Rollout

Rollout functionality allows your organization to determine whether or not your users will receive automatic updates of ArcFM Mobile for Windows Classic and ArcFM Mobile 5.0 and later running on Windows devices. You can elect to ‘pin’ an app to a particular version. Electing to pin a version or use the latest version of an app is an easy process that takes just a couple of steps, outlined below.

IMPORTANT:

Using the latest version is recommended to ensure your users receive the latest updates and patches, as they won’t be available on any versions other than the latest.
Rollout applies only to ArcFM Mobile for Windows Classic (versions prior to 5.0) and ArcFM Mobile 5.0 and later running on Windows devices. For Android or iOS apps, we recommend that you use Mobile Device Management to control the deployment of ArcFM Mobile on devices, separate from the Rollout capability documented here.

Click here to take it for a test drive.

This opens Solution Center straight to the Rollout configuration page. Click the ArcFM Mobile for Windows tab.

By default, Rollout is configured to use the latest version.

ArcFM Mobile for Windows Classic releases prior to 4.0.0 rollout use Squirrel deployment. Releases versioned 4.0.0 and later rely on MSIX deployment—this includes Windows Classic and standard editions of ArcFM Mobile.

IMPORTANT: If you wish to revert back to ArcFM Mobile for Windows Classic (versions earlier than 5.0) from ArcFM Mobile 5.0 and later running on Windows, do not uninstall the latest version of the software before downgrading. Instead, download the MSIX file for the version of ArcFM Mobile for Windows Classic you wish to install and run it. Accept the prompt to “upgrade” and the installer will install the older version of the software.

Squirrel Deployment

With Squirrel rollout, the following happens:

Set your Rollout version policy to pin to a specific version (or patch). All of your client machines on your tenant adhere to this pinned version.
If Schneider Electric releases a new version of the application, no updates are applied to any of your client machines on your tenant.
On your chosen date, change your Rollout version policy to the newer version (or patch) of the application. This unpins the old version and pins the new version.
Upon the next login on each of your client machines, the update for the new version occurs, and
- Users see a message stating an update is being applied.
- Once finished, users see a message instructing them to re-launch the application to use the new functionality.

MSIX Deployment

MSIX helps ensure that your organization stays current and provides reassurance that your applications are always up to date. MSIX installers are used to package and deliver each version of ArcFM Mobile to your users. After updating to MSIX installers, updates happen automatically, however, your users are not notified when this occurs. Essentially, every eight hours OR the first time your users launch the app within a 12 hour period, the app checks to see if there is a new version. If a new version is available, it downloads in the background. The very next time that your users close and re-launch the app, it will be updated.

Rollout Version Policy

In the Rollout version policy drop-down is information showing the specific version that matches your current selection for the policy. Click the drop-down to view a list of available major and minor version choices.

TIP: Decoding the version string: The 1st number represents the major build, the 2nd number represents the minor build, the 3rd number represents the patch build, and the 4th number is the build number. The version string follows SemVer v1.0 (http://semver.org/spec/v1.0.0.html).

If you want to pin the version to a specific patch, click the Specify patch version box. This affects the Rollout version policy drop-down list, displaying all available patch versions. When specifying a patch version, be aware that users receive no updates at all until the rollout version policy is changed to a later patch, a #.#.* version, or the latest version. When deselected, only major and minor versions are displayed in the drop-down list.

IMPORTANT: Rollout functionality specifically for ArcFM Mobile became available with version 3.3; therefore, you may not pin to any earlier releases.

Copy Download Link Button

With Squirrel deployment, rolling back to a previous version is a manual process for your users. You set the Rollout version policy at the version to which you want to roll back, then click the Copy Download Link button to copy the setup.exe or App Installer file for that version. Each user must then uninstall the applicable application, then run the appropriate setup.exe file to install the previous version.

However, once you update to MSIX installers, the process is no longer manual. If you set rollout version back to a prior version, your users' devices also detect this (as described above), then automatically rolls back the version once they shutdown and restart their devices (similar to when devices detect an upgrade).

Open MSIX KB Article Button

For a journey into the interesting world of MSIX deployment, we have a white paper available, entitled ArcFM Mobile MSIX Migration on myArcFM, that discusses the crucial nature of MSIX as a deployment technology.

Create Deployment Script Button

You can use the Create Deployment Script button to create a PowerShell script that silently downloads and installs the application for each user.

View Release Notes Button

Click View Release Notes to read information about all ArcFM Mobile releases.