Installing an Outlook addin for Local Machine registry hive

Question

I am using regasm.exe to install my Outlook plugin on the end users' machines. However, I noticed that in a terminal server environment, my addin wouldn't load for all users. I found out that the addin registry keys were being created under the current user hive and not the local machine hive.

Is there something i can add to my plugin which will enable regasm to create/delete the keys under HKLM as well as current user when a user installs or uninstalls the plugin?

Answer 1

Found the answer by digging through my sample NetOffice Outlook addin project!

All you need are a couple of public static methods with the ComRegisterFunctionAttribute and ComUnregisterFunctionAttribute attributes. Regasm.exe will automatically execute the code in these methods when your plugin is installed or uninstalled.

See below for the code I am using which is slightly modified from the template to support the HKLM registry key. Add these methods to your Outlook addin class.

Alek's answer can be used if you wish to handle these manually.

    [ComRegisterFunctionAttribute]
    public static void RegisterFunction(Type type)
    {
        try
        {
            // add codebase value
            Assembly thisAssembly = Assembly.GetAssembly(typeof(OutlookPlugin));
            RegistryKey key = Registry.ClassesRoot.CreateSubKey("CLSID\\{" + type.GUID.ToString().ToUpper() + "}\\InprocServer32\\1.0.0.0");
            key.SetValue("CodeBase", thisAssembly.CodeBase);
            key.Close();

            key = Registry.ClassesRoot.CreateSubKey("CLSID\\{" + type.GUID.ToString().ToUpper() + "}\\InprocServer32");
            key.SetValue("CodeBase", thisAssembly.CodeBase);
            key.Close();

            // add bypass key
            // http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948461
            key = Registry.ClassesRoot.CreateSubKey("Interface\\{000C0601-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}");
            string defaultValue = key.GetValue("") as string;
            if (null == defaultValue)
                key.SetValue("", "Office .NET Framework Lockback Bypass Key");
            key.Close();

            // add outlook addin key
            Registry.ClassesRoot.CreateSubKey(@"CLSID\{" + type.GUID.ToString().ToUpper() + @"}\Programmable");
            Registry.CurrentUser.CreateSubKey(_addinOfficeRegistryKey + _prodId);
            RegistryKey rk = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(_addinOfficeRegistryKey + _prodId, true);
            rk.SetValue("LoadBehavior", Convert.ToInt32(3));
            rk.SetValue("FriendlyName", _addinFriendlyName);
            rk.SetValue("Description", _addinDescription);
            rk.Close();

            //Add registry key under HKLM
            RegistryKey regHKLM = Registry.LocalMachine;

            regHKLM = regHKLM.CreateSubKey(@"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\" + _prodId);

            regHKLM.SetValue("Friendly Name", _addinFriendlyName);
            regHKLM.SetValue("Description", _addinDescription);
            regHKLM.SetValue("LoadBehavior", 3, RegistryValueKind.DWord);
        }
        catch (System.Exception ex)
        {
            string details = string.Format("{1}{1}Details:{1}{1}{0}", ex.Message, Environment.NewLine);
            MessageBox.Show("An error occured." + details, "Register " + _prodId, MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
        }
    }

    [ComUnregisterFunctionAttribute]
    public static void UnregisterFunction(Type type)
    {
        try
        {
            Registry.ClassesRoot.DeleteSubKey(@"CLSID\{" + type.GUID.ToString().ToUpper() + @"}\Programmable", false);
            Registry.CurrentUser.DeleteSubKey(_addinOfficeRegistryKey + _prodId, false);

            Registry.LocalMachine.DeleteSubKey(@"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\" + _prodId);
        }
        catch (System.Exception throwedException)
        {
            string details = string.Format("{1}{1}Details:{1}{1}{0}", throwedException.Message, Environment.NewLine);
            MessageBox.Show("An error occured." + details, "Unregister " + _prodId, MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
        }
    }