Auto Updates installation workflow

Step

Action

1

User downloads and runs iManageInstaller.exe (iManage Installer).

2

iManage Installer deploys the following files and folder at C:\Program Files\iManage\Installer:

  • iManageUpdater.dat

  • iManageUpdater.exe

  • (Folder) stage

It also installs the update.ini file to C:\ProgramData\iManage\AgentServices\configs

3

iManage auto installer runs iManageUpdater.exe (iManage Updater), which connects to the specified update server and downloads the latest update.ini and updateinfo.json files to %ProgramData%\iManage\AgentServices\CentralizedConfigs.

NOTE:

If an update server location is not specified, iManage Updater attempts to download the software packages from updates.imanage.com/Updates/Work10 . The update server path is configurable if you want to set up your own update server.1

Key files and folder:

  • Updates: This is the folder where iManage Updater downloads the installers of iManage Agent Services (iManageAgentServices.exe) and iManage Work Desktop for Windows (iManageWorkDesktopforWindowsx64.exe or iManageWorkDesktopforWindowsx86.exe based on bitness). In addition, executables for additional applications (for example, third-party add-ons) that should be part of Auto Updates are downloaded to the same location by iManageUpdater.exe.

  • update.ini: This config file is used by iManage Updater to identify the update server location and the products that need to be installed. After identifying the update server location, iManage Updater downloads the latest copy of update.ini and updateinfo.json.

  • updateinfo.json: This file contains information that is displayed to end-users through iManage Work Agent. For example, available channels, selected channel, link to the What’s New page, products available for update, and products installed.

4

Depending on the order of installation defined in the update.ini file, the following products are installed:

  • iManage Agent Services (located at %ProgramData%\iManage\Installer\Updates) runs automatically and deploys the following files at C:\Program Files\iManage\AgentServices:

    • iManageMarkUpdate.exe

    • iManageStayExec.exe

    • iManageStayExecCommon.dll

    • iManageUpdateManagerService.exe

    • log4net.dll

    • LogConfig.xml

    • iwa.exe and

    • iManageFinalizer.exe

Key files:

  • iManageStayExec.exe (iManage Stay Exec): This executable is a persistently running process that keeps the processes running. These processes are located in %ProgramData%\iManage\AgentServices\configs\ProcessRegistry.

  • iManageUpdateManager.exe (iManage Update Manager): This executable performs periodic checks for software updates. By default, it checks for updates every 15 minutes; however, it is configurable.2

  • iManage Work Desktop for Windows (located at %ProgramData%\iManage\Installer\Updates) runs automatically and installs the iManage Work integration for Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat.

5

iManage Updater runs iManage Stay Exec, which ensures that all the items in the process registry are always running.

After the initial installation is complete, if iManage Updater discovers that any of the required products on the user’s desktop are out-of-date, a notification is shown to the user through iManage Work Agent in Windows system tray. Users can choose to ignore the Auto Updates notification or can accept it to update the software. If users choose to ignore the notification, no further notifications about the available update(s) is displayed for the next 12 hours.

When users accept the notification to update the software, the latest updates are installed on the user's desktop. During this round of installation, the following files are deployed to %ProgramData%\iManage\Installer:

  • iManageUpdater.exe

  • iManageUpdater.dat

  • update.ini (copied from C:\Program Files\iManage\Installer, not monitored in the configs folder)

If the update service detects either the iManageUpdater.exe or iManageUpdater.dat files as missing, it will copy them from C:\Program Files\iManage\Installer. There is no user interaction for this operation.

References:

  1. For more information, see Specifying the update server location.

  2. For more information, see Configuring the frequency to check for updates.