I have a C# application that requires .net version 4 in order to run. I know how to create a basic installer using the Visual Stuido Installer Setup Project that comes with Visual Studio and that installs my application fine, however, I can't get it to check if .net version 4 is already installed in the client machine and if not install it. Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I use a different approach besides this method? Purchasing a license for InstallShield is not an option as that is too expensive. Thanks
You should follow this guide on MSDN. It should tell you what you need to know about creating an installer to check for .NET 4.
The long and short of it is, if you set it as a prerequisite, the installer will check that it is installed.
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I try to create an installer for my WindowsApplication. I use the Publish and it work.
I use Visual Studio 2019 and .NET Framework 4.7.2.
The problem is when i run the installer the application also run.
I want (if possible) avoid this behavior..I want to run only the installer not also the application after install.
there is some settings to define?
Thanks
I have read similar questions on SO and other forums but can't what I want. I have obfuscated my binaries using 3rd party tools, and want to use these binaries in the setup.
Visual Studio Installer lets us choose the projects we want to deploy, and creates the installer using the outputs of those projects.
WiX creates a setup using the files I want but does not have an option to install .NET framework, if it doesn't already exists.
Is there a way I can use my own assemblies in Visual Studio Installer ? Or a similar alternative ?
EDIT:
I have already packed all dependencies in the binary. I don't want the installer to find the dependencies for linking them. I just want it to install .net (if not already installed) and place the binaries in a directory.
Not exactly the answer you'd hope for, but you mentioned WIX and dependency to .net framework. For that reason people write bootstrappers (i.e. a binary compiled to native win32) using something like Autoit which makes sure of the framework. All you may have to do is read registry key of corresponding framework and if required it pull down the file and install. Then execute the msi !
You can use the good old Visual Studio Setup Project (Installer Project) template.
To do so, you need to download the Microsoft Visual Studio Installer Projects depending to your VS version from one of the following links:
Microsoft Visual Studio Installer Projects 2013
Microsoft Visual Studio Installer Projects 2015
Microsoft Visual Studio Installer Projects 2017 and 2019
Microsoft Visual Studio Installer Projects 2022
The project could be used to deploy anything, including your project or instead of adding Project Output you can simply right click on your setup project node in solution explorer and under Add menu, add File or Assembly.
Then all dependencies will be added automatically. You can also add other files and artifacts that you need to be installed on target machine.
I have developed a windows application (one type of CRM System) but now I want to create its setup file so it can be easily installed on client's machine. I have searched online and found out the way using InstallShield. But it is giving the free trial and then it is offering the paid version. Is there any other way to create Setup file without using InstallShield?
You can use the extension Visual Studio Installer Projects Extension: VSI_Bundle.
See the The Visual Studio Blog
It worked good for me.
See my answer in this post: https://stackoverflow.com/a/28029063/200824
You can use visual studio 2015 and install installer projects extension.
You should also take a look at https://wixtoolset.org. A lot of new, helpful elements (grammar is XML) were added to simplify development. So while it's not drag-and-drop design, it's fairly easy to use and 3.x builds MSIs that are still the mainstay on Windows. 4.x pre-releases can also build other formats such as AppX (though, that is only supported on Windows 10 to install).
I have a solution with .NET projects and a setup project(Visual Studio Installer 2010). My previous version of the same project was 1.7.9 and the new version is 1.8.4. I also create a shortcut on the desktop to one application in my MSI. I changed all the versions in the assemblyinfo.cs and also changed the product version in the Setup Project, the product code got changed automatically and the upgrade code is the same. The problem I'm facing is that the Targetdir is updated with 1.8.4 files. But on the desktop I see 2 shortcuts (1.7.9 & 1.8.4) and in control panel I see two versions of the same application. I have set the RemovePreviousVersion flag to true and also set the DetectNewerVersion to true. Can someone please help me out with this? After changing the assemblyinfo file why isn't it upgrading properly?
Visual Studio Setup Projects are a deprecated feature that hasn't seen any love since before Visual Studio 2008 was released. I understand it's a feature that ships with Visual Studio all the way up to 2010, but it's probably a much better idea to switch to another product, such as WiX (free and open source), NullSoft Installer a 3rd party commercial solution.
From what I gather, you did the correct things building your installer and setting up the configuration. You might want to check that the previous installer really has the same GUID you're expecting it to have.
I'm using Visual Studio 2010, .NET 3.5 for my project.
I'm trying to create a setup project which will also install .NET Framework 3.5 and a custom app (WinPcap) as prerequisites for my application.
I don't want to include .NET + WinPcap in setup.exe as a standalone installer.
Instead, I want to specify a local relative path for each prerequisite (like \Prerequisites\DotNet.exe) in which the installations will be contained.
This way I can still distribute my app in a 'standalone' if I wish and a minimal setup.
I've tried searching through this site and the web but I couldn't figure how to get the behavior I want.
Some guidance would be great, thanks.
This is not supported by Visual Studio. The package either has prerequisites or it doesn't have them.
A solution would be to create custom prerequisites which are downloaded from an URL. This way you can distribute a smaller installer and the prerequisites are downloaded only when needed.
Perhaps this will help you configure the prerequisites: Adding Custom prerequsites to visual studio setup project
Another solution is to build 2 separate packages: one with prerequisites and one without them.