- This
refresh button, near the top of the app, checks the web server for any
updates to the products list. To see what changed in version 1.2, view the readme.pdf.
The Universal Updater app is installed with supported Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence software applications. You can use this app to keep your Hexagon products up to date, receive news from HxGN TV, and to launch Hexagon products.
Even computers in your organization that aren't connected to the Internet can also receive updates through this app. This requires that someone with Internet access in your organization defines some advanced settings to share their cached download location and offline catalog with others.
The Products screen is the main screen. It provides installations and updates to products and services. Metrology and Services are the main categories. This documentation refers to both categories as "products" hereafter.
These items are the main user interface items:
Installed - This filter, near the top of the app, shows only the installed products.
All Apps - This filter, near the top of the app, shows all available products, even those you haven't installed yet.
- This
refresh button, near the top of the app, checks the web server for any
updates to the products list.
-
This filter bar, near the top of the app, is always visible. It filters
the list of products by the characters you type into the box.
[#] Updates
- Next to the refresh button, the text shows the number of available updates.
This number corresponds to the red number that appears on top of the Universal Updater icon (
) in the notification
area of the taskbar.
Update All - This link, at the top right of the screen, starts the download and update process for any installed products that have updates. This does not include the Universal Updater app itself.
- This
button shows the Settings
screen.
- Drop-down
arrows exist next to the main categories. They also appear next to product
groups when there's more than one version of a product installed. These
buttons collapse or expand items in those areas.
These user interface items appear for each product:
Update - This button downloads and installs updates to installed products. A small drop-down arrow may appear to the right with additional options.
Install - This button downloads and installs new products. A small drop-down arrow may appear to the right for additional options.
Launch - This button starts the product. This button appears if you have the latest available version of your product. A small drop-down arrow may appear to the right with additional options.
Resume - This button continues an aborted installation. In this case, you downloaded a product or update, but the install never finished.
You may see a small drop-down
arrow to the right of the Update or Launch
buttons. This arrow expands to provide one or more of these menu options:
Launch - This option starts the product even if there's an update available. This option is helpful if you want to use the product, but you don't want to update it yet. This option appears when the Update button is visible for your product.
Other Versions - This option appears if there are other versions of the product available to download. It opens a product window with links to download and install those other versions.
This product window displays two sections: Installed Versions and Other Versions. The search box in the Other Versions section filters the list of other versions based on what you type in the search box.
Uninstall - This option removes the product from your computer. You might not see it for some products, since usually it's used internally by developers. To remove a Hexagon product from your system, you can always use the Apps & features screen provided by Windows.
Version Info - This opens a window with the version, platform, and release date for your installed version of the product. If there's an update, it shows the version, release date, and size.
Notifications - This option determines whether you receive notifications for this version of the product. By default, this option is on for any product you have installed and is off for any products you have not installed. These notifications appear inside the Windows notifications area.
Download Installer - This option lets you download the installer program to a specific folder. This is useful if you want to install the application on multiple computers, and you need to put it on something like a USB thumb drive or network drive.
These links appear beneath each product:
What's New - This link shows what's new for the product's update or installation. This only appears if there's a link to a website with that information.
Idea Center - This link opens the Idea Center for the product. There you can help direct the development of Hexagon products with your ideas and votes.
User Forum - This link opens the User Forum for the product. There you can meet other users and get peer-to-peer help.
The News screen provides the latest news from Hexagon. Links from the News screen open in your default browser.
The Community screen provides links to the main sites that make up Hexagon's community.
Metrology Support - Accesses the Hexagon Technical Support website. There you can search the knowledge base and request technical support.
Production Support - Accesses the Hexagon Production Support website.
HxGN Live - Accesses the HxGN Live website. This event brings thousands of industry professionals together each year.
Online Shop - Accesses the Hexagon Shop where you can purchase hardware accessories and get training.
hexagonmi.com - Accesses the Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence website.
The Settings screen provides
options to configure the Universal Updater
app. You can get to this screen from this button near the top of the app
():
Language - This sets the language for the Universal Updater app. When you choose a new language from this list, the software asks if you want to switch languages. When you click Yes, Universal Updater restarts in the new language. The default language that Universal Updater uses comes from your operating system language.
Theme - This shows the app in either the dark or light themes.
Minimize
to tray on close - This minimizes the product to the notification
area of the taskbar when you close it. You can access Universal Updater
from the notification area by clicking on the icon (
).
If you have updates available, the number of updates appears on top of
the icon ().
Show Toast Notifications - This shows notifications inside the notifications area provided by the Windows operating system. You must have administrator access to change this option.
Allow Updates and Installs - This enables the Update and Install buttons on the products screen. You must have administrator access to change this option.
This area contains these advanced options for the product:
Update Frequency - The options in this list determine how often you want to be notified of available product updates.
Slow - You get notifications when products are released to the general public.
Fast - In addition to receiving notifications for products released to the general public, you also get notifications of products before they get released. You must add the proper access keys for this to work. For example, if you are part of one of our Technical Preview programs for releases, you can receive notifications prior to the general release once you add that access key.
Logging Level - The options in this list determine how much data to send to the Universalupdater.log file to track the product's behavior. By default, this option is Off. If you experience problems with Universal Updater, you can turn it on. To do this, select one of the other menu options. You use this area to collect information about what's happening in the app to send to Hexagon Technical Support. The list below shows following logging levels. Each higher logging level contains all the information from lower logging levels:
Trace - Logs all Trace, Debug, Info, Warn, Error, and Fatal messages
Debug - Logs all Debug, Info, Warn, Error, and Fatal messages
Info - Logs all Info, Warn, Error, and Fatal messages
Warn - Logs all Warn, Error, and Fatal messages
Error - Logs all Error and Fatal messages
Fatal - Logs only Fatal messages
Off - Logs nothing
- This
button opens the C:\ProgramData\Hexagon\Universal Updater\ folder where
the app stores the log file. You can view the log file in a standard text
editor, such as Notepad.
Offline Catalog Directory - This box lets you define a full folder path that Universal Updater uses to store an offline catalog. The purpose of this setting is to allow users who do not have Internet access in your organization to receive software updates. By default, this box is empty. This value is typically set to a shared network folder. For more information, see "Setting Up for Offline Use" below.
Download Cache Location - This box lets you define a full folder path that Universal Updater uses to store downloaded contents for updated products. You can type the path, or you can use the button to the right of the box to browse and locate the folder. This location can also be a shared network folder so that users without Internet access in your organization can also access the downloaded programs. For more information, see "Setting Up for Offline Use" below.
Development
Tools - This internal area does not appear for our customers. It
contains settings helpful to our software developers. (
More
Info)
Access Key - This lets you add or remove keys. A key provides access to a product or functionality provided to you by Hexagon.
Add -
This shows a box where you can type or paste access key. The check mark
button next to the box adds the key. The X next to the box clears the
box and closes it. After you add a key, click the refresh button ().
Active
Access Keys - This area shows a list of access keys you've added.
You can expand the black triangle arrow under this heading to see the
components and functionality that each key enables. The key values are
intentionally obfuscated to protect the real key value. You can hover
over a key and click the small delete icon () next
to it to remove the access key. After you remove a key, click the refresh
button ().
Proxy - The options in this area allow you to define a proxy server if your organization requires that. If you need to access a proxy server, please contact your IT department for information and credentials, and then fill out the items in this area. When you're done, click Apply Proxy Settings.
This procedure sets up the Universal Updater app so that it can give updates to computers that are not connected to the Internet. The first part of the procedure requires that a single computer in your organization connects to the Internet. We'll call this the "online" computer. Computers that do not connect to the internet we'll refer to as "offline" computers.
Step 1: Do Initial Setup on the Online Computer
Install Universal Updater on the online computer.
Create or locate a shared network folder to store a shared offline catalog.
Create or locate a shared network folder to store a shared offline download cache.
Run Universal Updater and click Settings.
From the Settings screen, under Advanced, in the Offline Catalog Directory box, type the network path for the shared folder to store the offline catalog.
From the Settings screen, under Advanced, in the Download Cache Location box, type the network path for the shared folder to store the offline download cache.
Through Universal Updater, download and install updates on this computer as usual. Universal Updater copies the online catalog to the folder defined in the Offline Catalog Directory. The software also downloads the actual contents to install into the folder defined in Download Cache Location.
Step 2: Setup Offline Computers and Get Updates
Install Universal Updater on any offline computers.
From the Settings screen, under Advanced, in the Offline Catalog Directory box, type the network path for the shared offline folder to store the offline catalog.
From the Settings screen, under Advanced, in the Download Cache Location box, type the network path for the shared folder to store the offline download cache.
On the products screen,
click the refresh () button
to see if there are any notifications about products available in
the offline catalog.
Install updates as usual.
