Volume Installation

The Blockpad installer allows Blockpad to be installed, re-installed, updated, and uninstalled on Windows for either a single user or a whole computer. It includes options to configure shortcuts and user interface language. All functionality in the installer can be automated to manage the program over a network.

When performing volume installs, it is most common to install for the whole machine, for all users. In this case, Blockpad installs to C:\Program Files\Blockpad.

When Blockpad is installed for the machine, each user still has to connect to a license separately. This is done by linking to an account when each user opens Blockpad for the first time.

When installed for a single user, Blockpad installs to C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Blockpad\appfiles.

When automating the installer, we recommend piping the console output stream to gather any output information such as error messages.

To use these features, please download the installer here:

Typical volume install examples

To install Blockpad on a whole machine silently with no installer user interface shown, the following command can be used:

./BlockpadInstaller.exe --install --machine --silent

To apply any available updates with no user interface shown, the following command can be used:

./BlockpadInstaller.exe --apply-update --silent

All installer process arguments

The following process arguments are available with BlockpadInstaller.exe:

Argument Description
--install

Installs the latest version of Blockpad, using any settings from other arguments.

You can use the --install action either to perform a fresh install or to force a re-install, regardless of whether Blockpad is installed on the computer.

If you run --install with --machine and an individual user (or multiple) has installed Blockpad on a per-user basis, the installer will replace the per-user installation with a single per-machine installation in C:\Program Files\Blockpad. This will leave all user settings, license info, and files intact.
--check-update

Checks if an update is available, writing result to the console output stream. If the user interface is shown (no --silent argument provided), the result will appear in the user interface as well.

--check-update is normally used only internally in the application to detect if an update is available, but it is available to IT administrators as well to be able to automate checking if updates are available.
--apply-update

Updates to the latest version of Blockpad, if one is available.

The --apply-update action will do nothing if the installer finds an existing up-to-date installation or no installation.
--uninstall

Uninstalls the current Blockpad installation.
--remove-all

When uninstalling, if --remove-all is provided, removes all Blockpad settings and cache from the user or, if the installation is for the whole machine, from all users.
--silent

If included, runs the installer with no user interface. Any error messages will output only to the console output stream.

Note that installer actions run with --silent will fail if they need to make changest to Blockpad app files and Blockpad is running on the computer.
--channel name

Specifies the app channel for installation. For example:

./BlockpadInstaller.exe --install --channel beta

./BlockpadInstaller.exe --install --channel stable
--user

Explicitly specifies to install for the current user only, not for the whole machine.
--machine

Explicitly specifies to install for the whole machine.
--start-menu on/off

Specifies whether there should be a start menu shortcut for Blockpad. For example:

./BlockpadInstaller.exe --install --start-menu on

If not specified, defaults to on.
--desktop on/off

Specifies whether there should be a desktop shortcut for Blockpad. For example:

./BlockpadInstaller.exe --install --desktop on

If not specified, defaults to off.
--language code

Specifies the user interface language for Blockpad, if different from that of the Windows installation, with its language code. For example:

./BlockpadInstaller.exe --install --language de

If not specified, defaults to the language of the Windows installation, if supported by Blockpad.

User interface translations will be available in the application itself beginning with version 1.7