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Qt6 and 64b Windows - Impact

Make sure articles about shared library are updated... also this is 64bit on Windows and native on Apple Silicon so things like where the admin installs or boosters or client... it's all 64bit

 

FileWave relies on several opensource components - you can find exhaustive list on each download page. Keeping these components up to date is mandatory for both security reasons and for better features. Starting with version 15.5, FileWave uses now Qt 6, which is running only on 64-bit operating systems. FileWave 15.5 can’t run on Windows 32-bit edition anymore.

The change from 32-bit to 64-bit executable on Windows has an impact on how filesets are delivered:

  • On a 32-bit Windows, programs are located on c:\Program Files.
  • On a 64-bit Windows, 32-bit programs are located on c:\Program Files (x86)\ while 64-bit programs are on C:\Program Files\

To facilitate the transition to the 64-bit platform, Microsoft added silent, automatic redirection. When a 32-bit program tries to access c:\Program Files\, Windows automatically redirects file system calls to C:\Program Files (x86) ; this allows legacy program to work smoothly on both platforms. This redirection applies in several concepts and is documented by Microsoft in the WOW64 (Windows On Windows 64) page.

As FileWave Agent (fwcld) 15.4 is a 32-bit application, it is impacted by the silent redirect from Windows ; files deployed using FileWave may then be deployed in a different location. A Fileset property setting allows to control wether redirection mechanism should be disabled or not.

Starting with FileWave 15.5, filesets can be configured as 32-bit or 64-bit:

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This has an impact on:

  • files delivery, depending on the redirection setting
  • registry modifications
  • script interpreter environment. Typically, Powershell can run as 32-bit or as 64-bit 

To facilitate migration:

  • filesets created with FileWave 15.5 will be 64-bit by default and can be marked as 32-bit if required
  • all existing filesets, created prior to 15.5, are marked as 32-bit (redirection setting is kept) and can be marked as 64-bit if required
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