Deployment Strategy using Mapped Network Drive

This article instructs users on the basics of changing application installation locations using the Little Arms Launcher, as well as using a mapped network drive as a deployment strategy.

📘Basic Instructions for Changing Application Installation Location

By default, the Little Arms Launcher and Zephyr are installed in the following locations:

C:\Program Files\Little Arms Launcher

Default Location for Little Arms Launcher

C:\Little Arms Studios\Apps\Zephyr

Default Location for Zephyr App

In order to change the installation location of Zephyr, please follow the following steps:

1. Inside the Little Arms Launcher, change the target application installation location by:

   1. Selecting “Settings”

   2. Selecting "Change"

   3. Choosing the new desired drive location

The Settings tab within the Little Arms Launcher

1. Any files in the old location will be copied over to the new location

This message appears within the Little Arms Launcher

1. As an example, we have chosen to change the target location to the computer's "D" drive and to place the contents into a folder named "TestLocation".

Example of moving the installation location to a different folder on a different drive

Example of folder structure in new installation location after the move

Please note that the new location still maintains the "Little Arms Studios/Apps/Zephyr" folder structures within the new location.

1. Pressing the "Launch" button in the Little Arms Launcher will run the chosen app from the location set in the Settings tab

The green Launch button for launching Zephyr within the Little Arms Launcher

📘Changing Installation Location to a Mapped Network Drive

We can leverage the Zephyr application’s known folder structure to deploy the app via shared network location. If this solution works best for your situation, please follow these steps:

Disable the Auto Update Feature

The first step is disabling the auto update feature for the shared application. To do this:

1. Select the grey circle with the ... symbol top open up the menu

2. Select "App Settings"

1. Verify “Automatically apply available updates.” is toggled off

Configure Application Location

The next step is to configure the Application location. To do this:

1. In Windows, select Start and then "This PC"

2. Select "Computer" and then "Add a network location"

3. Choose the desired folder from the network map

In this example, the Application files are on a computer named "GUNGNIRTEMP" in a shared location called "RemoteZephyr"

1. If your map was accepted and successful, you will see your mapped location in the "This PC"

   window as a new folder under "Network locations"

Example of a successful mapping

Choose Mapped Location Within Little Arms Launcher

Finally, you need to set the mapped location as the installation location within the Little Arms Launcher so the Launcher knows where to find the Zephyr application files. To do this:

1. In the Little Arms Launcher, select “Settings”

2. Select "Change" to choose a different drive location

1. Select "This PC" and you will see a drive list as well as our new network location.

2. Select the new network location

This dialog will appear while the Little Arms Launcher is making the necessary changes.

1. When the operation completes, you will see the Little Arms Launcher is now using the Zephyr application folders located on the remote server at the "RemoteZephyr" folder location.

Example of mapped network folder set as the installation location within the Little Arms Launcher

1. Pressing the "Launch" button in the Little Arms Launcher will run Zephyr from the remote location

Loading times may vary depending on network speed, computer specs, and network traffic.