Interesting application update scenario...

[NewsArchive]

Interesting application update scenario. U.S. Government Agency needed
help. Don't ask - I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you <g>.

The application .EXE is located on a "Windows Server 2012" server (it will
be updated to "R2" soon) and about 8,000 computer clients (running Windows
7 and Windows 8) launch the executable via a Desktop shortcut
(\\Server\Share\app.exe UNC path).

The application .EXE gets an update once per DAY (Monday - Friday), server
reboot is done once per WEEK (on Sunday at 0:01 AM). The problem is that if
one computer on the network has an active application instance, the file on
the server is "in-use" and can't be updated. In practice, the file on the
server is "in-use" all the time.

A system reboot to make the new .EXE version available is not an option.
When a client starts a new instance of the application, it should always
start the latest available version. Already active instances should
continue to work.

We have developed a solution to meet the requirements The SetupBuilder
powered update can install the new version over the active one without
having to reboot the server. All "old" versions will be removed on the next
server reboot.

Long-term test is still in progress. More details to follow...

--
Friedrich Linder
Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
+1.954.252.3910

--Helping You Build Better Installations
--SetupBuilder "point. click. ship"
--Create Windows 8 ready installations in minutes
--Official COMODO Code Signing and SSL Certificate Partner

[NewsArchive]

Seems like you could have a stub.exe that looks for the most recent
installation and execute it. The daily installations could have unique
names based on the version number. A service on the server could clean
up the old exes as they become available.

Jeff Slarve
www.jssoftware.com
www.twitter.com/jslarve
I'll search help files & Google for you.