I want to make an application (windows application) using C# and .NET Framework 3.5.
I want to make the install the application. I want the installation to determine - whether the user has the framework in the system. If the user does not have a framework - I want to install it.
How to create an installation of application with NET Framework 3.5?
If you use something like ClickOnce to install your application this will happen automatically. When you set it up it determines which version of .NET is required for your application. It doesn't include the required version in the installer - so your installer says the same size regardless - but puts in code that will install the correct version from Microsoft as required.
You could also use the Windows Installer XML toolkit, which contains ways to determine whether the required .NET version is installed. Also, you get an MSI installer.
Another way would be to use InnoSetup. You can write code using the integrated Pascal script interpreter which checks for the installed framework version.
The Installer project type that comes with "higher" versions of Visual Studio also contains ways to make the .NET Framework a requirement.
I've worked with all three of them and can tell you: it works. There may be other ways, like NSIS, but I haven't used them.
Related
I have created Sales Management System using C# and MS SQL Server 2012. This is working fine. All I want to know in how can I create an exe so that this can be installed in another machine without any .NET Framework.
e.g. it should say like SalesManagementSystem.exe, and I should be able to install it in any machine.
Just download the Setup project templates and create an installer:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=VisualStudioProductTeam.MicrosoftVisualStudio2015InstallerProjects
See my extensive guide here on how to make an Installer (one that upgrades itself as well):
Install to same path when upgrading application
A .Net application will never run without the corresponding framework installed. But depending on the target OS the framework is already installed. Please check the release history at wikipeda. There you can see which .Net version is already installed in which windows version.
If you want to deploy a single executable you have to embed all your depending assemblies into your executable as a resource (plenty of questions and answers are already at SO) and load them by overwriting the AssemblyResolve event.
If you want to create a windows installer take a look at WiX.
You cannot just skip the .NET Framework on the target machine - it is needed to run your program. The exe file, produced by the C# compiler contains MSIL, which is understood by .NET Framework, as opposed by the destination OS - be it Windows or any other.
Having that said, your best bet is to write an installer for your app and
distribute the .NET Framework distribute the .NET Framework along with it. When launched, the installer might check what is the installed version of the .NET framework on the target machine (if any) and respond appropriately by installing whatever it is needed for your application.
You can use WiX to author an installers.
I have made an application using C# in windows forms. I am using Install shield 2010 to create a setup file for the application. It asks me what it should check for as prerequisites which it would check for before starting to install on any other device.
However, I do not know what I should include as prerequisites for my windows application. I do not know if it requires .net 4.5 or 4 or 3.5... I also had downloaded and included some references in the project and do not know if they are being included in the setup or not...
Please help
You need to look at the project properties of your winform app and see what version of the .NET framework you are building against. In some cases you can do things like compile against .NET 2.0 but then have an App.Config file that says 2.0 and 4.0 are supported runtimes. This gives you flexibility in choosing which if any .NET to redistribute.
From there you have to look at your dependencies (references) and there dependencies. It's possible that they require additional things such as C++ runtimes, database engines. For each of these you have to figure out if it's already part of windows, if a third party redistributable exists, can it be statically linked or privately deployed and so on.
There is no one simple answer. You just have to be familiar with your code base, what it requires and what the best practices are for each of those items.
I got at task to extend en existing WinForm application to make a check weather or not the required .NET Framework (fx. 3.5) is installed.
Well the issues is that - if there is no .NET Framework installed, the winform program is not able to run at all... I assume.
I could (maybe) do like suggested here: (and make a c++ program that should start first, make the check and then launch the application)
Check on .Net framework version from WinForms app
But I would rather not go into c++.
Another way seems to be this solution:
Why isn't an exception thrown when the right .NET framework version is not present?
... where you configure your application in app.config. But I doubt that will work if there i no .NET framework installed.
<startup>
<supportedRuntime version="v3.5" />
</startup>
So my question is what is Best Practice in this area? Should I make the check one way or the other, or should I just make it a pre-requisite, that fx. .NET Framework version 3.5 is demanded?
If the required framework is not installed, your application won't run, so checking if the framework is installed from within your app is checking something you already know to be true.
If you want to check that the framework is installed, you really need to do this from within a a bootstrapper exe either written in a .NET version you know will exist (like .NET 2 as it gets installed on the machine with the OS) or some other language like C++.
You can check in the registry (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP) to see what frameworks are installed. This can easily be done in C# or any other language.
C# code something like this:
var baseKeyName = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP";
var installedFrameworkVersions = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(baseKeyName);
var versionNames = installedFrameworkVersions.GetSubKeyNames();
If you are deploying often for limited set of users, you should check out ClickOnce (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/t71a733d(v=vs.80).ASPX)
It is a bit like Windows Installer, but simplified a lot. From the user perspective application will look like desktop icon. When you click on the icon, it will automatically check all the requirements and install the latest version of your software if it has been updated. This way you can ensure that users always has the required framework installed, as well users always will use the latest version.
To Check .net frame work version follow http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318785
I got at task to extend en existing WinForm application to make a check weather or not the required .NET Framework (fx. 3.5) is installed
This doesn't makes sense, because it will not run if required component is missing.
As already mentioned, typically installer is responsible for the job to check for components, interrupt installation, download and install them.
But in any case, nothing prevents you to make bootstrapper, which will be able run in majority of times (aka required less/none components) and which will run your .net application. It can be organized in multiple ways: exe + exe (often renamed), exe + dll, exe + embedded resource (extract and run), etc...
If you think to use MS Visual C++ to make bootstrapper, then here is a bad new for you: it required component to be installed (yes, that's stupid, but it needs Microsoft Visual C++ 200x redistributable). So it would be again a job for installer, or you will have to learn how to write C/C++ pure WinAPI software, which is a pain, but doable.
To example, this is a check for .Net Framework 4.0
// check if net framework 4.0 or higher is installed
HKEY hkey;
if (RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, L"SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Net Framework Setup\\NDP\\v4", 0, KEY_READ, &hkey) != ERROR_SUCCESS)
; // some error
RegCloseKey(hkey);
Doesn't looks complicated? Then go ahead!
You are right about the program not running if the required .NET version is not installed. You could use a bootstrapper, as others have said. You could simply let the application fail at runtime with the default message box that appears whining about the missing dependency.
Another valid approach would be hosting the CLR yourself. Here:
Hosting the Common Language Runtime
CLR Hosting - Customizing the CLR
It's mostly like a bootstrapper too, but instead of launching the second (.NET-dependent) application it just loads it into the same process (if available).
You could create a batch (.bat) file to verify the existence of the .NET Framework folders:
IF EXIST C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework[framework version here] (goto launchprogram) else goto errormessage
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.
if i have an application that requires .net 3.0, what is the proper way to make an install file out of it, that will install the application and then install (activate) the .net 3.0? i tried publishing my project through visual studio 2008 (c#) which created the installer and the .net activator, but it didn't work properly on computers other than my own, when the .net 3.0 was not present.
i though i could bundle http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=10CC340B-F857-4A14-83F5-25634C3BF043&displaylang=en with the application, which would download and install .net 3.0 if needed. this could work ok on non-vista systems, but on vista, the redist package reports an error: you must use turn windows features on or off in the control panel to install or configure microsoft .net framework 3.0
The key is to install the .net framework if it is not there - regardless of the OS. Also, just go ahead and install the .Net 3.5 framework if you are going to install one of them.
Anyway, if you are using the built in installer that comes with Visual Studio, this is a real pain in the butt. You would be better off, and saner if you went with a different installer package. Install Shield, Wise, InstallAware will all do it for you. I believe you can also find better guidance on how to do this with Wix and NullSoft Installer.
http://www.improve.dk/blog/2007/06/10/creating-a-dotnet-bootstrapped-installer-using-nsis
How can I detect .NET 3.5 in WiX?
Windows Vista has already .NET Framework 3.0 installed.
Now if you wanted for example to have .NET Framework 3.5 installed you could create a Setup Project and then right click and go to View->Launch Conditions. There will be a .NET Framework launch condition where you can specify the required version of the framework and an URL to download from.
Here's a post about Launch Conditions in a Setup Project.