I want to use ClickOnce deployment on a production server I do not have permissions to access.

Is there a way to publish to a development server and then have someone with permissions to both servers copy the files over?

I tried moving the files to a new location and the installation doesn't work. I changed the file path in the application manifests but that didn't work.

Well I found a rather easy solution to my problem.

All I had to do was set the installation URL in Publish settings to the location to which I want to copy the published files (production server) and leave my publishing location the same (development server).

This publishes the files wherever I want while configuring the files to run from a second location.

The person that has access to the server will need to change the deployment provider url and resign the application.  The ClickOnce runtime require that the deployment provider url match where the application is coming from.  ClickOnce applications also have to be Authenticode-signed with a certificate, or they will not install.  This can be done using Mage.exe, an sdk command-line tool.

Best Regards,

Elizabeth Maher

VB Team

I tried using MageUI.exe to modify the manifests and re-sign them, but I couldn't get it working. I retrieved the temporary pfx file automatically created for the application from the trash bin to re-sign them.

At any rate, the solution I described above is simpler and worked for me. The only caveat I guess would be the requisite of foresight. Of course if a person wanted to change install locations after publishing, they could always just republish.

I think handling these kind of issues through the IDE instead of command line or UI utilties is preferable.