How to...

io.Connect Desktop is highly customizable, both visually and functionally. In many cases, clients adopt io.Connect Desktop as the foundation for their internal desktop integration platform, tweaking the visual elements and adjusting its features to satisfy their own business demands and preferences. Some of the modifiable elements include:

• all configuration files;
• images, icons, branding texts and more;
• the frames of io.Connect Windows, window groups and Workspaces;
• the io.Connect launchers - the Floating Toolbar and the Launchpad;
• the io.Connect Desktop installer app;

There are two general approaches for customizing io.Connect Desktop depending on your deployment strategy:

• Using an installer for deploying io.Connect Desktop allows you to automate the customization process by employing the extensibility features of the installer app. The extensibility configuration options are available only when using an installer for deployment. For more details, see the Installer section.

• Using a bundle (delivered via a repository or an archive (ZIP) file) for deploying io.Connect Desktop prevents you from using any extensibility features provided by the installer app, but enables you to directly edit and replace the existing io.Connect Desktop assets and configuration files. For more details, see the Functionality and User Interface sections.

For details on how to customize the available io.Connect launchers and how to use a custom toolbar app with io.Connect Desktop, see the Toolbar section.

Online & Offline Installers

Deployment via an installer app is the usual way of delivering io.Connect Desktop. Two types of installers are available: online and offline (or "embedded"). They are identical in functionality, but the online installer downloads the necessary io.Connect Artifacts from the io.Connect CDN, while the embedded installer contains them all as resources. The advantage of this is that the online installer is much smaller, but requires a connection to the Internet and permission to download files. If you encounter networking or permission issues, try the offline installer.

Both types of installer can be used interchangeably to create online and offline repackaged installers respectively. In fact, you could repackage both and let your deployment team or users decide which one to use.

Bundles

Using a bundle (delivered via a repository or an archive (ZIP) file) may be the preferred option for you depending on your deployment infrastructure and strategy. Sometimes installers may raise security issues within your enterprise systems which will require additional time and effort for reconfiguring your security procedures to allow pushing the installer to your users. To a large extent this can be avoided by using the bundle option, as many deployment systems already expect to work with archived (ZIP) files.

⚠️ Note that using a bundle as a deployment option is recommended only if your internal deployment infrastructure absolutely prevents you from using an installer. Deployment via a bundle may require you to invest additional time and effort for configuring and running post-installation scripts for some of the Application Adapters you may have purchased in order to install them.