I´m converting a WPF application into a UWP one using the Desktop Bridge.
When I use the Desktop App Converter to convert MSI, the Registry modifications that installer does, are also done by installing package APPX.
But when I generate the package throw Visual Studio, having a UWP project with application files inside Win32 folder, I don´t know how to include Registry values.
If I modify Registry in C# during execution, first launch have problems because of these missing Registry values.
Is there any way to achieve this? Thanks you.
The two approaches (DAC vs VS) are not mutually exclusive. You first run the DAC and then take the output of the Desktop App Converter (incl. the Registry.dat file which contains your registry modifications) and add this as content to your Visual Studio packaging project.
This video helps explain some of the tooling concepts. Hope it helps.
Related
Currently, i'm using the following installer: Microsoft Visual Studio Installer Projects 2022. I've also seen the wix installer (WIX TOOLSET). But none of the installers i've seen has the option (at least I couldn't find in the documentation) to download the full App after you run the installer. I'm developing a self-contained WPF Desktop App that is too big, so I would like the installer to be a smaller size, and then after the user downloads the installer and runs it, then it will download all the files of my WPF App. Does anyone knows a installer for that?
We call that a web installer. You can probably create it with the support for Bundles in Wix, but I don't have a complete example on this so you will need to dig more if you want to use Wix Toolset. I don't know if this is supported with the Microsoft VS Installer Project.
I work on the team building Advanced Installer (disclaimer). In this article we explain how you can create a web installer with just a few clicks. First, you need a create a Professional project (this feature is not available in the Free edition) and add your files in the project.
You can skip most of the steps from the Professional tutorial linked above if you don't need them. TO test your web installer you basically need to add the files and make the configurations described in the first article, in Builds page.
If you're application is split in multiple features, it is highly recommend you enable the option "One CAB per feature" from Builds page, so the installer will only download the binaries corespondent to the features selected by the user, thus reducing the download size and speeding up the installation.
I have a C# application and I have some applications like MySQL, MariaDB etc. that I use with my C# application.I want to make a SETUP file that contains my C# application's EXE file and other applications' (MySQL, MariaDB ..) setup files in one setup file.That setup file will install all of these applications with one setup file.
I have tried with Visual Studio Setup Wizard but I can't manage.Can I do that in Visual Studio?If I can, How can I do that?Should I download a visual studio extension?
You can create Setup by installing WIX tool and Install the Visual Studio extension and follow the WIX syntax
If you need to Include multiple EXE files in Setup you need to refer all the files that u needed in Setup.
If you need to install those setup then you need to create the custom action.
you can create a separate project for a custom action and added the references to the required binaries (ie the Binaries you previously mentioned in tags) and added the corresponding dll formed in the binary tag and called it via CustomAction
It's not clear if you've downloaded and installed the VS 2017 Installer Extension from here:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=VisualStudioProductTeam.MicrosoftVisualStudio2017InstallerProjects
which lets you create Visual Studio installer projects (not the setup wizard). I suggest you search for tutorials on setup projects if you're totally unfamiliar with them, such as:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766795.aspx
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/1492b1/creating-an-msi-package-for-C-Sharp-windows-application-using-a-v/
https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/dotnet/visual-studio/getting-started-with-setup-projects/
In general you just drag and drop your files into (say) the Application Folder in the File System view; registry entries can be created using the Registry view. Prerequisites such as SQL runtime support. .NET runtime are added with the setup project's properties, choosing from the list of prerequisites.
This will give you a basic setup with little customization. There might be features you require that Visual Studio setups don't support, so something like WiX will give you a lot more functionality with a steeper learning curve if you've never created an MSI setup file before. I would search for a tool that fits your requirement, and this thread might help:
Best tool to create MSI
I noticed within the past couple of weeks my latest builds of a specific project are not showing up in Add/Remove programs.
I am using Visual Studio 2010, Windows7 64-bit (though I've also tried this over two Windows 32-bit machines). All latest service packs and updates are installed. The solution is made up of several projects with various references. The Setup and Deployment project is not the Install Shield version, but the one built in Microsoft project.
Previous versions of the software install fine, and still do... But if I pull down a tagged earlier version from CVS, and rebuild the installer for those versions, they do not work either.
I've opened the MSI in Orca, and I can see that the ARPNOREMOVE, ARPSYSTEMCOMPONENT are both set to 1. When the project gets installed, a registry entry SystemComponent Dword value is created. If I remove that registry entry, the application shows up. Based on everything I've read and researched I have found people that WANTED this functionality, but were told that Visual Studio can't do this on its own. Their solutions were to use Orca to add the ARPNOREMOVE or ARPSYSTEMCOMPONENT. At this point, all of the people who I found had my problem either had a basic default installer and they didn't know what name they were looking for in Add/Remove Programs or some other basic error that doesn't apply in my situation.
I've tried all of the following:
-Previous versions of tagged versions on CVS
-Multiple development machines
-Multiple computers to verify none show up in Add/Remove programs
-Resetting all Visual Studio settings
-Building from a clean development environment
-Removing Installer project from the solution and creating a new installer project
The weird part is that if I create a new solution and just create a setup and deployment project within, that installs fine. Can anyone having any idea about this help me out ?
So this is what I found out. We are using National Instruments Measurement Studio for .Net and the legacy controls. When using the legacy controls a certain merge module gets recognized as a dependency. For whatever reason, now this merge module change the behavior of the installer that is compiled. I've contacted National Instruments and am now working with them.
First, yes, you figured out the correct property name. Yes, ARPSYSTEMCOMPONENT is it which leads to an "unvisible" install under Add/Remove programs (ARP for insiders, although the name has changed post XP).
And it is possible to set/change the resulting "SystemComponent" entry in registry later which is not the case for all properties.
ARPNOREMOVE just controls if the uninstall in ARP is really possible to perform.
I have looked into Visual Installer before really, because it is so limited for MSI experts, but after taking a quick look there is a .vdproj (project file) created with VS 2010, and not very surprisingly, all the MSI information is coded there. The visual setup editors you can see in the solution explorer are only a subset.
Just look for "ARP" and you will find some properties set. The meanings of the values are maybe not so easy to guess, but from a rational point of view:
Either there is some setting inside there or a custom action (listed there too) which sets that property!
In my minimal test with the wizard only the ARPCONTACT property was set in the resulting msi file.
At least you could take the .vdproj file cor diffs with other checkedin versions..
I'm deploying application written in C# with .NET Framework 4.0 CP using Visual Studio 2010. I'd like to include uninstall option in the application folder. I've already tried creating shortcut to msiexec.exe system file but that didn't really worked for me, besides I've heard that on earlier OS (I'm on Win7) it might cause problems.
As I noticed one can uninstall program using the same setup that was used for installing it. So right now I'm somehow trying to include or create the setup file in the application folder. How exactly can I achieve that?
already answered here:
http://sivanandareddyg.blogspot.com/2012/06/creating-uninstall-shortcut-for-your.html
How to include Uninstall MyProgram.exe in visual studio while creating package in c#
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/uploadfile/nipuntomar/making-a-uninstall-shortcut-with-visual-studio-setup-project/
I made a little app with c# which I wanted to send to a friend to get an opinion. Problem is when I selected release configuration and click rebuild I get 7 additional files(3 dll's, 1 exes,...) along with the exe I want. Am I doing something wrong? I used to get single .exe files back when I used c++ with VS 2005.
You are not doing anything wrong. Its just that at release additional files are generated like AppConfig.xml for instange that holds your application settings, or a ClickOnce deployment package so that your friend can install the app. To get more used to c# you can start by googling articles about the differences between debug and release
Have you considered using the Click Once facility built into Visual Studio 2012?
Click Once Deployment - MSDN
Click Once will generate an installer that will that your friend can execute. It will automatcially download and install any dependencies (such as a specific .NET Runtime) if necessary.
To distribute referenced DLLs look at the following URL as it suggests the correct configuration settings:
How to: Specify Which Files Are Published by ClickOnce
It's been an horrible hour. Couldn't get Clickonce working for such a simple app. Moving just the 3 referenced dlls and the exe to another folder worked. Wix on the other hand...is difficult to say the least.
However, this allowed me to create a single setup file if not an exe in 10 mins. I sent a shortcut to the desktop which is more or less what I want.