Please, Is there any book or tutorial for deploying .Net Windows Application/Assemblies.
I required In-Depth tutorial for .Net Application Deployment.
If you are looking to produce an MSI redistributable installer for your clients, or Group Policy deployment then I'd recommend learning the WiX system.
The Visual Studio Setup Project is no longer supported in VS11 (VS2012) and the free InstallShield alternative has less features than the VS10 setup project.
Go here http://wixtoolset.org/ and here: http://wix.tramontana.co.hu/tutorial/getting-started/the-software-package to learn how the XML file is constructed, then start adding your files into the WiX package.
The toolset http://wixtoolset.org/releases/v3.6/stable download includes a VS11 project template which integrates nicely with VS and whatever source control you're using.
Hope this helps a bit!
Follow this. You will be able to deploy with Setup Projects
http://documentation.devexpress.com/#xaf/CustomDocument3235
I'm on a mobile phone so I cannot provide you with a link but all you need to do is copy the executable out of the bin folder in your project.
Deploying A C# Application (Visual Studio Setup Project)
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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 used Visual Studio 2015 InstallShield Limited Edition Project to create my application setup.
My application must be installed api.msi, .net3.5 and .net4.5 to be exeuted.
In "Specify Application Data->Redistributables", I only can add .net3.5 and .net 4.5 to my setup. but i can't add api.msi to Redistributables.
How do i add api.msi to Redistributables?
this is my Redistributables
I hope the installation steps are as follows
run setup->set install path->install .net(3.5 and 4.5) & api.msi & application.
Best way to do it is by creating merge module and add it to your project for details refer the link
InstallShield can include either merge modules or prerequisites, but the Limited and Express editions do not include the capabilities to build either. Both options are available with the Professional and higher editions, and other tools may be able to create merge modules.
You can download an eval copy of InstallShield and throw it on a VM. Build your setup prereq file (.PRQ) for it. Copy the PRQ and api.msi to your machine with InstallShield LE and consume it.
You can read more about how to author a PRQ here: (Disclosure: My blog article from 11 years ago)
http://iswix.com/2006/11/21/using-installshield-12-to-install-net-framework-3-0/
I maintain an open source project called IsWiX that creates graphical UIs for managing XML documents. I thought about creating a tool to maintain PRQ files. It would only take me a day to write it but I was concerned Flexera might get really irritated. :)
I work in an environment that has leaned heavy on the use of MSI's. With the latest versions of Visual Studio this type of deployment setup is no longer provided. I've heard that using MSBuild is the preferred alternative. Does MSBuild create a file / other that a team could run on production servers? Developers do not have permissions to prod servers here. We have to pass our msi's to another team to run them.
Any help would be appreciated.
Visual Studio Deployment Projects (aka VDPROJ) deprecated from Visual Studio 2012. The output of VDPROJ is MSI.
Microsoft recommendation is WIX as a replacement for creating MSI installers. WIX is an XML based (.wixproj) project.
Don't confuse MSBuild with WIX. MSBuild is a build engine for generating code from XML based projects (.csproj, vbproj, etc.).
You can use Wix
There is a steep learning curve, but it is very powerful
Use WiX toolset - it is a nice alternative and integrates well with visual studio and team build.
http://wixtoolset.org/
I've finished my C# application, but I have a little problem:
When I try to run my application in another PC, I need always to Install .NET Framework 4.0.
Is there something to do to make it work without installing the framework from internet?
I tried before InnoSetup for a VB6 application, but I'm not sure if it's going to work for .NET 4.0!
Any ideas?
Use Visual Studio Setup project. Setup project can automatically include .NET framework setup in your installation package:
Here is my step-by-step for windows forms application:
Create setup project. You can use Setup Wizard.
Select project type.
Select output.
Hit Finish.
Open setup project properties.
Chose to include .NET framework.
Build setup project
Check output
Note: The Visual Studio Installer projects are no longer pre-packed with Visual Studio. However, in Visual Studio 2013 you can download them by using:
Tools > Extensions and Updates > Online (search) > Visual Studio Installer Projects
You need to create installer, which will check if user has required .NET Framework 4.0. You can use WiX to create installer. It's very powerfull and customizable. Also you can use ClickOnce to create installer - it's very simple to use. It will allow you with one click add requirement to install .NET Framework 4.0.
WiX is the way to go for new installers. If WiX alone is too complicated or not flexible enough on the GUI side consider using SharpSetup - it allows you to create installer GUI in WinForms of WPF and has other nice features like translations, autoupdater, built-in prerequisites, improved autocompletion in VS and more.
(Disclaimer: I am the author of SharpSetup.)
Include an Setup Project (New Project > Other Project Types > Setup and Deployment > Visual Studio Installer) in your solution. It has options to include the framework installer. Check out this Deployment Guide MSDN post.
I have found a lot of programs to make an installation package for .net application but non of them meet my requirements.
I'm looking for a free application which is able to create installation and uninstallation package and is able to check if net framework and sql 2008 Redistributable is installed if not application should be able to install them first and then start application installation process
Take a look at Wix.
It is free, but the initial learning curve may be a little bit harder then other programms. The output of WiX is a *.msi package.
I recommend Inno Setup - I compared it once with NSIS and found it more usable. It suports scripting, and you will find example scripts for installation of .NET and other redistributables through the search engine of your choice.
Did you try installer, that is shipped with visual studio? If it is very simple, try Wix. Aslo, consider NSIS.
Or Windows Installer?
If you have Visual Studio installed then you can simply create a setup project within your solution. If not, then download from the above link (or fine the appropriate version to download) and utilise the set creation application manually.