- Note that if you have an existing release of CAST Extend Offline installed, you do not need to remove it before running the installer. The installer will detect that the existing service exists and provided that you choose the same installation location, the service will be updated.
CAST Extend Offline is deprecated. Please use CAST Extend local server instead.
Download the installation media
Download the latest release of CAST Extend Offline from https://extend.castsoftware.com/#/extension?id=com.castsoftware.aip.extendservice&version=latest.
Run the installation
Interactive setup
Double click the executable file as provided with the installation media. You may be prompted to allow the installation - click Yes:
Choose a location on the local machine that will be used for the installation. The setup will suggest: %PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\ExtendService, but you are free to choose a different location. Click Next to continue:
Verify and modify (if necessary) the server name and port number. This information forms CAST Extend Offline URL:
| Server name | The setup will use the server's name as defined in Windows. |
|---|---|
| Server port | The setup will use port 8085 by default. If you have another service running on this port, you are free to choose a different port number. |
A brief summary of the chosen options will be displayed. The installation will start when you click Install:
The installation will proceed:
On completion the following screen is displayed. Click Finish:
Silent installation
If you would prefer to run a silent installation, please use the following command line:
com.castsoftware.aip.extendservice.<version>.exe /SP- /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /LOG="filename.log" /LOADINF="filename.inf"
| /SILENT | Instructs Setup to be totally silent. When Setup is totally silent the wizard, the background window and the installation progress window are not displayed. Everything else is normal, so for example error messages during installation are displayed. If you do want the progress window to be displayed, use /SILENT instead. |
|---|---|
| /LOG="filename.log" | Allows you to specify a fixed path/filename to use for the log file, for example install.log. If a file with the specified name already exists it will be overwritten. If the file cannot be created, Setup will abort with an error message. |
| /LOADINF="filename.inf" | Instructs Setup to load the settings from the specified file after having checked the command line, for example install.inf. The file should be defined before running the installation, with the following syntax: [Setup] Lang=english Dir=C:\Program Files\CAST\ExtendService Group=CAST Extend Offline NoIcons=0 Tasks= ServerName=my_server_hostname ServerPort=my_port_number Modify Dir, ServerName and ServerPort to the required values, for example:
|
Note that the Microsoft Windows UAC prompt will be displayed regardless. It is not possible to supress this.
What is installed?
Files
On completion of the installation, all files related to CAST Extend Offline are stored in:
%PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\ExtendService
Windows Services
The following Windows Services will be created:
| Windows Service name | Description | Listening Port | Auto start? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAST_ExtendService | CAST Extend Offline service | 8085 (default) |  | You may need to adjust firewall rules on the server to allow incoming connections on the listening port. |
Running executables
CAST Extend Offline runs under the following executables:
%PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\ExtendService\tools\nssm.exe %PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\ExtendService\NodeJS\node.exe
Installed third-party software
| Software | Version |
|---|---|
| Node.js | 10.15.3 |
Testing the installation
To test CAST Extend Offline, browse to the following location from a different machine on your local network. Change server_name and port to match your installation:
http://<server_name>:<port>/api
If CAST Extend Offline is functioning, the following should be returned:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Offline xml:base="http://server:port" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2007/app" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"> <workspace> <atom:title>Default</atom:title> <collection href="Packages"> <atom:title>Packages</atom:title> </collection> </workspace> </Offline>
GUI
A GUI has been implemented for CAST Extend Offline n v. ≥ 1.1.0-beta2 - this is identical to the GUI offered in https://extend.castsoftware.com/. Browsing to http://<server>:<port> will auto redirect to http://<server>:<port>/#/search-results allowing you to browse the available extensions:
Updating the available extensions in CAST Extend Offline
CAST Extend Offline is provided empty in v. ≥ 1.1.0 and content must be uploaded before it can be used - see Update CAST Extend Offline with new content.
Proxy configuration
If the AIP Node/Server accessing the CAST Extend Offline is configured to pass all outgoing connections through a proxy (via the Windows proxy settings or via the AIP Console settings), then you may need to whitelist the IP address/host name of the server running CAST Extend Offline in order to route connections correctly.
