ClickOnce Deployment Application Identity

Scenario supported:  Multiple versions of the same application installed to a single machine/user's account. 
 
For example, say you have a version 2.0.0.0 of an application that is your production version, and you publish a new beta version (3.0.0.0) that you want a limited set of users to access, but those same users need to be able to run both production and beta side by side through ClickOnce on their machines (perhaps for feature comparison testing).

The first step is that you will need to have different deployment manifests for the multiple versions you want a single user to run. You direct the user to launch from each URL to the different deployment manifests and they will get a separate installation on their machine... or will they? The answer depends on a hidden aspect of the ClickOnce runtime regarding what the runtime considers a unique identity for an installed application.

ClickOnce actually install an application on a client machine, it downloads and caches the deployment manifest, the application manifest, and all of the application files. Those manifests have to be signed by a publisher certificate that is cryptographically unique. Additionally, the installed application has a product name that gets embedded in the deployment manifest.

You might be tempted, as I was, to think that a unique product name, combined with a separate deployment manifest would be sufficient to make the client machine treat those installs as separate and distinct (such as setting the product names to "MyApp" and "MyApp - Beta"). Unfortunately you would be wrong, as I was.

There is actually a separate piece of information that the ClickOnce runtime uses to distinguish one application from another - the application identity is set by an identity set for the deployment manifest itself. This identity is normally created by Visual Studio when publishing and is set to the deployment manifest name (i.e. WindowsApplication1.application). You do not have control from Visual Studio to set this to anything else. Through the mageui.exe SDK tool, or better yet my Manifest Manager Utility included with the patterns and practices guidance, you can set this application identity to any string that you like to uniquely identify multiple published versions of a single application.

So to address the scenario presented earlier, you can simply set the application identity to MyApp for one version and MyApp-Beta for the other version, and you will be able to side-by-side install those two copies of the app on the same machine.

I came across this video illustration, really helpful
https://robindotnet.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/clickonce-installing-multiple-versions-concurrently/ 

Install IIS 7.5 on Windows Server 2008 R2

Install IIS 7.5 on Windows Server 2008 R2

IIS is one of the Windows Server® server roles. IIS can be installed through the graphical user interface (GUI) by using the new Server Manager interface after the Windows Server operating system is installed.

Server Manager provides a single dashboard to install or uninstall server roles and features. Server Manager also gives an overview of all currently installed roles and features. When IIS is chosen from the Server Manager, the basic components and services needed for IIS are automatically selected.

1. Click Start -> All Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Server Manager.

Figure 2: Server Manager

2. In the Server Manager window, scroll down to Roles Summary, and then click Add Roles. The Add Roles Wizard will start with aBefore You Begin page. The wizard asks for verification of the following:

a. The administrator account has a strong password.

b. The network settings, such as IP addresses, are configured.

c. The latest security updates from Windows® Update are installed.

3. Select Web Server (IIS) on the Select Server Roles page. An introductory page will open with links for further information.

Note: When you use the Add Roles Wizard to install IIS, you get the default installation, which has a minimum set of role services. If you need additional IIS role services, such as Application Development or Health and Diagnostics, make sure to select the check boxes associated with those features in the Select Role Services page of the wizard.

Figure 3: Select Server Roles

4. Select the IIS services to be installed on the Select Role Services page. Add only the modules necessary. In this case, ASP.NET is selected, and a description of ASP.NET appears in the right pane. Once desired modules are added, click Next.

Figure 4: Select Role Services

5. Add any required role services.

Figure 5: Wizard warning page

6. IIS is now installed with a default configuration for hosting ASP.NET on Windows Server. Click Close to complete the process.

Figure 6: Installation Results page

7. Confirm that the Web server works by using http://localhost.

Figure 7: Default Web site

Note: Install only the absolutely necessary IIS services to minimize the IIS installation footprint. This also minimizes the attack surface, which is one of the benefits of IIS 7 and above.

Use a Script to Install IIS 7.5 on Windows Server 2008 R2

You can also use a script to install IIS 7.5. Note that if you use this script, you get the full IIS installation, which installs all available feature packages. If there are feature packages you do not need, you should edit the script to install only the packages you require. 

To install IIS 7.5 with a script, type the following at a command prompt:

CMD /C START /w PKGMGR.EXE /l:log.etw /iu:IIS-WebServerRole;IIS-WebServer;IIS-CommonHttpFeatures;IIS-StaticContent;IIS-DefaultDocument;IIS-DirectoryBrowsing;IIS-HttpErrors;IIS-HttpRedirect;IIS-ApplicationDevelopment;IIS-ASP;IIS-CGI;IIS-ISAPIExtensions;IIS-ISAPIFilter;IIS-ServerSideIncludes;IIS-HealthAndDiagnostics;IIS-HttpLogging;IIS-LoggingLibraries;IIS-RequestMonitor;IIS-HttpTracing;IIS-CustomLogging;IIS-ODBCLogging;IIS-Security;IIS-BasicAuthentication;IIS-WindowsAuthentication;IIS-DigestAuthentication;IIS-ClientCertificateMappingAuthentication;IIS-IISCertificateMappingAuthentication;IIS-URLAuthorization;IIS-RequestFiltering;IIS-IPSecurity;IIS-Performance;IIS-HttpCompressionStatic;IIS-HttpCompressionDynamic;IIS-WebServerManagementTools;IIS-ManagementScriptingTools;IIS-IIS6ManagementCompatibility;IIS-Metabase;IIS-WMICompatibility;IIS-LegacyScripts;WAS-WindowsActivationService;WAS-ProcessModel;IIS-FTPServer;IIS-FTPSvc;IIS-FTPExtensibility;IIS-WebDAV;IIS-ASPNET;IIS-NetFxExtensibility;WAS-NetFxEnvironment;WAS-ConfigurationAPI;IIS-ManagementService;MicrosoftWindowsPowerShell