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Templafy Desktop deployment

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About this article

Templafy Desktop is the client Templafy uses to deploy add-ins for MS Office. This article will explain how to install it in local machine, in current user context, with multiple authentication methods and Citrix/RDS environment. Furthermore, you'll find Templafy Desktop installation paths and Templafy Desktop registry entries. 

Sections in this article:

 

Prerequisites 

 

 

 

Installation in Current User context

Templafy Desktop installs as default into Current User context (HKCU) and the .msi installer does not require admin rights for installation.

MSIEXEC /i TemplafyDesktop.[tenant].msi /quiet

 

 

Central Deployment using SCCM

Templafy Desktop can be centrally distributed by using the parameter ALLUSERS="1" that should be added when deploying via SCCM. Additionally the "Installation behavior" within "User Experience" should be set to "Install for system".

Run this command in an Admin/Elevated prompt or using SCCM:

MSIEXEC /i TemplafyDesktop.[tenant].msi ALLUSERS="1" /quiet

 

For every user that logs into the targeted PC, Templafy Desktop will start in the Current User context. This is to ensure that many of Templafy's features will be able to run without requiring admin rights or changing permissions on shared folders.


The Templafy Desktop.msi will download the Client version to %programdata% which is shared between users on a machine and holds non-office specific features, such as:

  • Offline Synchronization
  • Font Distribution.

The client version will then install the VSTO addin into %localappdata% and sync offline files to this location, as all users do not necessarily have access to the same files.

 

Installation with multiple authentication methods

 
  • This requires TemplafyDesktop.msi version +2.x

 

If you have more than one authentication method in Templafy that redirects to different SSO forests, you need a specific URL to initiate the SP-Login.

If you, for instance, have showcase.templafy.com as tenant name, and have two authentication methods:

  • showcasedenmark.templafy.com
  • showcasesweden.templafy.com

Then you need to install Templafy Desktop with the following parameter:

MSIEXEC /i TemplafyDesktop.[tenant].msi AUTHENTICATIONMETHOD=[authentication tenant] /quiet

 where [authentication tenant] would be "showcasedenmark" or "showcasesweden"

 

Example of installing the above example for Danish users:

MSIEXEC /i TemplafyDesktop.showcase.msi AUTHENTICATIONMETHOD="showcasedenmark" /quiet

 

Templafy Desktop Installation Paths

  • In HKLM %programfiles(x86)%\Templafy\Desktop
    The Templafy Desktop Host is installed in this location
  • In HKCU %localappdata%\Templafy\Desktop
    The Templafy Desktop Host is installed in this location
  • %programdata%\Templafy\Desktop
    The Templafy Desktop Client is installed in this location
  • %localappdata%\Templafy\AddIns
    The addins for Office is installed here via Templafy Desktop Client
  • %appdata%\Microsoft\Signatures
    Email Signatures created via the Templafy addins are stored here. In the native Signatures folder for Outlook (“…\Signatures” may change depending on Office language installations and version)
  • %localappdata%\Templafy\Desktop\Logs
    Log files related to TemplafyDesktop is stored in this location (when updating)
  • %temp%\Templafy
    All assets (images, texts, shapes) inserted via Templafy addins are stored here temporarily. After the user exits the Office application using them, they will get deleted.

 

Templafy Desktop Registry Entries

The Registry Keys are stored in [HKCU or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Templafy] based on how Templafy Desktop was installed, i.e if it is installed in local machine or current user context.

 
  • Registry Keys are copied from HKLM to HKCU on first user login.

 

Installation of Templafy Desktop on Citrix/RDS environments

To install Templafy Desktop on Citrix/RDS environment, please have a read about it: Templafy Desktop deployment Citrix/RDS environment.

 

Un-installing Templafy Desktop

When Templafy Desktop is installed for all users on a computer (Local Machine installation or ALLUSERS="1") by an administrator it will run when ever a user logs in. Templafy Desktop, in this mode, downloads and installs packages, registry keys, offline content etc., in the users' own profile directory on the computer (the Local App Data or %LOCALAPPDATA%).
If an administrator decides to uninstall Templafy Desktop, for whatever reason, the data downloaded for each of the other users' will not be removed as part of the uninstall. This is because the administrator cannot remove data from another users' profile, which is potentially taking up a significant amount of disk space. 

Templafy Desktop version 1.9 x and later versions is bundled with a dedicated uninstaller named TemplafyDesktopUninstaller.exe, which is able to clean up the data for each user. This uninstaller is a standalone executable file without any external dependencies.


When an administrator un-installs Templafy Desktop, this uninstaller will be copied into each users' profile directory, provided they have logged in at some point and actually run Templafy Desktop. The uninstaller will run once and only once for each user, when they log in after Templafy Desktop has been uninstalled.

Since Templafy Desktop is no longer installed, the uninstaller will remove all the data previously downloaded, after which it will remove itself.

In the event where Templafy Desktop is uninstalled and afterwards reinstalled, the uninstaller will still be registered, however in this case it will detect Templafy Desktop is installed (by looking in the registry for the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Templafy key), and simply just remove itself.

 

How to troubleshoot installation of Templafy Desktop

If any issues arise during the installation of TemplafyDesktop.msi, please add the below switch to add logging which will help to troubleshoot the installation:

/lvd* "log.txt"

 

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