DESWIK.

LAUNCHER
ADMINISTRATION GUIDE

VERSION: 2022.2
DATE: 07 FEBRUARY 2022
 DESWIK.LAUNCHER - ADMINISTRATION GUIDE

Document Details

Copyright
Copyright over this document and any accompanying models or data is reserved by Deswik Mining Consultants
(Australia) Pty Ltd ("Deswik".) This document is only to be used by the Client under the terms outlined herein. It may
not be distributed to third parties, reproduced or circulated in the public domain, or edited or amended in any way,
unless expressly agreed to by Deswik. Products and registered logos referred to in this document are trademarks of
their respective owners and these trademarks are hereby acknowledged.

Confidentiality
This document is subject to Deswik's Standard Terms and Conditions which detail the confidentiality obligations of
both Deswik and the Client. The Client should treat this document and any accompanying documents, models or data
as confidential at all times.

Disclaimer
This document may not be used or relied upon for any other reason than the intended purpose outlined herein.
Deswik will not be held liable for any loss or damage caused by such use or reliance.

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Contents

About Deswik.Launcher 4
Installing Deswik.Launcher 5
Using Deswik.Launcher 6
Managing available packages 7
Local and Network Paths 7
Client Portal 7
Self-updating packages 10
How do Appx packages install without Administrator privileges? 12

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About Deswik.Launcher
Deswik.Launcher makes it easier for your users to install and run Deswik applications on their computers without
needing administrator privileges. However, administrators can still maintain full control over which installation files
are available to their users.

There are three places that Deswik.Launcher can obtain software packages from:

 l A local folder that contains Appx packages.

 l A network folder that contains Appx packages.

 l The Deswik Client Portal.

Only Deswik Appx packages that users have read access to will be visible in Deswik.Launcher and available for
installation.

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Installing Deswik.Launcher
 1. Download the latest version of the Deswik.Launcher installer from
https://clientportal.deswik.com/PublicLink/Download?name=LauncherPackage.

 2. Launch the installer.

 3. Click INSTALL.

 4. The Deswik.Launcher will open and display an End User License Agreement. After agreeing, you will see the
Deswik.Launcher landing page.

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Using Deswik.Launcher
When you first install Deswik.Launcher, you will not have any installed applications.

 Click the arrow in the lower-left corner of the window to expand the menu.

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Managing available packages

Administrators can configure Deswik.Launcher to limit what versions are available to download for their users.
Deswik.Launcher allows for installation from both the Client Portal and directly from a Local or Network Package
cache, and you can set up restrictions for these separately.

Local and Network Paths

If you choose to restrict what packages are available via the Client Portal, you may also wish to restrict the paths on
your network that users can install packages from. By default, the local and network paths are able to be specified by
the end user, but these can be overridden by specifying them in the system registry at this location.

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Deswik\LauncherSettings

Values:

Value
Value Name Description
Type

LocalPackageCache REG_SZ The path on disk for the local package cache. This can optionally be set to an
empty value if you want to disable users having a local cache.

NetworkPackageCache REG_SZ The path on disk for the network package cache. This should be set to a
network share path.

Deswik.Launcher will enumerate all Appx and Appinstaller files underneath the locations specified in the Local and
Network paths including subdirectories. If you would like to allow a select group of users access to a set of packages
that are restricted to others, you can do this by creating a subdirectory underneath the Network share path that only
these users have read access to.

Client Portal
To control the ability for users to download and install packages from the Client Portal, log in to the Client Portal as an
administrator.

 To become an administrator for your site, get in touch with us via a support request.
Instructions:

 1. Log in to the Client Portal as an administrator.

 2. Go to Admin | Site | Manage Installer Access Rules.

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 3. The Update Site Installer Access page displays.

 4. Use the following table to assist you with the options on this page.

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Section Description

Do you want to By default this option is turned off, which allows your users access to all Appx packages
control access hosted on the Client Portal in any way. Select it to control this access.
to Appx
packaged  If you choose to leave this option unselected, it is possible that users access could still be
installers limited if there is an administrator for your whole company / division / business unit that
has specified settings. Site settings override Company settings.

How can users  l Anywhere: Users can access the permitted Appx packages from either the Client Portal
obtain Deswik Downloads page or Deswik.Launcher.
Packages?
 l Deswik.Launcher only: Users can access the permitted Appx packages from
Deswik.Launcher, but not the Client Portal Downloads page. Note that administrator
users (who have access to this page) will always have access to the Appx packages from
the downloads page regardless of this setting.

 l Downloads page only: Users can access the permitted Appx packages from the Client
Portal Downloads page, but not via Deswik.Launcher.

Which Appx  l All Packages Allowed: All Appx packages can be accessed by your users.
Packages should
 l No Packages Allowed: No Appx packages can be accessed by your users. Note that
Users have
this restriction does not apply to administrator users.
access to?
 l Packages Allowed by Ruleset: The packages are allowed by rules as specified below.

Product Rules You can use this section to create rules that describe which Appx Packages your users will
have access to.

Note that:

 l With no rules, no packages will be allowed. You need to allow a package with a rule in
order for it to become available to users.

 l Restrict rules override allow rules. This means that if a rule allows a package, but
another rule restricts it, the package will not be available.

 l You can see the full list of packages the ruleset will permit by clicking 'Test Rules'.

For each rule, you will use the following dialog.

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Section Description

 l Rule Name: Specify a name for your rule to describe what it is doing. This has no effect,
but allows you to keep track of the set of rules you've created.

 l Rule Type: Whether this rule allows or restricts users from accessing packages.

 l Apply Rule To: Allows you to select what packages this rule applies to:

 o All Packages: This rule applies to all packages.

 o Products: This rule applies to products. For example, Deswik.Suite or Deswik.MDM.

 o Versions: This rule applies to versions. For example Deswik.Suite 2021.2.

 o Patches: This rule applies to a specific patch. For example Deswik.Suite 2021.2.667.

Self-updating packages
You can create a self-updating package of our software so that once users install it, their system will automatically
check if an approved upgraded version is available. This way, you can ensure that your users are all using the same
version of the software.

Instructions:

 1. Create a hidden share separate to the one specified in Deswik.Launcher as the Network Package Cache. Your
users will need read access to this share and it will be where you will place the approved Appx package file for
the version you want users to currently have installed.

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 2. In the Network Package Cache folder, create a text file with the extension '.appinstaller' and edit the file to follow
this format:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

<AppInstaller
Uri="(PathToTheAppinstallerFile)"
Version="(CurrentVersionNumber)"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/appinstaller/2018">
<MainPackage
Name="Deswik.Suite"
Version="(CurrentVersionNumber)"
Publisher="CN=Deswik Mining Consultants (Australia) Pty Ltd, O=Deswik Mining
Consultants (Australia) Pty Ltd, L=Brisbane, S=Queensland, C=AU, SERIALNUMBER=130 036
832, OID.2.5.4.15=Private Organization, OID.1.3.6.1.4.1.311.60.2.1.3=AU"
Uri="(PathToTheAppxFile)"
ProcessorArchitecture="x64" />
<UpdateSettings>
<OnLaunch HoursBetweenUpdateChecks="0"/>
</UpdateSettings>
</AppInstaller>

The sections in bold above need to be adjusted so that this file will operate correctly.

SCENARIO

As an example, lets say the following details is how your environment is setup:

 l The Network Package Cache share folder is at \\deswikShare\packageCache

 l The AppInstaller file name is deswikSuite.appinstaller and which you have placed in the network
package cache share folder

 l The Hidden Share created in the first step is at \\deswikShare\hiddenAppxShare$

The package you want the users to currently be using is Deswik.Suite.2021.2.604-x64.appx which is for
version 2021.2.604 and which you have placed in the hidden share folder.

You would use the following:

 l (PathToTheAppinstallerFile): \\deswikShare\packageCache\deswikSuite.appinstaller

 l (CurrentVersionNumber): 2021.2.604.0

 l (PathToTheAppxFile): \\deswikShare\hiddenAppxShare$\Deswik.Suite.2021.2.604-x64.appx

 3. Your users can install this package, and they will notice that it looks different to packages that are installed

directly from an Appx file. It will be labeled in the Deswik.Launcher screen.

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 4. In future, you may want to upgrade your users to a new version. Lets say 2021.2.667 is released and you put the
Deswik.Suite.2021.2.667-x64.appx file into the hidden share. You can update the Appinstaller to point to this new
version by changing the CurrentVersionNumber and PathToAppxFile to point to the new version. When users
run the software, it will detect that a new version is available and silently install the upgrade on their system.

 In a future roadmap, Deswik plans to remove the need to manually edit these files, and instead allow Deswik.Launcher
to communicate with a Deswik.MDM implementation where a Deswik.MDM administrator can configure the currently-
approved packages.

How do Appx packages install without Administrator priv-

ileges?
When using *.exe or *.msi-based installers, software installed on a computer is effectively unlimited in its capacity to
interact with the operating system, call any API, and act on behalf of the user with any external system. This makes
installing unknown or untrusted software a risky proposition because there are very few limitations to what that
software package can do to your system. The solution to this problem in a corporate environment is to limit the
installation or upgrade of software to administrative users, and those administrative users having a trust relationship
with the software vendor.

Microsoft is not alone in developing an alternative solution to this problem, but in our opinion they’ve done the best
job of it. The Appx packages we have now created deploy inside a container on the users system instead of being
installed in the normal Program Files directory. Apps that are deployed inside these containers are limited so that they
have a restricted API, and a limited set of capabilities as compared to standard applications. This reduces the risk to
the users computer, and allows for installation by non-administrators.

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