Second Revised method for deploying StageNow profiles to a remote FTP server

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This version now superceded by a revised method detailed at Third (and last!) Revised method for deploying StageNow profiles to a remote FTP server

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Revised StageNow Remote Conversion Process  June 17

Ian Hatton

Zebra EMEA

1. Create profile and test with local server. Do not use any of the Wizards during the profile creation as they may add some steps which could cause an issue when the profile is modified i.e. just use the Xpert mode to select exactly which steps are required for the profile.

     2. Create a folder on your PC and unzip the contents of the file ‘snremote new utils.zip’ to this folder. Run the installer 'new_xml_remote_install.exe' to install the file processing utility

     3. Export profile via the ‘Export for StageNow’ option (using the export button available from the All Profiles screen or at the Publish screen) . Select the destination folder to be the same folder in which you have unzipped the contents of ‘snremote new utils.zip’  :

     4. Open a command prompt in your root folder and type the command:

‘Prep filename’ where filename is the name of your exported profile (no extension)

This will unzip the profile contents in a sub-folder (using the same name as the profile) and generate a file named cs.txt containing the MD5 checksums for each file in the profile. It will then run new_xml_remote.exe – this utility will modify the XML to include the remote FTP server details4.

5. Chose ‘GenerateMD5’ from the menu and select the cs.txt file from the profile folder – this generates a MD5 .TXT file for each file in the profile under the appropriate sub-folder.

6.  Chose File from menu and locate the exported/unzipped XML file in the profile folder

7. Select PublicServer from the menu or go to step 8 to use your own Private FTP server. Note that files on the Public server are not secure i.e. do not post any files on this server which you do not want to be publicly available. Accept (OK) or decline (Cancel) the conditions below:

8. Public FTP server path will be confirmed as demonstrated below

9. Select PrivateServer from the menu if you want to deploy the files to your own private FTP server in which case you need to enter the required remote FTP server details I.e server name or IP address, username , password, and root path on the server – the resulting server path will be confirmed as demonstrated below:

10. After confirming the Public/Private server, select ProcessXML from the menu to process the XML. This will modify the existing FTP paths to include either the public or private server info entered in previous steps and will write the resulting modified file to the file _output.xml which will be located in the profile folder. Note that each separate file referenced in the input file will be located in a sub-folder in the output file FTP paths as per the _output.xml example below:

     
rolamoto@airsetup.com:21/public/bbox_demo/FileMgr_060117_150034_8020270/demo-mc18-android-4.3.apk" />

     
rolamoto@airsetup.com:21/public/bbox_demo/FileMgr_060117_150137_7640270/BBUnzip.apk" />

11. Press OK and return to StageNow , select the All Profiles screen and then the import profile button below:

12. Select the _output.xml file from the profile folder and press Import

13. Profile will be imported under the original name with a _1 postfix

14. Select Home to see the imported profile. Select the profile and change the name via the pen icon next to the existing name. Use a prefix to the existing name e.g. rem_ indicates this is a remotely hosted profile

15. Select Complete Profile and generate the barcodes. Do not attempt to edit the modified profile as StageNow will not support edit of a profile modified in this way. If you need to change the profile, delete the existing remote version , edit the original local version , and then follow Step 3 onwards to process

16. To deploy the files to either your FTP server or the Public server  , you can copy them in one step directly from the profile folder which has been created i.e. with a FTP client, connect to the public or private FTP server , navigate to the folder you assigned to this project and then copy all files+ sub-folders to the FTP root folder . The screenshot below shows how this works with WS_FTP i.e highlight the source on the left , select the destination root on the right and press the right arrow to transfer all files/folders :

You can check that you have the right files in right folders by comparing the contents of _output.xml with the folder+files deployed on the remote server i.e. they should match exactly or the profile will not deploy without errors. Note that FTP logon details for the Public server are as follows:

Server: airsetup.com

User:  public_airsetup.com

Password: rolamoto

17.  Ensure you have an internet connection on the target device, run StageNow and scan the generated barcode. If the profile fails with an error, try again in case there was a network disconnect. If failure persists , repeat step 15 to check that the files deployed on the server exactly match the content of the modified profile.