Component Introduction

1. What is GeneralUpdate?

Updates limitless, upgrades boundless.

GeneralUpdate is an open-source cross-platform application automatic update component based on .NET Standard 2.0 and licensed under the Apache license.

Github	Gitee	GitCode

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One Sentence to Understand

Separate Client (your main app), Upgrade (upgrade process), Server (update service), and Tools (packaging tool), then chain them together through manifest + IPC encrypted contract to form a fully automated update loop.

2. What does GeneralUpdate offer?

Component Features

Feature	Supported	Notes
Resume Download	Yes	If an update fails, it will resume downloading the update package the next time it starts. (Effective by default when the component is referenced)
Version-by-Version Update	Yes	If the current client version is multiple versions behind the server, it will update one by one based on the release dates of the versions. (Effective by default when the component is referenced)
Binary Differential Update	Yes	Generates patch files by comparing new and old versions using differential algorithms. (Effective by default when the component is referenced)
Incremental Update	Yes	Updates only the files that have changed compared to the previous version and deletes files that do not exist in the current version. (Effective by default when the component is referenced)
Forced Update	Yes	Forces an update directly after opening the client.
Multi-Branch Update	Yes	Supports updating different content based on different branches of a product.
Latest Version Push	Yes	Implemented based on Signal R to push the latest version.
Multi-Language	Yes	Cross-platform, language-agnostic; can serve as an update "script" for apps written in any language. GeneralUpdate.Tools UI supports Chinese/English toggle.
Skip Update	Yes	Supports injecting a pop-up to let users decide whether to update this release; forced updates from the server side will override this.
Mutual Upgrade	Yes	The main program can update the upgrade program, and vice versa.
Blacklist	Yes	Skips files and file extensions listed in the blacklist during the update process.
OSS	Yes	Simplifies updates with an independent update mechanism. Only requires placing a version.json configuration file on the file server. The component will update and download based on the version information in the configuration file.
Rollback and Backup	Yes	Backs up local client files before updating, and rolls back if the client fails to start or crashes.
Driver Update	Supported	Cross-platform driver auto-update implemented based on the GeneralUpdate.Drivelution component, supporting Windows and Linux platforms. Provides complete functions including driver validation, backup, rollback, signature verification, and permission management.
Extension Management	Supported	VS Code-like extension system implemented based on the GeneralUpdate.Extension component, managing extension plugins such as Lua/Python. Supports extension directory management, remote query, download queue, version compatibility check, multi-platform support, dependency resolution, rollback mechanism, event notification, and other functions.
Custom Method List	Yes	Injects a collection of custom methods that execute before the update starts. If any exception occurs while executing the custom method list, it will be notified through exception subscription. (Recommended to check the current software environment before updating)
Multi-Protocol Auth	Yes	Supports HMAC-SHA256, Bearer Token, API Key, and HTTP Basic authentication schemes with custom extension.
Silent Update	Yes	Background version polling, silent download, and upgrade triggered on process exit — fully transparent to the user.
Concurrent Download	Yes	Multi-package concurrent downloads with resume support, SHA256 verification, and configurable concurrency.
File Tree Diff	Yes	Directory-level structural comparison between old and new versions, producing an incremental file manifest.
AOT	Yes	Supports AOT compilation and publishing.

3. What does GeneralUpdate support?

.NET Framework

Framework Name	Supported
.NET Core 2.0	Yes
.NET 5 ... to the latest version	Yes
.NET Framework 4.6.1	Yes

UI Framework

UI Framework Name	Supported	Contributor
WPF	Yes	JusterZhu
UWP	Not updatable in store mode	lindexi
MAUI	Currently supports only Android platform	JusterZhu
Avalonia	Yes	JusterZhu
WinUI	Yes	JusterZhu
Console	Yes	JusterZhu
WinForms	Yes	JusterZhu

Operating Systems

Operating System Name	Supported	Contributor
Windows	Yes	JusterZhu
Linux	Yes	JusterZhu
Android	Yes	JusterZhu
Kylin V10 (Feiteng S2500)	Yes	Wei
Kylin V10 (Feiteng FT-2000)	Yes	Yao Shengwei
Kylin V10 (x64)	Yes	Wei
Ubuntu	Yes	JusterZhu
Huawei EulerOS (Kunpeng)	Yes	Yao Shengwei
Loongson (Loongnix LoongArch)	Yes	Avalonia Chinese Community (Dong Bin Rabbitism)
Apple Mac (M1)	Yes	JusterZhu
UOS	Yes	JusterZhu

4. Repositories

Name	Description	Address
GeneralUpdate	Automatic Updates	GitHub Gitee GitCode
GeneralUpdate.Maui	MAUI Android Auto-Updates	GitHub Gitee GitCode
GeneralUpdate.Avalonia	Avalonia Android Auto-Updates	GitHub
GeneralUpdate.Tools	Update Patch Creation Tool	GitHub Gitee GitCode
GeneralUpdate-Samples	Usage Examples	GitHub Gitee GitCode

5. Unified Language

Before starting to use GeneralUpdate, we need to understand some basic concepts in the system. Please download the GeneralUpdate-Samples repository and navigate to the ..\GeneralUpdate-Samples\src directory for better understanding.

Name	Description	Explanation
Client	The client being updated.	If you want to update QQ, then QQ is the Client.
Upgrade	The upgrade program is an independent process. It should be placed in the same directory as the Client and should not be associated with any business or design during use (or coding); it must remain independently referenced.	QQ cannot update its own files during runtime, so the Upgrade handles this task.
Packet	Update Patch Package	Gamers often hear the concept of "patches," which are used to update vulnerabilities or content in a game. Similarly, here the update patch package contains files with content differences or new files from the old and new versions, and files that need to be deleted.
Server	Server Application	Manages version update information, patch packages, and version verification. (In the Samples, only a simple example is provided and does not fulfill these functions; developers need to implement this themselves or purchase the GeneralSpacestation service).
GeneralUpdate.Tools	Update Patch Creation Tool	A packaging tool provided by this open-source project for generating update patch packages (.zip file format).

Quick Start

• Quick Start: https://www.justerzhu.cn/docs/quickstart/quikstart
• Tutorial Video: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1c8iyYZE7P
• Official Website: https://www.justerzhu.cn/
• Help Documentation & Official Website Source Repository: https://github.com/GeneralLibrary/GeneralUpdate-Samples/tree/main/website/doc

Version Number Standards

GeneralUpdate follows Semantic Versioning core principles (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH), extended with a fourth Revision segment (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.REVISION) for .NET System.Version compatibility.

• Semantic Versioning: https://semver.org/
• NuGet Versioning Guidelines: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/concepts/package-versioning
• Assembly Versioning Guidelines: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/assembly/versioning