Quick List for Installing the Aptify Desktop Client

Installing the Aptify Desktop client is a relatively straightforward process once you have all the required tools to do so.

This process will install the Aptify 5.0 Desktop client, however, upon connecting this client to your database server, the Object Repository Service will automatically upgrade the client to your respective Aptify version.

It is possible to setup the Desktop client on another machine without going through the installer. (Note, the ancillary services must be installed first in either scenario) This can be handy if you already have a known good Aptify Desktop client folder and just wish to quickly set it up on another machine. Details on this are located further below in this article.

Installing Ancillary Services

Before installing the client, you need to install the ancillary supporting services that are used by the Aptify Desktop client. They are:

• AccessDatabaseEngine.exe (this is used for Exporting to Excel)
• CRRuntime_64bit_13_0_6.msi (this is the Crystal Report runtime to run reports)
• Dhtmled.msi (this is the HTML control for rich text fields in Aptify)
• dotnetfx35.exe (.NET Framework runtime 3.5 offline installer)*
• NDP48-x86-x64-AllOS-ENU.exe (NET Framework runtime 4.8 offline installer)**
• SQLSysClrTypes_64bit.msi (this is a required component to run SSRS reports)
• ReportViewer_64bit.msi (this is the SSRS report viewer)

Momentive created a .zip pack that contains all of these files here: ancillary and required services for Desktop client you can optionally install the 32 bit versions if desired. It does not matter in which order you install these services, although SQLSysClrTypes_64bit.msi must be installed before the ReportViewer.

*Installing .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 10 or 11 is relatively straightforward, on Windows Server it must be done through the Server Manager and sometimes you will be required to manually locate the file to install. The easiest way to do this is to download a copy of the Windows Server installation media, and extract it.

**Many Windows 10 or 11 machines come with .NET 4.8 pre-installed, so this may not be necessary

**MVC4 is not required for the Desktop client, but is for any server running Aptify Web.

Installing the Desktop Client

Once all of the supporting services have been installed, you're ready to install the Aptify Desktop client. (If you did not install all of them, specifically the Crystal Reports run-time and .NET frameworks, the Desktop client will attempt to install them in multiple windows)

You can download the installer here: APTIFY_500_Revised Desktop Installer Extract the archive, and then right-click Setup.exe and run it as an Administrator.

On Step 3, you can input whatever you'd like for User Name and then your organization's name- this does not matter to run the client. Click next.

On Step 4, de-select Aptify Application Server as well as Aptify Database Server Components. We do not wish to install either. There are simpler ways to install the Application server  and the scope of installing a database server is not covered here. You can find instructions on how to do so here.

Click Next. On this page you can change the file location for the Aptify Desktop client, by default it installs to C:\Program Files\Aptify 5.0, however you can change this however you please, including updating the Aptify 5.0 to your version of Aptify. Click Next and then Install.

If you've got all the supporting services already installed, this should run relatively quickly. It will install the Aptify Desktop client in the Start Menu, in Windows Add/Remove programs, as well as install the Aptify Object Repository windows service which is fundamental to running the Desktop client.

Proceed to the "syncing the Desktop client" for instructions on how to upgrade the Aptify 5.0 Desktop client to your version.

Syncing the Desktop Client

By default, the APTIFY_500_revised Desktop installer will install the basic Aptify 5.0 client. However, the first time you login to your Aptify database, the Object Repository Synchronizer will download all the latest files including client-specific items, and upgrade the Aptify Desktop client to whichever Aptify version you are currently running. It will restart several times during this process.

To get started, launch the Aptify 5.0 icon either on your Desktop or Start Menu. You'll note it says Aptify 5.0 in the top right corner. Enter your servername and your valid credentials to login. You'll see it launches with the Aptify 5.0 branding initially. Once it syncs and restarts, it will update to the correct version.

In most occasions, it will download all the new objects, restart a few times, and then launch an updated Aptify Desktop client.

However, there are times where it fails to download the objects from the database and it displays an error similar to this:

There are several quick ways to resolve this issue.

The first is to just copy an existing, known-good copy of the Aptify Desktop from another machine and overwrite what is in this folder. Once that's done, try logging into the Desktop client again and it should work.

The second option is to use the Object Repository Synchronizer tool, which comes packaged in every Aptify version upgrade pack. You can find a copy to use here. It will manually force a full download of files.

Right-click on the AptifyObjRepSynchronizer.exe and run as Administrator. Login, and then on the second page, change the Object Cache folder to wherever you installed the client.* Choose any administrator-level Repository User, and select Synchronize All Objects. Click Next to Begin.

(*If you run into repeated issues with this failing, usually due to a read-lock on the Aptify 5.0 folder, set the object cache folder to a new folder on your desktop client, and then copy all of those files manually and overwrite the Aptify 5.) folder)

You should see the tool steadily downloading all of the different object repository objects. This will take a few minutes. At the end, it should say the synchronization was complete.

Now go ahead and try logging into your server from the updated Aptify Desktop client.

On the subject of the Object Repository Synchronizer tool, there is a handy quick way to force a sync without having to run the tool, in this scenario or others where you believe the Desktop client is not pulling down new or updated .dlls.

Simply go into the Aptify Desktop client folder, find the OBJECTREPOSITORY.txt file, and delete it. The next time you launch the Desktop client, it will perform a full object repository sync.

Setting up the Desktop Client without the Installer

The Aptify Desktop installer performs four functions:

• It installs supporting or ancillary services if they have not already been installed
• It installs the Aptify 5.0 desktop client to your target location
• It installs the Aptify Object Repository Windows Service which will keep the Desktop client in sync with the Database Object Repository
• It registers the application with Windows, putting an Aptify 5.0 icon on the Desktop, Start Menu, and adding it as a program in the Settings Add/Remove programs sections

If you already have installed the supporting services (or do as part of this process) and have an existing, known-good working Aptify Desktop client folder, it may be simpler to set up the Desktop client without having to run through the installer. You'll just need to follow these steps:

1. Copy your Aptify 5.0 (or however it is named) folder to the new machine
2. Launch Command Prompt as an Administrator, and execute this script to create the Aptify Object Repository windows service. Note, you will want to change the location in the binPath if you have a different name or file location.

   1. sc create AptifyObjectRepositoryService binPath= "C:\Program Files\Aptify 5.0\Services\Object Repository\AptifyObjectRepositoryService.exe" DisplayName= "Aptify Object Repository Service" start= auto

   2. Type Services.msc in your Start Menu, go to your newly created service, and click Start
3. (Optional) Create Aptify Desktop shortcut icons on your Desktop and/or Start Menu

That's it. Try connecting to your database to ensure it's working properly.