You can manage the Filr desktop application on users’ workstations with client management software such as Novell ZENworks.
When following the instructions in this section, you must use the .msi file, which is bundled in the NovellFilrAutoUpdate.tgz file, and is available at the Novell Downloads site.
If you use the .msi file to distribute the Filr desktop application to user workstations, you need to install the following items to each user workstation, independent of the Filr software:
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 (Applies to 64-bit Windows and Mac workstations.)
You can download Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 from the Microsoft .NET Downloads page.
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable Package (Applies to all workstations)
You can download the redistributable package from the Microsoft Download Center.
NOTE:The ability to manage the Filr desktop application is available only with Filr desktop 1.0.2 and later.
You can customize the installation and control whether Windows Explorer is restarted.
You can customize the installation process of the Filr desktop application for your organization in the following ways:
Configure default values for each installation option of the Filr desktop application. (Users can change these default values when configuring the Filr desktop application.)
Auto-configure all values for each installation option of the Filr desktop application. (Users specify only their user name and password when configuring the Filr desktop application; users cannot change the default values during initial configuration.)
Disallow users from modifying configuration options in the Filr desktop application. (Users cannot change the default values during initial configuration, and cannot modify the values via the Filr console after initial configuration.)
NOTE:This does not prevent users from manually modifying configuration settings in the registry or file system.
The following sections describe how to make these customizations.
You can configure the default values for each installation option of the Filr desktop application. Users can change these default values when configuring the Filr desktop application.
You accomplish this on Windows by creating registry values, and on Mac by adding properties to the application’s Info.plist file.
Windows: Access the following location where you will create registry values:
\\HKLM\Software\Novell\Filr
Mac: Access the Info.plist file where you will add properties. This file is usually in the following location:
/Applications/Novell Filr/Contents/Info.plist
Create Windows registry values and add properties to the Info.plist file for the values for which you want to configure defaults.
The following table displays the available options for configuring default values.
Table 14-1 Default Value Configuration Options
|
Windows Registry Value Name |
Value Type |
Mac Property Name |
Value Type |
Supports Env Variables |
Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Default Server URL |
REG_SZ |
FilrDefaultServerURL |
string |
No |
https:// |
|
Default Username |
REG_SZ |
FilrDefaultUsername |
string |
Yes |
%USERNAME% or $USER |
|
Default Account Name |
REG_SZ |
FilrDefaultAccountName |
string |
No |
Hostname in server URL |
|
Default Remember Password |
REG_SZ (“true” or “false”) |
FilrDefaultRememberPassword |
<true/> or <false/> |
No |
false |
|
Default Sync Dir |
REG_SZ |
FilrDefaultSyncDir |
string |
Yes |
%USERNAME%\Filr or $USER\Filr |
|
Default Start On Login |
REG_SZ (“true” or “false”) |
FilrDefaultStartOnLogin |
<true/> or <false/> |
No |
true |
|
Default Folder List |
REG_MULTI_SZ |
FilrDefaultFolderList |
Array of strings |
No |
My Files Shared with Me |
After you have configured default values for the Filr desktop application installation, you can enable auto-configuration. When auto-configuration is enabled, users cannot change the default values during initial configuration. (Users specify only their user name and password when configuring the Filr desktop application.)
You accomplish this on Windows by creating registry values, and on Mac by adding properties to the application’s Info.plist file.
Windows: Access the following location where you will create registry values:
\\HKLM\Software\Novell\Filr
Mac: Access the Info.plist file where you will add properties. This file is usually in the following location:
/Applications/Novell Filr/Contents/Info.plist
Create Windows registry values and add properties to the Info.plist file for the values for which you want to configure defaults.
The following table displays the available options for auto-configuration.
Table 14-2 Auto-Configuration Options
|
Windows Registry Value Name |
Value Type |
Mac Property Name |
Value Type |
Supports Env Variables |
Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Auto Configure |
REG_SZ (“true” or “false”) |
FilrAutoConfigure |
<true/> or <false/> |
No |
false |
You can disallow users from modifying configuration options in the Filr desktop application. This means that users cannot change the default values during initial configuration, and they cannot modify the values via the Filr console after initial configuration.
NOTE:This does not prevent users from manually modifying configuration settings in the registry or file system.
You accomplish this on Windows by creating registry values, and on Mac by adding properties to the application’s Info.plist file.
Windows: Access the following location where you will create registry values:
\\HKLM\Software\Novell\Filr
Mac: Access the Info.plist file where you will add properties. This file is usually in the following location:
/Applications/Novell Filr/Contents/Info.plist
Create Windows registry values and add properties to the Info.plist file for the values for which you want to configure defaults.
The following table displays the available options for disallowing user configuration.
Table 14-3 Disallow User Configuration Options
|
Windows Registry Value Name |
Value Type |
Mac Property Name |
Value Type |
Supports Env Variables |
Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Allow User Configuration |
REG_SZ (“true” or “false”) |
FilrAllowUserConfiguration |
<true/> or <false/> |
No |
true |
If you have configured the Filr desktop application with auto-configuration (as described in Enabling Auto-Configuration), you can modify the configuration settings:
Change the options in the registry or .plist file, then restart the Filr desktop application.
When the Filr desktop application starts, it detects that the default settings have changed and applies the new settings.
NOTE:The one exception is that the synchronization directory cannot be changed after the Filr desktop application has been configured.
The Filr desktop application for Windows includes overlay icons that do not appear until Windows Explorer is restarted. Prior to the Filr 1.0.2 desktop application, the Windows .msi always restarted Windows Explorer during the installation (except when using the No UI option). Because restarting Explorer might not always be desirable, the Filr 1.0.2 desktop application allows you to override the default.
The Windows installer supports four basic user interface levels for installing MSI files:
No UI (“msiexec /qn”)
Windows Explorer is never restarted when using this option.
Basic UI (“msiexec /qb”)
Reduced UI (“msiexec /qr”)
Full UI (“msiexec /qf” or simply “msiexec”, since this is the default)
For example, use the following command to install the MSI with basic UI and without restarting Windows Explorer:
msiexec /qb /i NovellFilr-version.msi RESTARTEXPLORER=no