Deploying projects to remote devices

Sometimes when updating or creating TracerPlus Desktop projects it might be difficult to get the device back to a home office to perform the deployment of the new project. This article explains some of the methods you can use to get your new TracerPlus changes deployed without the device in hand.

Use the TracerPlus Desktop Deploy Server

This is the preferred method of deploying the project and is built right into TracerPlus Desktop. The TracerPlus Desktop Deploy Server is used to deploy TracerPlus Desktop projects over a network connection. This can include Ethernet, WIFI, or a cell phone data connection. As long as the device has a network connection back to the PC or server running the Deploy Server than this method should work. To deploy your project make sure the latest version is built using the Build/Deploy option within TracerPlus Desktop. This will generate a QR code that can be scanned on the remote device.  Use the TracerPlus Menu->Download Project option to scan the QR code. The project will be downloaded and updated on the remote device.

Note: When the QR code is generated there is a button to save the QR Code as an image file. Use this option to save the image and email it to the remote user, so that it can be easily scanned.

If the Deploy Server is behind a network router you may need to forward the Deploy Server port (default is 4409) to the PC or server running the deploy server. If you do this, the address that is used to create the QR Code can be modified to be that of the outside router. You can do this by modifying the Host address in the QR Code deployment dialog:

Use a 3rd Party Mobile Device Management (MDM) Tools

A Mobile Device Management (MDM) tool is software that allows an admin to manage mobile devices. These can commonly be used to push file updates out to a device in the field. To use an MDM tool you will first need to deploy the updated TracerPlus Desktop project and locate the files that are generated from the build process. These are typically found in your My Documents folder (My Documents\TracerPlus Desktop\Projects\[PROJECT NAME]). Use the MDM to deploy the contents of the Build folder to the root of the Android device, and in a tracerplus folder that matches the version you are deploying (i.e \tracerplus10\) 

The steps for deploying this folder to the device will vary depending on the MDM tool of your choosing.

TracerPlus Desktop Publisher (Android Only)

TracerPlus Desktop Publisher is an addon tool to TracerPlus Desktop. It allows a user to package their TracerPlus Desktop projects into a branded installable Android package files (.apk). These files can be distributed from a website or using the Google Play store. To create this package a user would simply open their TracerPlus Desktop project file, navigate to the Publisher settings, fill out their brand information, and click Publish. The resulting .apk file can be uploaded to a website, or to the Google Play store. To distribute this application, send a web link to the .apk to the users in the field, or a link to the Google Play application.