Mobile App Distribution

Requirements

iOS IPA file requires to be installed through HTTPS

Starting from iOS 7.1, Apple requires the enterprise apps manifest file (.plist) to be served over HTTPS. Install through HTTP will fail. Therefore you would need to follow documentations from the Web server vendor to configure the Web server to support HTTPS.

File size requirement

This section is required for IIS (7.5 thru 10) and WildFly 10.0. Skip this section if you are using the other Web server (such as JBoss EAP 6.1, JEUS, WebLogic, WebSphere, etc).

Before uploading the app package to the PowerServer Web Server, please be beware that the server has limitations on the file size to be uploaded, therefore you would need to follow the instructions below to configure a proper file size.

To change the default file size in WildFly 10.0:

Open the standalone.xml file (in %jboss home%/standalone/configuration/) with a text file editor, find the settings according to the protocol for accessing AEM and uploading file:

  • If using HTTPS to access AEM and upload file, locate the following line and configure "max-post-size" for the maximum file size to be uploaded, for example, 104857600 (which indicates 100 MB).

    <https-listener name="default1" max-post-size="104857600" security-realm="ManagementRealm" socket-binding="https"/>
  • If using HTTP to access AEM and upload file, locate the following line and configure "max-post-size" for the maximum file size to be uploaded, for example, 104857600 (which indicates 100 MB).

    <http-listener name="default" max-post-size="104857600" socket-binding="http" redirect-socket="https"/>

To change the default file size in IIS (7.5 thru 10):

  1. In the IIS Manager, select the Web site where PowerServer is installed, and then select the Configuration Editor feature.

    Figure 149. IIS -> Configuration Editor

    IIS -> Configuration Editor

  2. Open the Configuration Editor feature, select or input system.webServer/security/requestFiltering in the Section field, and then modify the value of the maxAllowedContentLength attribute under requestFiltering to a proper value, for example, 104857600 (which indicates 100 MB). Click Apply to save changes.

    Figure 150. requestFiltering -> maxAllowedContentLength

    requestFiltering -> maxAllowedContentLength

Upload standalone mobile apps and Appeon Workspace

After you package a standalone mobile app or Appeon Workspace, you can upload the file to the PowerServer and then send the download URL to your users. If you have uploaded an updated file to overwrite the existing file, your users will get automatically updated, as Appeon Workspace and the standalone mobile app will check for the updates and compare the version/build number once it connects with PowerServer.

For how to package a standalone mobile app or Appeon Workspace, refer to the section called “Packaging a stand-alone mobile project” in PowerServer Toolkit User Guide and the section called “Customizing and packaging Appeon Workspace” in PowerServer Toolkit User Guide.

For how to make the auto-upgrade feature of Appeon Workspace and standalone mobile app to work, refer to the section called “Enabling auto-upgrade of Appeon Workspace” in Appeon Workspace User Guide.

To upload the standalone mobile app and Appeon Workspace to the server:

Step 1: Select the installer type for the standalone mobile app or Appeon Workspace: APK (.apk) for the Android device, or IPA (.ipa) for the iOS device.

Step 2: Click Browse to select the installer file.

File name

If you create the installer file by using the PowerServer ToolKit Package tool, you should keep the file name by default. A valid file name should look like this: App Name-App Identifier-BuildNumber-32bit/64bit.apk or App Name-Bundle ID-BuildNumber.ipa, for example, sales-appeon-9_0_1681_00.ipa. Note that any dot (.) in App Name (or Display Name) or App Identifier (or Bundle ID) shall be replaced by an underscore(_). For more about the file name, refer to the section called “Packaging a stand-alone mobile project” in PowerServer Toolkit User Guide and the section called “Customizing and packaging Appeon Workspace” in PowerServer Toolkit User Guide.

Figure 151. Upload the installer

Upload the installer

Step 3: Click Upload to upload the selected file to the PowerServer.

During this process, the file will be uploaded to the PowerServer Web server, and will be deployed as a WAR file if PowerServer is installed on top of JBoss, WebLogic, and WebSphere. The deployment process is automatic for JBoss, WebLogic (development mode), and JEUS, but not automatic for WebLogic (production mode) and WebSphere, in this case you will need to manually deploy it just as how you deploy the other applications.

If any error occurs due to the file size, please resolve the error by following instructions in the File size requirement.

Once the installer file is uploaded successfully, the download URL and QR code of the installer will be available from the table below.

A built-in Appeon Workspace for the Android device (App Name: Built-in AWS) is provided by Appeon by default. You can view and change the download URL of this built-in Appeon Workspace but cannot remove it.

Figure 152. View and edit the installer information

View and edit the installer information

To get the download URL and the QR code of the installer:

Step 1: Click the View/Edit link of the installer in the table. You will be directed to the Download URL or QR Code page.

Figure 153. Download URL of the installer

Download URL of the installer

Step 2: Make sure the download URL is accessible to your users. By default the IP address/domain name and port number of PowerServer will be used in the download URL of the installer.

You can change the download URL if the server IP or port number cannot be accessed by your users (for example, a "localhost" URL is not accessible to users); or if you have set up another Web site to host the installer, you will need to manually copy the installer over and change the download URL to point to the correct location.

For the Android installer, you should set the download URL of the APK file.

For the iOS installers, you should set the download URLs pointing to different files for different client types: for the installer to be downloaded and installed on the mobile device, you should set the download URL of the PLIST file in the For Download on Mobile Devices field; while for the installer to be downloaded to the Windows PC or Mac (and later synchronized to the mobile device via iTunes), you should set the download URL of the IPA file in the For Download to iTunes on Desktops field.

For the built-in Appeon Workspace, the download URL is bound to the Appeon Workspace download center by default; you can de-select the Bind the above URL to Download Center box to unbind them.

Figure 154. Download URL of the installer

Download URL of the installer

Once you change the URL, click Save to save the change and refresh the QR code.

Step 3: Click the Download button to download the image file of the QR code in JPG/EPS/SVG format and send the image file to your users, or click the Copy QR Code to Clipboard button to copy and embed the image of QR code in your download web page.

The end user can use a scanning tool to scan the QR code to directly download and install Appeon Workspace on their mobile devices.

Figure 155. QR code of the installer

QR code of the installer

QR code generation for mobile application(s)

You can also generate the QR code for those mobile apps that you deployed to PowerServer using the Appeon Deployment Wizard. For how to deploy the mobile app using the Appeon Deployment Wizard, refer to Chapter 5, Deploying PowerBuilder Applications in PowerServer Toolkit User Guide.

To generate the QR code for mobile application(s):

Step 1: In the Web Server URL field, input the IP address or domain name of the Web server where mobile apps are deployed.

Step 2: From the application list, select one or more mobile apps to be included in the QR code.

Step 3: Click the Get QR Code button to download or copy the QR code generated for the selected app(s).

Figure 156. QR code generation for apps (mobile only)

QR code generation for apps (mobile only)

To download or copy the QR code:

You can click the Download button to download the image file of the generated QR code in JPG/EPS/SVG format and send the image file to end users, or click the Copy QR Code to Clipboard button to copy and embed the image of QR code in your download web page.

The end user can open Appeon Workspace and use the scan tool in Appeon Workspace to directly download and install mobile application(s). For more about the scan tool in Appeon Workspace, refer to the section called “Adding applications” in Appeon Workspace User Guide.

Figure 157. Download or copy QR code of the installer

Download or copy QR code of the installer