I am trying to create a program, allowing silent installation of important updates for Windows. I want it to be a single .exe file, without any additional files, libraries, icons etc. I am using .Net 3.5. I included wuapi.dll to the References folder of my project. After compilation wuapi.dll is copied to the same folder, where goes .exe file (Debug or Release).
I've read different articles about usage of ILMerge for embedding .dll files directly into .exe file. And here is my question - all the Windows computers have wuapi.dll in system32 or SysWow64 folders, so why should I embed it into my project? Is there a way to make a reference to these libraries or use their functions without adding them to project at all?
On the References, select the wuapi and set the property CopyLocal to false. Also, make sure that the SpecificVersion is set to false, otherways it may not work with whatever version is installed on the user machine.
I would assume that wuapi can be found in any Windows version since XP.
This only works on .Net 4.0 on by setting "Embed Interop Types" to true. On .Net 3.5 you don't need to deploy the wuapi.dll itself but you need to deploy the generated Interop file.
For more info check: http://blogs.clariusconsulting.net/kzu/check-your-embed-interop-types-flag-when-doing-visual-studio-extensibility-work/
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I am pretty new to C# (although I'm coming from java so I'm catching up quickly) and when using Visual Studio and building, I get a bunch of files as well as the executable, including dlls with the names of a few of the nuget packages I installed, a dll, pdb, etc. I also realized that I can't just give out the .exe from that folder because it references the files surrounding it. I want to put all of these files into one final executable that uses the needed files without installing them. Also, my project uses Tor and the only thing I need help with there is being able to package my project with tor as well (again, preferably in the same executable so that the user doesn't have to have tor installed to use my program.
TL;DR/summary: how do I include all the required dlls in 1 final .exe that will also be able to hold another exe (tor) inside it so that tor doesn't have to be installed for it to work?
I guess I could download the tor expert bundle when the application is launched but again it would be nice if this wasnt needed
I found an answer that I guess will work for now: How to merge multiple .NET Core assemblies into a single one (.dll / .exe)?
This still doesnt fix the problem of trying to keep tor inside the executable, but I guess I am just going to have tor download into some temp folder until I find a better fix.
use .net core 5.0 . Use with Ilmerge nuget manager.
When importing dlls in Visual Studio (VS2017) I have to choose the path where the dll file is. If I move the dlls file later, or I share the project, reference will be broken.
I can see there is a COM option where you can see system DLLs plus some libraries from installed software.
How can I create a set of dll files (SDK) so I can see them there?
At this moment, I'm creating a lib folder in the solution directory where I put all my dlls, so I can import them easily and share the project including libraries.
The idea is that every developer must install an SDK with all these libraries in order to use them, and add them without having to copy files. It might make lib updates easier for us.
Also, when deploying the proyject solution will every user need the SDK installed? I guess I have to mark the library for local copy.
I have developed a winform application with C# 4.5. I want to make it portable. I meant that it should not need to be installed. To deploy this application I would like to just copy and paste the folder of application file. Like Tally or VLC Media player.
The environment and dependencies are as follows
C# Winform
.Net Framework 4.5
SQLite
Microsoft Report Viewer
Please suggest a way how to do it.
For each of your project's references, you should verify Copy Local property is set to True. This way, all the references will be copied in your project's bin folder (at compile time).
This should be suficient for a copy/paste deployment of your bin folder.
Keep in mind,
no program is an island -- Don Box
so deployment machines should need at least target framework installed.
.NET Framework will first search inside bin folder and if reference is not found, it will search the GAC (Global Assembly Cache).
XCopy deployment can be used to deploy your application.
I have this application that uses external libraries (downloaded them from the Internet and are just situated locally on my machine). But I need to deploy the program and give it to customer whereas these external libraries should also be included in the deployed application, otherwise it won't work...
Should I just copy the library files in the project directory and then publish the project or something else?
p.s. the application is written in C# with .NET 4 on VS2010, and the external libraries are open source, so no worries on the license.
I'll assume you are using some flavour of visual studio.
If so, you need to set library "copy local" property to true.
See this Microsoft article for more information
This way, when you build the project, it will make a copy of all of the required libraries in the bin folder of the project.
What exactly is needed for someone to use my C# windows application in executable form? I do know that .NET framework has to be installed on the computer, but I heard there is much more. And is there any way to spread the application besides doing installable form via "Publish"? I mean, which project files are needed? Only exe file, or these pdb and manifest files too? Do they have to be from bin/debug or bin/Release, or makes no difference? (I know files created with this application are saved in "debug") Because I need to show my program (as exe) to certain person with .NET framework...
You only really need the .NET framework, unless you've used third party components.
If you use a Package and Deployment project in your solution it will automatically generate a .msi file for you with everything that your app needs to be installed.
You need .pdb files if you want file and line number detail in any exceptions thrown by your app. If you're selling the app as a product, don't include them as that information poses a security risk. If it's an internal app, then consider including them in your package and deployment project, because it's useful information to get with exception logs.
For runtime etc, .NET should be enough. Or with some tools (like as is used via MonoTouch and some others), not even that.
For the application, just the exe is necessary, but there can be lots of other required files - a config file perhaps, or maybe supporting non-CLR dlls (third party dlls perhaps).
For deployment, you can just use the exe etc (xcopy deployment), or ClickOnce (.application), or an installer (.exe / .msi).
The best option is to give them the files from your bin/release folder.
PDB files (which you should only find in your debug folder) contain the symbols for debugging your application, so you don't need to give them those.
There are other options such as ClickOnce deployment or an MSI, but it sounds like you just need to temporarily show this to only one individual, so it won't be worth it to go down this path.
In short, as long as the user has the correct version of the .NET framework installed on their machine, and you give them all of the relevant files from your bin/release folder (the EXE file, any additional DLLs that your application references, and any miscellaneous files like an app.config file), they should be able to run it just fine.