I want to create an installer MSI that will unload and move files I need for my plugin into the user's application folder. In my case the application is Cinema 4D, but this detail does not matter. I need to unload a .cyc file and place it in a specific subfolder under the application folder. In addition to that, I need to add a line of code to a .res file another subfolder of the application.
I want my installer to look nice
I have already looked at WIX, NSIS, Advanced Installer and Microsoft Visual Studio as possible options but do not know how to do what I have to do. I've seen installers that do exactly this - so how do I do this?
Most of the tools mentioned above should be able to help you get the job done, except Visual Studio (its support for building setup packages is quite limited).
Here is a step by step article explaining how to do this with Advanced Installer. You can download a trial version of Advanced Installer from the website, during trial you can access all the features.
Disclaimer: I work on the team building Advanced Installer.
Related
I need a recommendation for an installer.
I was using InstallShield but unfortunately it was a demo version that only allowed me to get a quick start.
Now I need to switch to an installer that is open source and allows to:
create environment variables on user's computer
add files to a giving path
create .exe (via Release Wizard in IstallShield)
I came across tools like NSIS but I am not sure it has the same features as InstallShield.
Please advice!
Thank you
You can use Wix tool. It is open source and it has most of the capability of Installshield. Only problem with WiX is there would be a learning curve of MSI technology and WiX itself.
I have a small game that I created, using c# on visual studio. How can I make one file out of it so people can download it and play on their own computers? (assuming they don't use coding programs (like Visual Studio) i.e. regular people)
Step 1: Publish in Visual Studio (right click project file and click publish). This will package your project and its dependencies into a smaller number of files. There is even an option to create a single file, which may be all you need. If you need an installer, the ClickOnce publish option works great for creating installers.
Step 2: Some versions of .NET do not support ClickOnce, and depending on what your needs are you may not want to create a ClickOnce installer. In that case you will have to create an installer yourself. I recommend Inno Setup for creating installers. There are plenty of tutorials on how to use it. Brackeys has a pretty good tutorial on Youtube for Unity projects.
How can I create the .msi package for visual Basic 6.0. I tried to search internet, but found only how to create the installer package for .net. I want it for Visual basic 6.0.
Any help will be appreciated.
Inno Setup is a very good (free) installer for VB6, and if you must have an MSI you can find a converter to wrap an Inno EXE with an MSI wrapper.
I recently went through the same struggle as you. Your best option for VB6 is to purchase a third-party package to create the msi. A google search for "Windows Installer" or "MSI Installer" should get you started.
Here is a discussion on the various options:
What installation product to use? InstallShield, WiX, Wise, Advanced Installer, etc
Microsoft's native way of creating .msi files in VB6 was by using the Visual Studio Installer Add-in. That's what I used back in the day.
You might still be able to find it online somewhere. I googled around looking for a download for some time and wasn't able to find one.
The other option that might do in a pinch is the package and deployment wizard, although I always found it to be rather hard to work with. If you're not careful to avoid installing certain protected DLL's you can get caught in serious DLL Hell. I generally used the Installer add-in.
Jim Mack's solution is increasingly popular as support for VB6-specific tools wanes away into nothingness.
My problem is the following:
I have multiple applications that I want pack in one installer so when the user runs it, they will be installed automatically instead of installing or copying each single application.
I have a program that's already a setup file (.exe) and two .exe files which can be executed manually and do not need an installation. So what I want is:
Build an installer so when the user opens it - the .exe file of the setup program gets installed and the other applications which dont need to be installed will be copied somewhere in a path.
Whats the best solution?
I think you need a packaging programs to create an installation package, such as:
AdvancedInstaller
InstallShield
InstallAnyware
The first two of them have a freeware version. Maybe you can see if the required features are available in the freeware version.
I would suggest Advanced Installer (allows easy chaining of installs) if you have no significant deployment experience. Otherwise I would suggest Wix and its "Burn" feature (ability to chain installers in sequence). Please read the following answers for context:
What installation product to use? InstallShield, WiX, Wise, Advanced Installer, etc
Windows Installer and the creation of WiX
Wix to Install multiple Applications
Read this if you want to get going with Wix quickly
I have an excel plugin that I want to distribute as a single installation package, preferably MSI. Is there an easy way of doing this?
I've created many office addin installers for customers and basically have it down to a template starting point. For pointers see my blog article:
VSTO 4 ( 2010 ) Lessons Learned
ClickOnce is still technically used but the |vstolocal tag is used to run from source and not deploy to the click once cache. Basically you get a per-machine MSI experience and a setup.exe that makes sure all of your prereqs are present.
The best way is to create an MSI installer from scratch, not try to wrap your ClickOnce package. Any MSI package, no matter the tool you use to build it, can install the addin, as long as it install the files and registry entries required, as documented in the following MSDN article.
If you are looking for a free tool and have some time on your hands to learn using it than WiX is the best.