Question: I'm currently using the Qt Installer Framework and managed to set up an online repository. What I want to know is:

Does the Framework provide some kind of "auto-update" mechanism, e.g. a plugin/service that checks for updates every time the program/system starts?  

Check for updates would be enough, since the installation itself can be done using the maintanance tool.

All I could find about this topic was this small sentence:

> 
> End users can use the maintenance tool to install additional components from the server after the initial installation, as well as to **receive automatic updates** to content as soon as the updates are published on the server. 
> 
> 
> 

from here: <http://doc.qt.io/qtinstallerframework/ifw-overview.html#choosing-installer-type>

Thanks for your help!

**Edit:** Suggestion

Answer: 
What I do, is run the maintenance tool using QProcess, and then check the output. It has a mode where it doesn't run the GUI but only outputs update information if available.

Note that I set the working directory to the application's path when the applications starts, so I can just run maintenancetool.

```
QProcess process;
process.start("maintenancetool --checkupdates");

// Wait until the update tool is finished
process.waitForFinished();

if(process.error() != QProcess::UnknownError)
{
    qDebug() << "Error checking for updates";
    return false;
}

// Read the output
QByteArray data = process.readAllStandardOutput();

// No output means no updates available
// Note that the exit code will also be 1, but we don't use that
// Also note that we should parse the output instead of just checking if it is empty if we want specific update info
if(data.isEmpty())
{
    qDebug() << "No updates available";
    return false;
}

// Call the maintenance tool binary
// Note: we start it detached because this application need to close for the update
QStringList args("--updater");
bool success = QProcess::startDetached("maintenancetool", args);

// Close the application
qApp->closeAllWindows();

```
There's a section in the guide about how to do it, but they call it promoting updates rather than auto updates, [IFW Updates on doc.qt.io](http://doc.qt.io/qtinstallerframework/ifw-updates.html).