio) from iManage Control Center (iCC) to a location that is accessible by all users in the multi-user environment or when setting up a desktop software image. After a user starts a new session in a multi-user environment and launches a Microsoft Office application, iManage Office integration loads the deployed plugins. Run the tool each time a new or modified plugin is available in iCC, or a plugin is disabled or deleted.

NOTE:

  • This tool is available with the iManage Work Desktop for Windows product. Install iManage Work Desktop for Windows on the machine where you want to run the tool.

  • The tool must be run in normal user mode, and not with elevated Windows or domain permissions. The user account (cannot be a built-in administrator account) running the tool must be in Administrator group to ensure that the tool can write to protected directories—for example, %ProgramData%, without UAC (user account control) prompt. However, the tool cannot write to %ProgramFiles% or %ProgramFiles(x86)%.

  • After plugins are downloaded, security permissions set on the plugins in iManage Control Center no longer apply. All users who have access to the plugins in the designated download locations can run the plugins. Access to downloaded plugins can be controlled using standard Windows file system security settings. For more information, see Limiting user access to deployed plugins.

Using the iwccdownload tool to deploy plugins

  1. Install iManage Work Desktop for Windows.

  2. Open the command prompt in user mode.

  3. Navigate to the iManage Work Desktop for Windows installation folder, for example, C:\Program Files\iManage\Work (for 64-bit Microsoft office) or C:\Program Files (x86)\iManage\Work (for 32-bit Microsoft Office). Run the following command:
    c:\ > cd "C:\Program Files\iManage\Work"

  4. Run the following command:
    c:\...\Work> iwccdownload /s <https://host>

    NOTE:

    Replace <https://host> with the URL of the iManage Work Server from which you want to download the plugins.

    If prompted, enter your credentials in the sign-in page that appears to authenticate to the iManage Work Server. Your authentication remains valid until you restart your computer or until your authentication token expires from inactivity.

    All plugins that are downloaded, and the location where they are downloaded are listed in the command prompt window. The plugins are downloaded by default to the C:\ProgramData\iManage\Work\Plug_ins folder.

    NOTE:

    The user account needs Windows administrator privileges to save the downloaded plugins to the ProgramData folder. Running the tool using the Run as administrator option (elevated permissions) does not provide the ability to save to the ProgramData folder.

    If the CommonPluginsPath registry setting is created, the plugins are downloaded to the path specified in the setting. For more information, see Deploying plugins to a custom location.

    NOTE:

    If you move the downloaded plugins to a different location in the file system after running the tool, they will not be loaded by the Microsoft applications. To change the storage location of the pre-deployed plugins, you must first configure the download location and then download the plugins using the tool.

  5. (Optional) To get information about the tool usage including syntax and examples, type the following command and press Enter: > iwccdownload
    A message is displayed:

    • prompting you to provide the URL of the iManage Work Server from where you want to download the plugin(s).

    • informing you that downloaded plugins cannot be reloaded if relocated after download, and you can use the CommonPluginsPath registry setting to change the default download path.

Updating plugins

To download/deploy the plugins that got updated on iManage Control Center, repeat steps 2 to 4 in the Using the iwccdownload tool to deploy plugins section. The plugins in the C:\ProgramData\iManage\Work\Plug_ins folder are updated and disabled or obsolete plugins are removed.

Deploying plugins to a custom location

  1. Install iManage Work Desktop for Windows.

  2. Go to the registry editor and create the following registry setting:
    Location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\iManage\Work\10.0\Client
    OR
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\iManage\Work\10.0\Client
    HKCU takes precedence over HKLM.
    Name: CommonPluginsPath
    Type: REG_SZ
    Value: File path where you want the plugins to be downloaded.

    NOTE:

    Ensure that the location is on the computer and is not a network path. Storing plugins in a network path is not supported.

  3. Repeat steps 2 to 4 in the Using the iwccdownload tool to deploy plugins section. The plugins are downloaded to the location you specified in the value for the CommonPluginsPath registry settings.

Limiting user access to deployed plugins

  1. Download plugins to the C:\ProgramData\iManage\Work\Plug_ins folder using the steps mentioned in the Using the iwccdownload tool to deploy plugins section.

  2. Right-click the C:\ProgramData\iManage\Work\Plug_ins folder and select Properties.

  3. On the Security tab, add or remove the desired users or groups and change their permission:

    • Add Windows users and/or groups to the folder access control list (ACL) so that they can Read and List folder contents but cannot modify the folder.

    • Remove users or groups of users that you do not want to have access the plugins.

Plugin loading order

The existing plugin setup, download, and update processes continue to work as usual, that is, iManage Work Desktop for Windows continues to download plugins from iManage Control Center once a user signs in to a server. If a plugin exists in multiple locations, iManage Office integration loads the plugins in the following order of preference:

  • User downloaded: Located in the %appdata%\iManage\Work\Plug_ins folder.

  • Side-loaded (used by developers for testing plugins): Located in the %localappdata%\imanage\work\plug_ins folder.

  • Deployed: Located in the %programdata%\iManage\Work\Plug_ins folder or as customized using the CommonPluginsPath registry setting.

  • Other locations. The plugins can be downloaded in other locations:

    • Located in the %ProgramData%\imanage\work\plug_ins folder.

    • A static location of your choice, using the path name such as, c:\mydrive\myfolder\imanage\work\plug_ins folder.