I'm developing a C#.Net application that uses the .Net Framework but I'm having trouble when users are installing the application on their computers. Some of them just don't know how to install the .Net Framework.
I'm searching for a solution to this problem and I found the self contained deployment use in .Net Core applications.
The problem is that my application doesn't use .Net Core, it is a WPF application.
I already search the web and all solutions I find brings me to the .Net Core self contained deployment.
What can be done in order to deploy a "self contained" .Net Framework application?
Thanks in advance.
You can use WiX to create a "bootstrap" installer, which will install required frameworks before installing your application.
http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/howtos/redistributables_and_install_checks/install_dotnet.html
Find a version of the .NET Framework that all of your target computers already have, and set Visual Studio to target that version of the framework.
Then, just copy/paste all of the files out of the bin/release folder into a folder on the target computer and run your program's executable.
If all of your target computers have Windows 10, you can deploy using version 4.6 of the framework, and be guaranteed that your clients already have it.
Related
I've developed an application in .NET 5.0, also, I've a Setup Project to install this application in my clients.
My steps are:
1.- Publish the .NET 5.0 Application.
2.- Compile the Setup project.
3.- Install the setup.exe generated in "2" in the client.
But when I try to install the program in my client, windows says "This installation requires the 5.0.0(x64) version of .NET Desktop Runtime... So I've to download and install the SDK in every client.
My question is: There is some way to avoid this SDK installation? Can I embeed the .NET Desktop Runtime in the .NET 5.0 App or in the Setup Project?
Thanks in advance.
See .NET application publishing overview, specifically publishing a self-contained application. That way all necessary framework files will be included in your application, and you will not the framework to be installed. This will increase the disk requirement a bit if .Net 5 is already installed, since some files will be duplicated.
The alternative is to bundle the the .Net framework installer in your installation script. This will cause the setup-file to be quite a bit larger, unless the script downloads the framework on demand. But it may save some disk space in case there are multiple applications that use .Net 5.
Go on projet Menu/ projetct properties / publish / require components / uncheck you frameWork .
I am very new to C# development. Like Youtube tutorial new. I am trying to build a console app to install services to our servers. Is there a way to pick which .Net version you want to use to build the application? So that I the writer can tell the user which .Net version they should have in their system for the console app to run?
I am using Visual Studio 2019
Thanks to #David Browne's comment under my original post all you need to do is make sure to select .Net Framework version of the Console Application template in Visual Studio project template. Not .Net Core. I wasn't aware there was a difference:
"You set the Target Framework in the Project Properties. But the Project Type determines whether you're targeting .NET Framework or .NET Core"
You have 2 options to get started
.NET Framework - Apps build using .NET framework can only run on Windows. This is an years old proven and secure stable, mature eco system
.NET Core - Apps build using .NET Core can run on Windows, Linux and Mac. It's cross platform and open source. Latest is v5.0.
I recommend you to use the latest .NET Core v5 for your new projects. It's stable and Microsoft is well supporting it. .NET Core much is powerful, faster and optimized.
You can create different kinds of apps using .NET Core. You can create simple console apps, libraries or asp.net core web apps. MVC and WebAPI are supported. As you mentioned, if you want to create a service, There is "Worker Service" project available for .NET Core.
If you create a Worker Service it can run as a Windows Service in Windows machines and a Linux Deamon in Linux machines.
Visual Studio 2019 got well with .NET Core and it's features.
If you need to run a .NET Core project in Windows, Linux or Mac machine, you also need to setup the deployment machine installed with .NET Core runtime. It's available free from Microsoft website. Download.. Install.. Run. That simple
I have a Winforms application developed in c# targetting .Net Framework 4.0. I created a setup for the application and packaged the .Net Framework 4.0 within the setup. During installation, the setup installs the .Net Framework 4.0 (if not installed already), and the application works fine.
I know it's not possible to run .Net application without .Net Framework. Is there some way I can package the CLR, JIT, and all required dll's with my application so that I won't need to install the entire .Net Framework 4.0 on the target machine?
Can i create my own installer for .Net Framework 4.0? Installer which insalls only the libraries which are required for my application, thus eliminating the need to install entire .Net Framework?
I have looked into ngen, Turbo Studio etc. to containerize the application but that does not suit for my purpose. Any help will be highly appreciated.
The .NET Framework was not designed to be deployed partially. I don't think this is possible - even if you will get that to work, it won't be supported officially. You might even see that your app is running but it might crash at any time later as soon as an assembly gets referenced (lazy by reflection, for example) you have no direct reference to.
Having only those parts of the framework deployed which are directly or indirectly referenced by your app is one of the main ideas of .NET Core - but you won't be able to do full-featured UIs with it by now.
Is there any way to make a WPF Browser Application prompt to install .NET Framework with ClickOnce like a regular installable WPF Application?.
Those publishing options are locked when the HostInBrowser property in the project file is set to True, which is necessary for the application i'm developing, however i need to make the installation of dependencies user friendly, and possibly from the .net framework installer already hosted in my server, as it would cut down greatly the use of bandwidth.
The program is intended to be used in intranet, as a "web page", by placing shortcuts on the desktop of each computer (which is done at the first run of the app), but most of the users don't have .NET Framework 4 installed.
is there any way to accomplish this without converting it to an installable wpf application?
Thanks in advance, Jesús.
No ClickOnce requires the .Net framework, because it's a component of it.
All ClickOnce applications require that the correct version of the .NET
Framework is installed on a computer before they can be run
You can however set a prerequisite which is a higher version of the framework, provided they have at least version 2.0 to begin with.
Commonly a bootstrapper written in managed code is used to overcome this limitation. You could use MSBuild for this, dotNetInstaller, or other third party tools. I've used dotNetInstaller a few times a recommend it, it's very flexible.
I have a C# program which I want to make available to my users, but the problem is that it requires .NET framework version 4.0. This is a problem because it was released pretty recently (April 2010) and a lot of people probably don't have it. To make matters worse it takes a while to download and install the framework (~10 minutes).
Is there any way I can install just a part of the framework I need? If that isn't possible can I compile my code down to a native binary for specific systems
eg. x86 32-bit, x86 64-bit, etc.
I've looked at a company called 'spoon' http://spoon.net/ but that looks like it just emulates apps on a server (sort of like citrix). What can I do to resolve this dilemma?
Anyone who wants to run your program needs the appropriate version of the .NET Framework installed. There's no way to work around this. It honestly amazes me how often this question gets asked. You can't compile .NET code down to any kind of a "native binary", and you can't distribute only the portions of the framework that you need. If all of this was important to you, you should have chosen a different development platform in the beginning.
Your only option is to bundle the .NET Framework along with your application's installer. The way to make this easiest on your customers is to use Visual Studio to create a setup project that will automatically install the .NET FW if they don't have it already, and then install your application, all in a single step process.
Visual Studio has built-in support for creating such a setup project, and most of the dirty work is handled for you. File -> New Project -> Other Project Types -> Setup & Deployment -> Visual Studio Installer. Then, pick either the "Setup Project" or "Setup Wizard" option, and follow the instructions.
The only thing to keep in mind since you've developed for .NET 4.0 is that there are two versions of this framework: the full version and the "Client Profile". The Client Profile is an attempt to do exactly as you mention and install only the portions of the framework that are used by the typical application. You have to first figure out of this is a deployment option for you. If your program uses classes that are not available in the Client Profile, you need to install the full version. Otherwise, you can consider installing the Client Profile, which is the default for all new projects targeting .NET 4.0 in VS 2010. Check the "Target Framework" settings for your application, under the project Properties. If it's not set to Client Profile already, try changing it and see if it will compile. That's the quickest way to tell if this deployment option is available to you. But there's only about a 15% difference in size between the two frameworks, so it isn't really that big of a deal if you must deploy the full version.
Either way, the setup project will automatically determine and bundle the correct version for your app. Definitely don't make the user download and run the .NET installer separately. Use the setup project and do this for them automatically. If you don't have VS or don't want to use the one it provides, investigate alternatives, like Inno Setup, which also support deploying and installing the .NET runtime with an app.
In many cases you do not need the entire .NET Framework 4.0 and can use the much smaller .NET Framework Client Profile. You can then use an installer to bundle the client profile installer with your app into a single deployment.
You cannot run a .NET app without the framework. If this is a deployment issue for your customers, you should consider either a Click-Once installer (web-based automated installation and updating) or porting the app to Silverlight.
For the sake of completeness, there is also the possibility for .NET Core release deploy Self-Contained Deployments (SCD) nowadays. When you create a self-contained deployment, .NET Core tools automatically include the latest serviced runtime of the .NET Core version that your application targets.
Deploying a Self-contained deployment has two major advantages:
You have sole control of the version of .NET Core that is deployed with your app. .NET Core can be serviced only by you.
You can be assured that the target system can run your .NET Core app, since you're providing the version of .NET Core that it will run on.
Here is a small guide from Scott Hanselman.