I have a .net 3.5 application and i'd like to make it portable.
It's simple and runs perfectly, i've sent the .EXE + .DLL's to some friends and it works as intended when running the exe with the .DLL's and the .ICO (that i have used in it) along in the same folder.
What i want is simple: creating a single EXE file that cares the dll's, image and whatever-i-want along with it without being a setup, and requiring no installation. (a.k.a portable)
I may consider migrating it to .net 2.0 if needed, i don't use any 3.5-only functionality, in fact, i'm not really sure why i'm using 3.5 (i'm new at programming anyhow)
I'd like any tips, links, or an explanation on how to do it, because it's really annoying sending .rar's to my friends and telling them to extract and run the .exe among all "weird files" as they call (besides, not everyone has extension display in folders, so it's a nightmare)
(I have searched in StackOverflow, and haven't found any questions that answer what i'm asking, the only one that I found to be like it ended up in a discussion of framework availability in windows machines, language choosing and no good answers.)
You can use ILMerge to merge all the assemblies into your executable. I'd expect your icon to already be an embedded resource - or you should at least be able to create it as such.
Targeting .NET 2.0 would make the application more widely portable in that it would just work on machines which only have .NET 2.0 installed - but I don't know what the proportions look like for 2.0 vs 3.5 deployment, and more importantly they may well not be the same as the proportions for deployment out of your target audience.
You can add any data (assemblies, icons, etc) required by your application as resources or embedded files.
Either use the resource editor, or if you want to get your hands dirtier, you can add any file by just right clicking on the project in the solution explorer and doing an "add existing item", getting properties on the file and setting Build Aciton to "Embedded Resource".
Resources like Icons can just be used directly - as in DrawIcon(Properties.Resources.MyIcon)
Data files can be loaded using Application.GetManifestResource (and related methods) to get a stream to load from. For example, for an assembly, you can use Assembly.Load() directly from the manifest resource stream for your resource.
You could also use Xenocode to Virtualize Your Applications. Specifically Xenocode Postbuild for .NET.
Related
I'm coding a simple application that I need to be portable (the user can just run it by clicking on the .exe without having to run a installer).
All the other questions on this subject that I found on StackOverflow wants to make .NET Framework "bundable" with the software, but I don't need that.
A workaround that I found is going to /bin/Debug on the project folder and use the .exe there, but that seems "wrong". Is there another way to make a software written in C# portable?
Thanks!
EDIT: Okay, I'm really dumb and I asked all the wrong questions. However, your answers pointed me to the right direction. I wanted to know how to generate the .exe to send to my friends. What I had to do is change this to "Release" and press F6. I added this so if someone with the same "doubts" that I had can find the answer easly. Thanks!
Going to bin/Debug and using the DLL there is wrong.
Instead, build and copy the one from bin/Release.
If there's anything else inside the folder, though (except *.pdb), then beware. Your application might need those additional files. For example, the app.config.
All .NET applications are "portable" as long as the machine you are running it on has the version of .NET you are targeting (or a compatible version). The key here is to make sure that your application does not depend on things that an installer would take care of for you to make your application work. Examples include: registered DLLs (like Interop assemblies), registry keys, or components that must be found in certain locations (such as having something stored in user's AppData folder).
As long as the machine you want to run it on has .NET framework, you can make any .NET application portable. If the app you're making has no dependencies other than .NET then it's fully portable already. Even if it does have dependencies just include those with the executable.
To expand on Zerkms's comment:
Every software is portable by default. Installers are a way of telling to program to search for resources in a certain place, meaning that if the place isn't there, eg: C:\Windows then the program won't be able to run.
So as long as you have the application have the resources already within the exe or a root folder search (so where the program is, rather then where it should be) then you'll be fine.
If you're using default controls, it should be fine as long as your software's running framework version is installed on the computer. If you're using 3rd party controls, you can emded the dll's into the .exe upon compiling. Do note that the more dll's you embed, the bigger the .exe file will be.
I can't seem to find the solution I'm looking for in the similar questions, but that might be because of my lack of searching skills.
Either way, I have a using System.Runtime.InteropServices; in my C# project which I use to unzip a downloaded .zip file.
My problem arises from the following: I hate installers... Thus I need a way to include the Interop.Shell32.dll file into the .exe which is located in the project's \bin\Debug folder.
Thus avoiding the need for an installer which adds the Interop.Shell32.dll into the program's path and avoiding the need for an extra file download along with the .exe if I don't use an installer.
What would be the best/most efficient way for me to do so? (Preferably without having to include a load of extra code into the program)
There are several useful tools; I'm not exactly sure what is being sought, so I will provide a small listing of tools/approaches that I use.
ILMerge for merging multiple managed assemblies such as the project output and external assemblies/PIAs. Make sure the PIA/assembly being merged is allowed to be distributable as such or see #3.
Embedded resources for including "external data" including non-managed DLLs which might be external requirements for managed assemblies. These non-managed DLLs/COM libraries can be bound/loaded at runtime after extraction.
dotNetInstaller for making a unified launcher/installer (it is a bootstrap and can provide embedded resources). This can be used in conjunction with a normal MSI (VS Setup Project) installer to handle prerequisites such as installing official distributable packages or it could simply be used to launch the executable (no "installer" except those for prerequisites).
You can use ILMerge. Taken from the Microsoft webpage:
ILMerge is a utility for merging multiple .NET assemblies into a single .NET assembly. It works on executables and DLLs alike and comes with several options for controlling the processing and format of the output.
Is there a way to publish a VS2012 App (WPF) to an .exe without any installer? I know how to use ClickOnce installers but i was wondering if it could be taken one step furthur.
Many small programs seem to come in a .rar with some app files and an .exe that runs and doesn't have to install. Is this possible in VS2012? (or 2010)
Yes, sure, it's possible. Just compile you app in Release mode and take all you have in Release folder.
This is possible with Visual Studio 2012 depending on your needs and your approach to developing your application. I'll list a couple options, but don't take this as being exhaustive as there are many ways to accomplish the same thing. I'm assuming you want a "1 click" solution for the user.
You can embed all of your application's resources into the application allowing your users to be able to simply download or copy the .exe and run it from anywhere and it "just works".
Pros: The only method that gives you what you asked for. A single .exe without the need for an installer.
Cons: You can't edit any of the embedded resources without a recompilation of the application. You also can't store user settings for this same reason (though you could silently create a settings file in App_Data or similar).
Self extracting archive. This is the WinRAR method you mentioned in your question. You embed your application into a self-extracting archive which is set to extract to the users Temp directory or App_Data (or similar) and to launch your exe upon successful extraction.
Pros: You get the ability to update your resources as they aren't embedded into your actual application.
Cons: Technically, this is still an installer; albeit a very lightweight and self-contained one.
There are more, such as click-once; etc., but this explained the general idea.
Note: The correct .NET version will need to be installed for these to work as simply as I described.
Here are the concerns I can think of that an installer takes care of that you would need to worry about:
The correct .NET framework already exists.
Any assemblies that you reference from the GAC are already installed.
You don't need any custom registry entries or permissions to be granted.
Your app doesn't access anything that would keep it from working in a "low trust" environment when the user is not running as admin.
There are surely more, but basically if your app is self-contained and does not use any external resources and the correct .NET framework is installed, you should be able to just copy your build output and go.
I develop application in C# with MSVC 2010 Express, with Forms/WPF/etc.
Application consist of some private assemblies (maybe DLLs) and .exe file. It uses .NET 4 features.
How I deploy this application to other computers? Of course if they have .NET 4 I just can send zip of .exe with .dlls and it work. But if they don't have .NET at all (on Win XP machine)? Or maybe they have lower version of .NET? Should I point them to install .NET from internet or package it with my app or what?
Thanks
There is click-once deploy from microsoft. It automates most of the tasks, including making sure you have the right .Net version and updating the app if a new version of your app is available.
You should create a installer package. If you are using the express versions of visual studio, you can use some free tools for this like WiX or Inno Setup. WiX is perhaps a difficult option to start with, but has a lot of flexibility. There are tutorials and example projects to modify to adapt them to your needs.
http://www.tramontana.co.hu/wix/
This tools create installers that can check if a certain version of the .NET framework is installed on the user computer, among other conditions. You can also include the .NET redistributable in your package, or point the user to download and install it.
We try to keep deployment as simple as possible, and one of the things we do is to ensure our application is just a single executable, no support files needed.
We several steps to get there:
Make sure all dependent resource files are stored in embedded resources where possible, and not on disk
Use ILmerge to link all assemblies into a single executable
Optional - obfuscate the assembly
Optional - If some parts cannot be ILMerged or obfuscated, forcing us to have multiple files, we use Xenocode's PostBuild to link all files into a single executable. Xenocode offers a virtual filesystem to do this. This also allows framework embedding so your app will run on a clean Windows install - no dependencies need to be installed :-)
Wrap the single executable into an msi installer using WiX
Wrap the single executable into click once deployment. For this we also use a little stub launcher executable which starts the main application, allowing us to reuse the same main application executable
Create a zip file of just the single file executable for manual installation.
We the following on our downloads site:
the MSI installer - we prefer people to use this one
A zip file with the Xenocoded (single file) executable
A zip file with the Xenocoded (single file) executable including the .NET Framework
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324733
Yes, you should point them to install .NET. Otherwise it won't be possible for them to run your application.
You didn't say what type of clients they are (are you making a small app for your friends to use or are they paying customers), but whatever the case may be, I'm always completely against sending a zip file with an instruction document describing what to do with it and what folder to extract it to. As Remy said, ClickOnce is not a bad idea, but I've found it to be a bit of a pain to set up (once you get it set up, though, it works just fine). On the other hand, a Deployment project is simpler and if I were you, that would be the first thing I'd explore.
Use xenocode here
http://spoon.net/Studio/
No need to install anything.
It converts your exe to Native code indirectly and you can run anywhere on windows system.
It also has some option of adding framework inside and the total exe size will be somewhere arround 10MB + Your application exe size..
Thanks
yes! you have to give some general instruction about prerequisites to run your software and in that you can mention the Framework version 3.5 or 4.0 and other utilities you require.
please refer this document for Choosing a Deployment Strategy in Visual studio 2010 may this can help you
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/e2444w33.aspx
when you package you application,you shoud include the .NET Framework
Check out Inno : http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php
It's free and pretty simple.
OTOH I've seen QTTabBar using it in its' codebase and it was literally one single text file (setup.iss). Let me see if I can find URL to their SourceForge page so you can see the source and the build ... There is it http://qttabbar.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/qttabbar/trunk/Install/ If you grab the source tree you can probably re-fit it for your app in a day.
Is it possible to deploy a .NET 2.0 application as a portable executable?
So that my program can be ran in a Flash Disk without the .NET Framework 2.0 installed in the target machine. Or maybe is it possible to distribute my program with the required .NET DLLs, so that no framework installation is necessary?
I know that there are some alternative tools to turn my .NET exe into a single native executable like RemoteSoft Salamander, Xenocode Postbuild, and Thinstall, but unfortunately I can't afford one.
I also tried to embed the dependencies with Mono's mkbundle, but it messed my program up =\ (no XP visual style, broke some controls and its functionality)
Any kind of help would be appreciated :)
Thanks.
fyi: my IDE is Microsoft Visual C# 2008 Express Edition with .NET Framework 2.0 as the target framework.
Well, other than things like Salamander and Thinstall (now VMWare ThinApp) you would have to have .NET installed if you really want to run .NET.
It may be possible to run Mono without actually installing it (not statically linking your program, but including Mono on the flash drive). I suspect it would be tricky though, as you'd have to tell the runtime about things like the GAC location.
I can't see anything in the Mono FAQ about this, but you might want to ping a Mono mailing list - it sounds like a potentially interesting and useful thing to be able to do.
No; you need either the framework installed, or the tools like you have mentioned.
You could potentially look at mono's new static linker, but that is about it...
I have not tried this myself but here's the procedure:
Make a C# project.
In Solution Explorer, inside your project, there is a line "Reference". Click the plus near it. Now you can see all the dependencies of your project. Delete all references that aren't used (delete, and try to run/build. If it is possible to do it, that it is unused. If there is an error, return it by adding it (right mouse click, "Add Reference")).
For each reference, go to Properties, and in the property "Copy Local" choose "True". For each Image, Icon... make like to the referenced.
Rebuild you project. Now in your Build/Release folder (inside bin) you will see many dll files. Those files have the information of every resource.
Copy all the files in the folder (from step number 4) into a new folder.
Go to the folder: "\Microsoft.Net\Framework\" and copy the file "mscrolib.dll" to the new folder from step 5. If you don't find this file, you can always make a search in the Hard Drive which contains Windows folder.
Now your app is portable (with the whole folder content).
-- Source: http://www.codeproject.com/Tips/392308/Csharp-Portable-Exe-File
Well Thinstall is very expensive and it doesn't work in all situations. If you want to run your app without .Net installed you might run into trouble although there are tools that do that Xenocode has a tool that can do this for you and it's cheaper than thinstall.
But if you ask my opinion it's a bad idea to use them. Better convince your target market to install .Net 2 (Which is pretty much universal these days), and then pack all of your library files into one file using a cheaper Obfuscator like tool (There's a good one from Smartassembly.)
I've used Thinstall for a long time, and I've worked on this technology a lot, so I am not shooting off without experience.