I have written a application in C# using visual studio, I have made a project set up file which as created to files for me in my debug.
The Windows Installer and the setup application are both needed, but i would like to merge them into one, like when you download an app the installer its just one file.
Could some one please show me how to do this, or just point me towards a good source.
Thanks in advance.
If you're using Visual Studio's built-in setup project template to generate your installer, then you don't need the setup.exe file at all.
The only thing you need to distribute is the .msi file. That contains everything that a user would need to install your application. The setup.exe file is simply a stub that launches the setup routines from information in the .msi file, which is a database that the Windows Installer uses to install your application. And since these files can be launched by double-clicking on them if the Windows Installer service is installed, you really don't need to distribute the setup.exe bootstrapper if you don't want to.
Some special reasons that you might want to distribute a setup.exe file are:
You expect for some reason that your users might not have the required version of the Windows Installer installed on their computer. This is getting to be pretty rare nowadays, especially considering how widespread broadband Internet connections are and how pushy OS vendors are getting with pushing automatic updates. But if your users are "disconnected" (in many senses of the word), you might want to use a setup executable to verify the presence of the necessary version of the Windows Installer, install it if it isn't there, and then launch your .msi file to perform the install. (You cannot run a .msi file if you do not have Windows Installer installed.)
You need to support multiple languages. In this case, the setup.exe file can perform a language transformation on the .msi file before launching the installer.
You want to manage the installation of several .msi files in sequence. The way that Windows Installer is designed, it's difficult to chain installations of .msi files, which makes it difficult to install dependencies before or after you install your own application's files. A setup.exe file is not subject to the limitations of the Windows Installer, so it can be used to chain these and precisely manage the order of installation.
In general, creating your own setup.exe file (or using one of the many third-party installer software packages to create it for you) gives you significantly greater flexibility. You essentially have complete control over the installation process, rather than having to follow the rules of Windows Installer.
But 83.44% of the time, this isn't necessary and you should follow the much simpler route of using an .msi file. This also allows system administrators to automate installs across machines that they manage (for example, throughout a corporate network), something that is not supported for raw executable files.
Related
I have an application written in C# using VisualStudio 2015 and I want to publish it (eg give an exe or installer to somebody to use it on its PC). From VisualStudio there is possibility to click "publish" in solution explorer. The result files are:
-Application files (File folder)
-project.application (Application manifest)
-setup.exe (Application)
As far as I know "manifest" file should be some metadata, but I can execute that file and it gives me an installer (the same as setup.exe). After installing it runs an application (just like setup.exe). It makes me confused - what exactly project.application is? Can I delete it and use only setup.exe? What is the correct way of publishing an app? One last thing: why does the installer run installation on first execution and run an application on any other? I would expect to run installation any time (just like other software).
Thanks
It sounds like a ClickOnce application. See the following link for more information:
ClickOnce security and deployment
In a nutshell:
The installer copies the files to the users AppData and then runs the application.
There are also other options such as checking for updates from a network location or web address. Then when you run the application it checks for updates and uses the manifest to do an incremental update of the application files.
Is it possible to create a fully-distributable application using C# that installs in a "proper" location (i.e. C:\Program Files\MyAppName) using only Visual Studio?
I'm new to creating stand-alone apps and I have created a first simple test app, but now wish to develop a home inventory-type application. It requires the distributable SQL Server database (which I used in my test app), and I would like it to install to a "normal" location. Right now, it seems to install to C:\Users\%Username%\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0.
Can this be done with C#, or does it require some 3rd party installation creation package?
As long as they don't rely on assemblies in the GAC, etc. .NET applications are standalone / "fully-distributable" by default. The most common way that I install my applications to other machines is by copying the output folder, (bin\Release for example) to my desired install location. For applications that are to be downloaded off of a website, zipping the folder should be sufficient, and the user can unzip to any location that they wish.
I have a Windows Setup project that installs 2 windows services, copies over a bunch of executables and driver files, and then installs a driver. I want to add a WPF project to my solution, and then deploy it with the same behavior as ClickOnce -- I want an entry in the Add/Remove Programs list, with an option to Uninstall. I know that I won't be able to update this program without updating and redeploying the MSI, unlike ClickOnce which has automatic updates.
I have tried adding the project output to the custom actions, file system, programs folder, and desktop. This only copies the final .exe for my wpf application to these areas, but it does not register the application as part of the system apps.
The actual setup project has a row created in Add/Remove Programs, so I can uninstall all my services and remove the copied files from the system, but I also want another row in Add/Remove Programs for the WPF application.
Please let me know if there is a way to install the WPF application as part of my windows setup installer, and also a way to uninstall if the setup project is being uninstalled or rolled back.
Thanks,
Misha
If I create a WPF or WinForms app, I can launch it by its executable in Debug folder. Why do all programs come with an install wizard and how do I create one for my WPF/ WinForms app?
Programs usually come with an installer because it can put the program in a known location, add things to the start menu, add registry keys, etc.
You can create an installer using NSIS.
installers will be run (most of the time) by administrators. This will allow you to modify protected things of the system during setup such as the file system (Program Files folder), registry and install services and such.
The actual program then will not need these privileges and can be run by non-admins.
Also: Microsoft Logo requirements make the use of Windows Installer (the service that installs MSIs and adds them to your control panel for easy removal) mandatory.
While deploying a windows based application to a client machine we need to take care about several aspects like installation location,Registry values and to ensure that the required version of .Net framework is present in the client machine.Such kinds of things can be automated using an installer.You can create an installer by using the setup and deployment project or using clickonce
Check the below links for more
Setup and Deployment Projects
Deploying a WPF Application (WPF)
Deploying a Standard WPF Application Using ClickOnce and Visual Studio
WPF 3.5 SP1 Deployment
For example, almost any program produced by Visual Studio 2010, if copied to a freshly installed Windows XP system, will fail to run. This is what installers do well that is hard to get right: dependencies.
I am trying to make the setup file of my appllication. i already made the deployment process and also been success to build the setup file as .msi file. but to run my application on other computer there need othe software to install like SQL server 2005 so that my database file can support on that system. also it need some other software to install. so i want to embed on my software the all necessary s/w and suppossed to install during installing my application. so i need to know what to do during deployment to attach these software.
what the solution for it in C#?
Usually you'll do this through your application's installer (ie, InstallShield, Inno-Setup, etc). Installers generally have the capability to launch other programs and/or incorporate other install scripts. Also, some installers will allow for hands-off installations (usually done with command-line switches), so that the install of the dependent program is seamless.