Sharepoint Online: Deploy Provider hosted app automatically

Question

I deployed a new provider hosted Sharepoint app successfully (I used this tutorial: http://bhanuprakashbysani.blogspot.de/2014/11/how-to-publish-provider-hosted-app-in.html ).

However, now I want to deploy the first update of my app. The only way I found out is to deploy it "manually":

1. Delete app on my SP developer site.
2. Menu "Apps in Testing"
3. New app to deploy
4. Upload ".app" file

This steps have 2 disadvantages I want to avoid:

1. I always have to delete my app before I upload the new version, else I get an error
2. These are manual steps, it would be perfect, if the update would work automatically.

Are there any possibilities to set my project up for these "autoamtic" updates?

Answer 1

To update your app you need to create a new version of the app and distribute in the App Catalog where it was distributed.

There are 2 things in the app manifest which controls the installation and upgrade process:

• The product ID also called GUID. Do not change the value or SharePoint will not recognise it as an update
• The version number of the app. It's in a standard .Net format, by default it is 1.0.0.0. When you create a new version, you have to increment this number.