Below are instructions for automating the deployment of the Windows or Mac versions of the Papers desktop application across your organization. Please note that the Papers software is updated frequently with new features and bug fixes. The Papers application will try to automatically update itself. If your users do not have permission to update the app, it is important to push regular updates. Please contact your account manager to join our Enterprise Desktop Updates distribution list to be notified whenever a major version is available to be pushed to your users.
Windows Deployment
The file for installation can be downloaded at the following location: https://download.readcube.com/app/Papers_Setup.exe
The Windows file can be installed using any form of package management. By default it will install in the users local appdata folder and be only available for that user(Like a chrome installation: %localappdata%\Programs\Papers). This requires no admin rights to install or update but must be run on the user's profile that you wish to install it.
If the machine is being used by multiple people you can run the installation with command line switches for All Users(default: C:\Program Files\Papers)
Please note running for all users will require admin rights for installation AND updates.
Command line switches currently supported
| Switch | Description |
| /S | Silent. Installation will run without any GUI interface |
| /ALLUSERS | Will install for all users instead of just one. Requires Admin Rights! |
| /D | Custom Installation path of the application. Surround with quotes if spaces. For instance: Papers_Setup.exe /S /D="C:\Program Files\SomeDirectory\Papers" |
Since ReadCube provides it's own cloud service documents should be stored locally. The default path will be in the users default documents folder. To see the default documents folder you can use PowerShell to read the setting from the registry.
Get-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_Current_User\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders" | Select-Object Personal
If the default location needs to be changed please refer below for changing the config file programmatically.
Changing default library location
Since cloud storage is not supported we highly recommend you put the library paths somewhere local on the disk to prevent conflicts between the cloud application and papers. The easiest way is to manually update the config file with the new location. However if you require environmental variables to be part of the config file we suggest using the following PowerShell script. This will require PowerShell 5 or greater on Windows(included as part of Windows 10) or PowerShell 6 or greater for Mac. The following PowerShell script will take any environmental variables you need to update the config file. This config file is also attached at the bottom of the page.
#####################################################################
#####################################################################
#####################################################################
# This file will update config files for enterprise deployments. It #
# can be used for Mac or Windows envrionments provided powershell 5+#
##### is installed. Please see https://aka.ms/pscore6 ###############
#####################################################################
#####################################################################
#Please select where you would like the library & Styles for Windows systems
#Please end the path with a \
$winLocation = "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\Documents\"
#Please select where you would like the library for Macintosh systems
#Please end the path with a /
$macLocation = "/Users/$env:USER/Documents/"
#Windows Configuration
function WindowsConfig {
#Find the file
$readcubeWinFile = "$env:APPDATA\Papers\config.json"
if (Test-Path -Path $readcubeWinFile) {
Write-Host "File found at $readcubeWinFile"
#file found continue script
}
else {
Write-Host "Config File Missing. Stopping Script..."
exit
}
#grab the json file into raw memory
$readcubeJSON = Get-Content $readcubeWinFile -raw | ConvertFrom-Json
#update the paths to the following
$readcubeJSON.stylesPath = $winLocation + "Paper Styles"
$readcubeJSON.libraryPath = $winLocation + "Papers Libary"
Write-Host "File locations have been updated."
Write-Host "Styles New Path = " $readcubeJSON.stylesPath
Write-Host "Library New Path = " $readcubeJSON.libraryPath
$readcubeJSON | ConvertTo-Json -depth 32| set-content $readcubeWinFile
Write-Host "File Saved. Script Exiting..."
exit
}
function MacConfig {
#Mac Configuration
$readcubeMacFile = "~/Library/Application Support/Papers/config.json"
if (Test-Path -Path $readcubeMacFile) {
Write-Host "File found at $readcubeMacFile"
#file found continue script
}
else {
Write-Host "Config File Missing. Stopping Script..."
exit
}
$readcubeJSON = Get-Content $readcubeMacFile -raw | ConvertFrom-Json
#update the paths to the following
$readcubeJSON.stylesPath = $macLocation + "Papers Styles"
$readcubeJSON.libraryPath = $macLocation + "Papers Library"
Write-Host "File locations have been updated."
Write-Host "Styles New Path = " $readcubeJSON.stylesPath
Write-Host "Library New Path = " $readcubeJSON.libraryPath
$readcubeJSON | ConvertTo-Json -depth 32| set-content $readcubeMacFile
Write-Host "File Saved. Script Exiting..."
exit
}
if($IsWindows) {
Write-Host "Detected Windows environment. Powershell 6+"
WindowsConfig
}
else{
if($IsMacOS) {
Write-Host "Detected Macintosh environment"
MacConfig
}
else{
try {
$simplePSVersion = (Get-ItemProperty -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\3\PowerShellEngine -Name 'PowerShellVersion').PowerShellVersion
}
catch {
Write-Host "Unsuported Operating System detected. Script Exiting"
}
if ($simplePSVersion) {
Write-Host "Windows but powershell is lower than 6. V:$simplePSVersion"
WindowsConfig
else {
Write-Host "Unsupported Operating System detected. Script Exiting...."
exit
}
}
}
}Mac Deployment
A Mac installer is available from our Downloads Center which features an installer which will automatically updates any existing versions of Papers that may be installed, as well as fetches and install the appropriate architecture (Intel vs. Apple Silicon) automatically.
If you wish to manually deploy software in the enterprise, you may use the following direct links to the mac Application applications, which bypasses the installer logic described above. The application contained in the DMG file may be simply copied to the /Applications folder to install Papers.
- Intel: https://download.readcube.com/app/Papers_Setup-x64.dmg
- Apple Silicon (e.g. M1, M2): https://download.readcube.com/app/Papers_Setup-arm64.dmg