BUG: IE Changes Desktop App File Extension

When downloading the Air Desktop App from a D7 installation, Internet Explorer 8 changes the file extension from ".air" to ".zip" making the download unusable to the user.

This appears to be an IE specific problem. I believe it is the same issue as described in THIS ARTICLE

This has been tested on 3 seperate computers and at least 2 different operating systems. including Vista & XP.

I also verified that this isn't just an issue with my Beta installation by downloading the same file from the Boonex Demo site. The download from the Boonex Demo site had its file extension changed to ".zip" as well.

Special thanks to my wife and dpi for helping me verify this bug.

This is not a bug, its a server issue.


You need to add a MIME Type on your server.  I was able to do it via cpanel, but if you're on a shared host, you may need to get your hosting company to do it.

For MIME Type, add this:

application/vnd.adobe.air-application-installer-package+zip


For file extension, add:

.air

As far as I'm concerned it's a bug.

This will come back to bite Boonex. Mark my words.

~ Corey

Trust me on this.  It has nothing to do with Boonex code nor is it specific to Internet Explorer.  It also occurs in other browsers. The problem is not unique to Dolphin.  The problem goes away if you just do what I said.

Adding the adobe air MIME Type to your Dolphin server is the correct fix for this.  It takes about 10 seconds.  Don't take my word for it, visit this site with any browser and click the desktop download link: http://houstonlively.com

Or if you just want to kill some time, visit this link: http://www.houstonlively.com/videosearch

If you don't have access to your servers master configuration files, you can add this line to the .htaccess file in your sites root directory:

AddType application/vnd.adobe.air-application-installer-package+zip .air

Some servers may already  be configured for this MIME Type.  This should be listed as a server configuration requirement, albeit minor.

OK TGPC,

I asked that this be added to the Dolphin servers technical requirements.... Ticket #707

It's still not a bug:), but thanks for the effort you put into this.  I would have never found it.

You're right, the file extension gets changed in about half of the browsers but stays correct in the other half.

I tried adding the line you posted to my .htaccess file and it didn't work. The download still showed as a .zip

Downloading from your site results in the correct extension regardless of the browser (but you knew that)

Thanks for the time you put into this too.

~ Corey

Sorry that didn't work for you.  Are you on a shared server?  If so, you may have to ask your hosting company to add the application handler to your servers mime.types file

Anyway, it's reported to trac, and listed as a task in Beta3

Yeah, my I'm testing on a shared server. My sites won't go live there though.

I'm not going to have a problem once I transfer them over to the other server.

I worry that this will cause a load of support posts needlessly, but time will tell.

Thanks for the fix though. At least I can relay the information to anyone who asks in the future.