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- Automatic update in Windows NT
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-
- Problems
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-
- Update of the program requires administrator rights allowed.
- It's because it rewrite some of the system files in winnt/system32
- directory, it can even install services or drivers and can require
- access to network, because it needs to download update files
- from network drive.
-
- Avast can be started in Windows NT in different conditions.
-
- 1) Engine runs as a service
- Engine of avast is ran under the system account, with the rights
- of administrator. Update can proceed, but engine will have
- no access to network drive and will not download the update
- files from it.
-
- 2) Engine doesn't run as a service, the user runs it, who is not administrator
- Engine will have access to network as the logged user have. With good setting
- the core could download the update files, but the update
- will not proceed, because the user is not administrator.
-
- 3) Engine doesn't run as a service, administrator runs it itself
- In this case, the update will proceed without problems.
-
- Present solution
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-
- 1) It is possible to download update files from ftp or
- http server (if in the INI file is set: UpdateUseInternet=1). This
- solves the problem, when the program cannot access network.
-
- 2) It is possible to have the update paths set on local
- directory and copy inside the update files on each NT
- station. This also solves the problem with the network inaccessibility
-
- 3) Update is made by AvUpdate.exe program. This program is
- therefore possible to launch by, for example, MS Task Scheduler from
- MSIE 4.0 under the user account, who is local administrator and also have
- the access to network. It is needed to add path to files using the UNC
- (\\server\path) and set the intervals to the level, when the update
- will not proceed.
- in task scheduler the enter this :
-
- avupdate.exe /gui /Update=SecurityUpdate
- still not working avupdate.exe /gui /Update=TaskUpdate
- avupdate.exe /gui /Update=LicenseUpdate
- avupdate.exe /gui /Update=FileUpdate
- avupdate.exe /gui /Update=AvsUpdate
- avupdate.exe /gui /Update=SpUpdate
- Program avupdate.exe will take the path setting from INI file.
-
-
-
- New solution
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-
- From June 2000 is with Avast32 3.0 installed a new service AvUpdSvc,
- which takes care of update. AvUpdSvc serves just for launching the
- AvUpdate program with specific parameters from the setting in Avast32.ini.
- AvUpdate is not ran by the engine (program avServer). The update
- is therefore not inflicted by the running or not running engine as a
- service. AvUpdSvc needs for its work to know the username and password
- of the user, in whose profile the AvUpdate program should run.This user
- must have rights to access the network and must be a member of Administrators
- group. We recommend to create a special user in domain for the needs of
- update of Avast.Username and Password are located inside the
- DATA/asw32u.dat file.
- The file is created like this:
- avupdsvc /user Usename password
- avupdsvc /user Domain\Username password
- We strongly reccomand to create this file before the installation of Avast32 on
- client machines.
- Install Avast32 on one computer. Select the user, in whose profile the
- update will proceed. Using the AvUpdSvc create file asw32u.dat for
- this user. Save this file into the directory with the install files of
- Avast (in this directory the setup.exe program should be located). After
- the installation, this file will be copied into the DATA directory.
-
- Upgrading to Jun2000 and you wish to use the automatic update
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- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%
-
- If you are a user that maintains his computer himself, only thing
- to do is to run after the installation:
- avupdsvc /user Domain\Username Password
-
- If ou are network administrator, create asw32u.dat file and copy it
- on all Windows NT machines in Avast32\Data directory.
-
- If you want to use update using the MS Task Scheduler, you can
- turn off the AvUpdSvc service.
-
- If you were using update in way of copying the update
- files on local machines and launching avserver, which ran as a service,
- no changes are needed.
-
- Note
- %%%%
-
- In path to update files is needed to enter the path to shared
- folder on Microsoft network using UNC (\\server\path), because service
- doesn't have access to the mapped drives. We have experimentally found
- out, that in windows NT 4.0 is possible to update through Novell
- drive, but in Windows 2000 works just update through Microsoft
- network shared drive.
-
-
- Changes in Jul2000(build 261) ver.
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-
- User, whom account you enter during the installation doesn't need the
- administrator rights. Under this account only copying of files take place,
- so it is just needed for this user to have access to network.
-
-
- Changes in Aug2000(build 276) ver.
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-
- Program AvUpdate tries to copy files "as it is" in first place, that
- means, under the system account. If it is unsuccessful, it tries again
- under the account of the user now logged in, if that is a failure
- too, it tries the account saved in asw32u.dat file. That means that
- asw32u.dat file is not needed in most situation.
-