Hello,

I have several custom applications installed on my Invision Cloud community, and I'd like to know how I can download their original .tar files through the ACP.

As a Cloud customer, I don't have FTP access, and I can't find any option in the ACP to download either the originally uploaded .tar files or the application files stored on the server.

This doesn't make much sense to me. Invision allows us to develop and upload custom applications, which is great, but provides no way to retrieve those files afterward?

What happens if I need to modify an existing custom application but no longer have the original .tar file?

Does this mean that, as a Cloud customer, I have no way to access, download, or edit the applications I've already installed? I am being penalized for not being a self-hosted user, as such user, I would have access to those files.

There must be a solution to this. Otherwise, we're effectively locked out of our own custom applications simply because we're using Invision Cloud instead of self-hosting. And as a Cloud customer, we're paying way more than self-hosted, so I just don't understand why we can't do something like that.

Could you please clarify how Cloud customers are supposed to retrieve their installed custom applications for further development or modification?

Thanks!

Edited yesterday at 6:33 AM1 day by michimachi

3 hours ago, michimachi said:

I have several custom applications installed on my Invision Cloud community, and I'd like to know how I can download their original .tar files through the ACP.

You cannot download the tar, whether on cloud or otherwise. The only person who can give you the tar file you installed from, is the author. When you install, the tar is unpacked and installed. Its not retained, regardless of where your site is located.

You can get a backup of your site, including applications and plugins folders, on request at any time in support ticket. You have jumped to many conclusions there that are incorrect

18 minutes ago, Marc said:

You cannot download the tar, whether on cloud or otherwise. The only person who can give you the tar file you installed from, is the author. When you install, the tar is unpacked and installed. Its not retained, regardless of where your site is located.

You can get a backup of your site, including applications and plugins folders, on request at any time in support ticket. You have jumped to many conclusions there that are incorrect

Thanks for clarifying Marc. Don't get me wrong or misunderstand what I'm trying to say.

However, I disagree with the idea that the original developer is the only person who should be able to provide me with those files.

I'm the owner of these custom applications. I paid a programmer to develop them specifically for my community. Unfortunately, that programmer has disappeared, and I can no longer find the original .tar files he sent me.

So, what am I supposed to do in that situation? I own the applications, they're installed on my community, but I have no direct way to retrieve their files. That's precisely the problem I'm raising. When I had the self-hosted version, I logged in my FTP, downloaded the files, done. Easy peasy! Now, as a paid Cloud Customer, I don't have access to my custom files.

Regarding the backup, I genuinely had no idea that I could request a full backup of my site, including the applications and plugins folders, at any time through a support ticket.

I've never seen this clearly explained anywhere, and it certainly wasn't made obvious during the signup process for the Creator Plan I'm paying for. If this information is available somewhere, it's definitely not very visible.

Had I known this was an option, I wouldn't have needed to raise the issue in the first place. Although, I believe the download option should be there. It would save a lot of trouble, because they are my files.

So, thanks for pointing that out. I'll request a backup through a support ticket.

Just to clarify one thing: will that backup include the complete source files of my installed custom applications, so another developer can modify and rebuild them into installable .tar packages?

That's ultimately what I need.

Thanks

6 minutes ago, michimachi said:

However, I disagree with the idea that the original developer is the only person who should be able to provide me with those files.

I'm the owner of these custom applications. I paid a programmer to develop them specifically for my community. Unfortunately, that programmer has disappeared, and I can no longer find the original .tar files he sent me.

So, what am I supposed to do in that situation? I own the applications, they're installed on my community, but I have no direct way to retrieve their files. That's precisely the problem I'm raising. When I had the self-hosted version, I logged in my FTP, downloaded the files, done. Easy peasy! Now, as a paid Cloud Customer, I don't have access to my custom files.

I feel you are misunderstanding. Its an installation file essentially. Once its installed, that file itself doesn't exist. What exists after that point is the files it installed. If you have lost the installation files, we cant provide you with that. The same would happen if you were self-hosted. Once installed, only the files themselves it installed exist. You could grab those files yourself of course, but you couldnt get the tar file, even if you had full access.

9 minutes ago, michimachi said:

Regarding the backup, I genuinely had no idea that I could request a full backup of my site, including the applications and plugins folders, at any time through a support ticket.

I've never seen this clearly explained anywhere, and it certainly wasn't made obvious during the signup process for the Creator Plan I'm paying for. If this information is available somewhere, it's definitely not very visible.

Had I known this was an option, I wouldn't have needed to raise the issue in the first place. Although, I believe the download option should be there. It would save a lot of trouble, because they are my files.

So, thanks for pointing that out. I'll request a backup through a support ticket.

9 minutes ago, michimachi said:

Just to clarify one thing: will that backup include the complete source files of my installed custom applications, so another developer can modify and rebuild them into installable .tar packages?

That's ultimately what I need.

I can only say we can provide you with the files. What a developer can then do, would be down to that developer.

11 minutes ago, michimachi said:

Just to clarify one thing: will that backup include the complete source files of my installed custom applications, so another developer can modify and rebuild them into installable .tar packages?

If you provide the files from the applications/app_folder directory instead of the .tar file, any developer can make the changes you want and generate a new .tar file afterward.

There you go. Thats at least 1 3rd party dev who has said they can. So you just need your files

@Marc Thanks for the information. However, I just found this app https://invision-market.com/apps/admin/package-manager-r423/

The developer explicitly states that the app can rebuild downloadable .tar archives from installed third-party application files. If he cand do it, then ACP could do it without the original files. But I understand that the original .tar files was used to compress the folder structure and files and the .tar file no longer exists.

I will request a backup to support. Thanks for your help.