I know how to develop C# Winform application, but don't know anything about deployment/distribution for C#. Please say the technologies, procedures, and other setup for my objective.
Objective:
I like to develop and deploy[distribute] one small application software in C# .Net 3.5. I want some capabilities for the distribution that like other software products. ie. I want to develop software with installation wizard, set icon, and run even who didn't have any visual studio[Likewise, how the other software product like java games run without people must not installed the JDK.].
1) If you need an installer you will have to use some install wizard software. Examples are: InstallShield or WISE.
2) Otherwise you do not have to do much, just copy everything from your bin\Release folder to the other computer and run the exe file.
You can use the WiX Toolset to make installers, which also integrate into build processes if you are using a build server. It can be used to make .exe, .msi and various other types of installations, including patches.
As far as I know it's one of the more commonly used installer frameworks, and you can find it here: http://wixtoolset.org/
Deploying Applications, Services, and Components Here you can read about many of the ways you can develop and deploy services from Visual Studio 2013. There are plenty but all are well documented to suit the most different needs.
From the source
Create a setup program: You can create a setup program by using InstallShield Limited Edition, which is free. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn531020.aspx
Deploy a desktop application: By using ClickOnce deployment, you can publish a desktop application to a web server or a network
file share. Users can then install the application with a single click. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/t71a733d.aspx
Related
I developed a c# windows form application with a MySQL database.
I follow the following steps when I install the application on clients machines.
I install MySQL server.
I upload manually the database of my application to the MySQL server.
I run my C# application.
I need to pack all the 3 steps on one setup file which install the MySQL server and upload the database and then the user can run the C# application.
Over the years I have used a few installbuilders, and feel pretty happy with the one I am currently using: WiX.
If you want a pure .msi-based solution, then WiX is it. Especially if the MySQL guys have a msi merge module (.msm) available that you can merge with your installer.
The downside of WiX is that you are forced to focus on the finer details of things. The upside is that you can focus on the finer details. The learning curve is a bit steep, but once you have your initial installer going it won't require much maintenance and it integrates neatly with your Visual Studio solution file. msbuild and tfs support out of the box (just remember to install WiX on your build server).
I have developed a WPF application and the customer is planning to deploy the application on DVDs.
My application is really simple and doesn't require any setup process, but I need to assure that if the client doesn't have .NET 3 installed that it will be installed locally (from the DVD) before starting the WPF application.
So, what's the easiest was to add the .NET 3/3.5 package locally on my DVD and assure it'll be installed before running my application? Remeber that my application will be a standalone application.
when you use the publish option...
The Project Properties has a place to specify the dependancies that will need to be downloaded
then you simply check the boxes
there are other more complex ways to go abaout this but for .net 3.5 you don't have to go far
I would suggest using Visual Studio Setup Project for creating a setup package which would check for prerequisites and provide fundamental features like file system, registries, scripting. It is very easy to get started with. Take a look here for a brief walkthrough.
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What are the specific differences between .msi and setup.exe file?
I am working on an installer for a new version of my project (C#).
Previously, I've used Inno Setup to create .exe files for installing my projects on other computers in the workplace. While reading through some tutorials, though, I came across Windows Installer XML, which uses XML files to build a .msi installer.
My project will be available on a network share that all the employees have access to so they can install the software (I'm currently working on an update checker as well)
What are the major differences between .exe and .msi installers? Why would I want to chose one over the other? Would either make more sense given my specific environment?
I found some of the information at this question, but there was not a lot of information.
I wouldn't use WiX for a new project. I'd use an 'Installer Project' in Visual Studio to build an MSI. An installer project is much, much easier to put together.
Many exe installers are actually stubs or containers that hold an MSI, btw.
I guess you've checked out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Installer?
MSI's give administrators the ability to restrict installs, rebase installs, change or add custom actions, automate installs/reinstalls/uninstalls, standard logging and switches. It just really integrates into a corporate IT environment ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb742606.aspx ).
A custom installer may have many of those features, but that would depend on the installer package.
Most EXE installers available today are simply stubs to verify that the target machine has just enough support to launch an MSI stored within the EXE. They do basic windows version checking and Windows Installer version checking, then essentially invoke msiexec and let Windows Installer handle the rest.
For a very basic installation, the Installer Project in Visual Studio can get you by, but for just about any kind of real customization or tweaking you'll need a real MSI editor. We use WiX and love it - but it's a bear to learn. If you've got the cash you can invest in InstallShield - but that has it's own set of quirks.
MSI is configurable while EXE is not. I know this doesn't answer your question directly, but I thought I should point towards the ClickOnce technology.
MSDN: See example here.
Simply stated, a ClickOnce application
is any Windows Presentation
Foundation, Windows Forms, or console
application published using ClickOnce
technology. You can publish a
ClickOnce application in three
different ways: from a Web page, from
a network file share, or from media
such as a CD-ROM. A ClickOnce
application can be installed on an end
user's computer and run locally even
when the computer is offline, or it
can be run in an online-only mode
without permanently installing
anything on the end user's computer.
For more information, see Choosing a
ClickOnce Deployment Strategy.
IndigoRose's MSI factory is extremely powerful and much, much cheaper than InstallShield.
It uses WiX internally and allows you to modify the XML files in any way you like. The bootstrapper (.exe, if you add one) has a powerful scripting engine based on Lua to do... well anything.
I have .NET exe, I want to create a setup for this and after any login or restart this exe should be called automatically.
As you are deploying a .NET application, there are multiple ways in which you can approach this challenge.
There are many questions you have to consider when choosing an installer strategy. These include:
How do I plan to distribute this software?
Is the software supposed to be connected to the internet in any way?
What users is the software targeted towards?
Do these users have specific computer installations, such as all having .NET Framework already installed?
How should I approach the problem of updates to the software?
After answering some of these questions, you can get a general idea of how you should distribute the software. Then, you need to consider the various installers, and Wikipedia has a convenient list that compares them, which might help you.
Below are some examples of what might work for you:
ClickOnce deployment built into Visual Studio - my current favorite way, as this is the most easiest for users and for developers because updates and interaction is extremely simple
NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System), an open source scripting system for such installers. A great tutorial on packaging and checking for the .NET Framework with NSIS can be found here.
InstallShield (from Macrovision) - a heavily used installer system, but this one is not free, unlike other solutions
DreamShield - I haven't tried this one, but it appears to be a viable solution.
WiX (with Visual Studio plugin)
Deployment of applications is a very tough part of software development, especially in .NET, because how can we know, for example, whether the potential user already has the .NET Framework installed on their system or not? Or what version is installed? Thus, we must use tools like ClickOnce and NSIS to help.
To your question about how to start your application immediately at login, there are four ways to approach this:
Add registry key to start at login/bootup - MSDN explains that very well here. However, most installation systems allow you to automatically configure the registry key for bootup addition.
Use the Windows Task Scheduler to schedule a "task", in other words, to create a task that runs at startup. There is a .NET library for that here, I've used it in two of my applications that run on a specific schedule, it works great!
Adding the path to your executable into the Startup folder located at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup(that is for all users - for single users you can customize the username in that path). By the way, that location is in Windows XP, it may be different in other version of Windows.
If your application is a Windows Service, you can already automatically start at bootup, through svchost! There is a simple service configuration that will allow you to accomplish this.
Hope I helped!
You can use Inno Setup for the specific tasks described in the other answers.
By setup, I'm going to assume you mean the conventional installer. A good open source solution is NSIS. If that does not work, here is a more complete list.
As for having it start whenever the computer restarts/you login, that is platform specific (the installer can be platform specific if the program is). On windows, the installer needs to add a shortcut to your program in the folder
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
(that is the easy method, there are surely more complicated registry settings).
This blog post lists a few useful links to info about Setup and Deployment projects using Visual Studio.
You could also google with the keywords ".net deployment project".
Although not .NET specific, you can try InstallJammer. Its open source and multiplatform.
We are working on deploying a very custom application.
The application is the main program (and only program) that will run on the PC, but it depends on multiple 3rd party installers that must be installed via separate setup programs. Some of these are standard MSI, install shield, other outdated setups, etc.
On top of that we must deploy SQL Server Express 2005, install IIS if it is not found and setup a website.
Our final end user deploying this will be a person with technical experience on a new "out of the box" PC with XP SP3.
What is a good option for developing this? WiX? Visual Studio setup projects may not cut it. There is also the issue of somehow running other MSI's while an MSI is already running.
Would it function better as a standard C# application that requires .Net to be preinstalled? Then it would merely prompt for a few options then run several installers I suppose.
Any thoughts? We'd prefer to stick to C# .Net.
Doesn't XP SP3 already have a .NET runtime installed?
If your end user is someone with technical experience then it seems reasonable to sacrifice some of the "wizardness" of an MSI package for the flexibility of something a little more raw, such as a Ruby script, Powershell script, or .NET console or Winforms app.
This comes down to the benefit vs. cost.
If this is only to be run on a single or small number of target PCs and you have the ability to support the install (even remotely), I would recommend going to a manual install for any 3rd party dependencies.
It will be much easier to provide each package's installer with written instructions and provide than to write/test/debug (and probably still support) a complex, fully automated installer that will only be used once or thrice.
If there will be many installations, the automation will give more benefit.
There is an installer product called Inno Setup that might suit your needs. It allows for custom scripting so you can detect whether all of the dependencies are installed.
If some of them are not installed then with some scripting the installer can download and install the 3rd party dependencies before installing your app. Some help with that can be found at the Code Project article. (http://www.codeproject.com/KB/install/dotnetfx_innosetup_instal.aspx)
The only problem with this route is the scripting language is in pascal.
Just a question, is the company you work for supplying the boxes because if you are then couldn't you pre-install the software? At least that way there is one less thing that can go wrong.
WIX is a fairly flexible way to create the installer (although the learning curve can be quite a bit as the documentation still is lacking). That would probably be your best bet for installing the components that are actually your product's artifacts. Have it check that the required components are installed, but I wouldn't try to launch installers off of it. Instead, like Seth mentioned, write a Powershell script/VBScript (or Console application) that will do the component checking and launch the old installers for user in the order necessary. Of course you would need a way to capture when the installer finishes before continuing on (don't know if VBScript really has that capability, so Powershell/Console app may be a wise choice). And the final installer called would be your product. This way if there's reboots required the installer can be ran the exact same way and would just keep checking for required components and firing off installers as needed.