[FAQ] Installer shortcuts not available to end user

io.Connect Desktop
,
1

Applies to: io.Connect Desktop 9.4 and later

Problem

I repackaged the io.Connect Desktop installer to create , but after installation the desktop and/or Start Menu shortcuts don’t appear for the end user.

Cause

This can happen when the installer is run under a different Windows account than the end user like avservice account or an administrator account - the installer-created shortcuts ended up under the profile of the account that ran the installation.

Fix

The installer lets you set the location of the Windows “Desktop” (and “Start Menu”) folders through the "context" extensibility point in the installer’s extensibility configuration file. Pointing the “Desktop” folder at a public path ensures that users will have access to the created shortcuts:

{
    "context": [
        {
            "type": "setValue",
            "args": {
                "name": "DesktopFolder",
                "value": "%Public%/Desktop"
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "setValue",
            "args": {
                "name": "StartMenuFolder",
                "value": "%ProgramData%/Microsoft/Windows/Start Menu/Programs/io.Connect Desktop"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Both "DesktopFolder" and "StartMenuFolder" are available since io.Connect Desktop 9.4. The io.Connect Desktop folder name in the "StartMenuFolder" value is the name from the documentation example — for a rebranded deployment you can set it to your own Start Menu folder name.

Make sure the shortcut is actually being created

These "context" settings only change where installer-created shortcuts are placed. They do not, on their own, tell the installer to create a Desktop or Start Menu shortcut. This is controlled by the shortcut definition itself, through the "desktop" and "startMenu" properties inside the shortcut’s "args":

{
    "type": "shortcut",
    "args": {
        "desktop": true,
        "startMenu": true
    }
}

See also