SecureDELTA APP

Why Choose SecureDELTA APP?

Organizations choose SecureDELTA APP primarily for efficient and secure software update distribution, especially when dealing with:

• Large Software Applications: When distributing updates for large software, sending a full installer every time is bandwidth-intensive and time-consuming. Delta updates drastically reduce the size of the update payload.
• Frequent Updates: For applications that receive frequent updates, delta patching is a more practical and user-friendly approach.
• Limited Bandwidth Environments: In situations where end-users have slow or limited internet connections, smaller update files are crucial.
• Security Concerns for Updates: SecureDELTA APP emphasizes security by providing features like signing and encryption for update files, ensuring that only authentic and unaltered updates are applied.
• Automation of Updates: It provides tools to automate the creation and installation of updates, streamlining the release management process.
• Cost-Effectiveness: By reducing bandwidth usage and potentially improving user experience with faster updates, it can lead to cost savings.

Benefits of SecureDELTA APP

The key benefits of using SecureDELTA APP include:

• Significantly Smaller Update Files (Delta Files): By only sending the changes between versions, SecureDELTA APP can reduce update payload sizes by a very high percentage (e.g., up to 99.998% in some cases, according to Agersoftware). This saves bandwidth and storage.
• Faster Installation Times: Smaller update files mean quicker downloads and faster patching processes for end-users, improving their experience and reducing downtime.
• Enhanced Security for Updates:
  • Digital Signing: Allows you to digitally sign update files with your private key, ensuring their authenticity and integrity. Clients can verify the signature to confirm the update originates from a trusted source and hasn't been tampered with.
  • Encryption: Supports strong encryption (e.g., BlowFish 448bit) for update files, protecting them from unauthorized access during distribution.
  • Integrity Verification: Ensures that the update applied to the client machine is exactly as intended and hasn't been corrupted.
• Automated and Reliable Updating: Simplifies the software update process for both developers and end-users, leading to more reliable deployments.
• Reduced Development and Deployment Costs: Saves time and resources associated with creating and distributing large update packages.
• Industrial-Grade Performance: Agersoftware claims its delta differencing engine (SecureDELTA and XtremeDELTA) is highly optimized for speed and performance, surpassing competitors.
• Rollback Support: Provides mechanisms for backing up updated files and supporting rollback if an update causes issues.

How to Use SecureDELTA APP?

While specific steps would be detailed in Agersoftware's documentation, the general workflow for using SecureDELTA APP typically involves:

1. Prepare Source and Target Files/Folders:

   • You'll need the old version of your software (source file/folder) and the new version (target file/folder) that you want to create an update for.

2. Create the Binary Diff (Delta File):

   • Launch the SecureDELTA APP.
   • Select the source file/folder and the target file/folder within the application's GUI.
   • Configure settings such as compression level, encryption (if desired), and signing options.
   • Initiate the process to generate the binary diff file (e.g., a .delta or .sd file).

3. Create a Self-Extracting Installer (SecurePATCH™ / SecureSFX™):

   • Use SecureDELTA APP's features to package the generated delta file into a self-extracting installer.
   • You might configure installer properties like the destination path, display messages, and whether to run pre/post-installation scripts.
   • SecureDELTA APP offers different types of self-extracting installers (e.g., SecurePATCH™, SecureWIZARD™, SecureCMDLine™).

4. Sign and Encrypt the Update (Optional but Recommended):

   • Apply digital signatures to the update package using your private signing key to ensure authenticity.
   • Apply encryption to protect the update's contents.

5. Distribute the Update:

   • Provide the generated self-extracting installer (SecurePATCH™) to your end-users. This can be via your website, email, or a software update mechanism.

6. End-User Experience:

   • The end-user runs the SecurePATCH™ installer.
   • The installer will automatically detect the old version of the software, apply the delta changes, and update it to the new version.
   • The process should be seamless and significantly faster than a full reinstallation.

Features of SecureDELTA APP

Key features of SecureDELTA APP include:

• Binary Differencing Engines: Includes SecureDELTA and XtremeDELTA engines for creating highly optimized and compact binary diff files.
• Self-Extracting Installers (SecureSFX™): Ability to create various types of self-extracting installers:
  • SecurePATCH™: Standard patching installer.
  • SecureWIZARD™: Installer with a wizard-style user interface.
  • SecureCMDLine™: Command-line driven installer for automated deployments.
• Digital Signing: Sign SecureUPDATE Files (delta files and self-extracting installers) with private keys to ensure authenticity and integrity.
• Encryption: Supports strong encryption (e.g., BlowFish 448bit) for update files to protect against unauthorized access.
• Data Compression: Employs advanced, award-winning data compression algorithms (like ANS, Ari, Static Huffman, RLE8, 32, and 64) for even smaller update sizes.
• Logging: Creates full operation logs for tracking the update process.
• Backup and Rollback Support: Automatically backs up files before updating and provides a mechanism to rollback if an update fails or causes issues.
• Metadata Files: Ability to use metadata files for additional control and information about the update.
• GUI Interface: Provides a user-friendly graphical interface for creating and managing updates.
• Command Line Tools: Offers command-line tools for automating the creation and application of SecureUPDATE files, suitable for integration into build systems and deployment pipelines.
• Cross-Platform (SDK): While the APP is for Windows, Agersoftware also offers SecureSDK for integrating delta updating capabilities into your own applications, potentially supporting other platforms.
• Reviewing Binary Diff Archives: Allows users to review the contents of the binary diff files before deployment.