I installed VS2010 pro using the web installer, but now need to install it on another machine. As this new install will require the same features as my current install, is it possible to reuse the files already downloaded? And if so, how is this achieved?
You might find some tips here. This is for the older VS web installer for the express editions, but perhaps the concepts are the same.
http://vicker313.wordpress.com/2008/11/26/how-to-offline-install-visual-studio-express-without-download-the-whole-image-file/
On my machine, the setup uses files from
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local settings\Temp\30319.01\1033\VS_VSTD
but I don't yet know how to reuse them, or if that directory is the result of unpacking files from somewhere else.
I used filemon to see from where the setup was reading and writing.
Related
So I'm in a situation where I need to have VS2017 enterprise installed, but I so happen to have the community version installed already (also 2017 version) with all the extensions and workloads (from the modify menu of the installer) already working in that edition.
So my question is would it be possible to share these across each of the versions so that I don't need to install presumably the same things over again?
I've thought of creating hard symlinks to the folders but I don't think that will work without all the appropriate information in some other files.
Searching only gave me guides on how to import/export plugins to another computer and from what I understand, it's basically just a list of what vs will install on another computer.
I couldn't find a exact fit solution to my problem but I did find a little workaround. Turns out the installer is a little smart this time.
First I compiled vsclone, then I put the output into cmd after installing vs_enterprise.exe.
The modify window should appear and everything is selected, click modify then wait for it to finish. The thing is that the installer surprisingly detects already installed workloads although after installing, microsoft magically adds 6gb of files to the folders it installed to (still better than the 16-17 gb that it would take if it reinstalled everything).
Finally I got a program that could help run symlink /j on multiple folders that included the vs packages after transferring those folders into my d drive (I'm running a laptop so I have very limited ssd space).
Final product works with all workloads installed properly, hope I didn't miss anything important here. I unfortunately didn't analyse the filesystem before hitting modify so we may never know what used 6gb...
I developed a program in VB 6.0 and used Package & Deployment Wizard to build an Setup exe file installer, but my software contained some dependency folder and the VB Package & Deployment only allows files, not folders.
Does anyone know any other types of Packages & Deployment or setup generator that I can use?
You're asking the right question. :) The PDW was never a stable enough solution to risk using it in a production environment. It never fully solved the "DLL Hell" problems that come up with it.
One of the main problems was that after the PDW was released, OS service packs started disallowing replacement of numerous DLL files that were used by the OS. This was the only way that they could solve the ubiquitous version problems that were plaguing server installations everywhere. They never did anything with the PDW to address this change. So, if your installation package includes a DLL file that the OS doesn't allow you to replace, the OS won't register it. Then, when you reboot as part of the installation process, the PDW errors out and tries to reboot again, and you get caught in an endless loop of reboots. Very very bad. If you should be interested, I wrote this up in detail here back in '03.
There are plenty of solutions for what you're trying to do, and some of the other answers give some of them. Microsoft's own solution is the Visual Studio Installer, which you can read up on here. This is the one that builds those .msi files that you see all the time; msi = Microsoft Installer.
Try using iexpress.exe, it's built in with windows for creating windows installation packages, it's fairly simple to use and i know it works for windows7, 10, and probably others too! You can search in the start menu to find it or use the run dialog box, or command prompt, just type in iexpress.exe and there you go, i make a few vb6 setup programs this way.
I'm wondering is there a way to download all external components of VS 2015 (Apache Cordova, Android SDK, Python tools, lots of JS libs etc) to create a complete and offline installer? Preferably I want to find a way to create such "distro" automatically (by running 1-2 commands).
I don't have internet on my work machine and googling, downloading and installing all external dependencies by hand is tedious and I'm not so sure that VS will see them after installation.
PS: Rant - previous VS releases that included all software components in ISO were better.
PPS: This is a complete copy of the question on serverfault - https://serverfault.com/questions/707871/visual-studio-2015-full-completely-offline-distributive because I thought that installation questions are better suited there... Looks like I was wrong..
You want to use the layout switch
After you download the update executable from the MSDN website to a location on your file system, run the following command at a command prompt: /layout.
This command downloads all the packages for the installation.
By using the /layout switch, you can download all the core installation packages, not just the ones that apply to the download machine. This approach gives you all the files that you need to run this update anywhere and may be useful if you want to install components that weren't installed originally.
After you run the command, you should be prompted for the download location. Enter the location, and then choose Download.
When the package download is successful, you should see a Visual Studio screen that says Setup Successful! All specified components have been acquired successfully.
In the file location that you specified, find the executable file and the package folder. This is everything you need to copy to a shared location or install media.
You can now run the installation from the file location or the install media.
Read more at MSDN
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 begun the hard work of converting an old Web Setup project to InstallShield LE.
So I have been searching around on how to do this. And my GOD how messy it is.
I did follow one of those guides. It seems I have to install some dummy data to Program Files just to be able to install the web application...? I have found no way to remove/delete the Program Files part of the setup. The setup dialogs shows the target folder as C:\Program Files\whatever.
Is it possible to install the web application ONLY to the correct IIS folder?
I want a clean install. No junk leftovers just because InstallShield is way to limited.
It annoys me to no end that there is no simple installer tool anymore. I even tried to hack the VS2010 setup project package (c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\Tools\Deployment) to work with VS2013. It almost loaded, but got a "80070057 - E_INVALIDARG" error on loading it.
If someone brave enough and know how custom project types work could take a go on it, maybe we can get a working (but old) setup project to work again.
The lack of answers and my fruitless search yields one answer. InstallShield LE is not capable of this.
You are better off using WiX for this. Seeing how other have done this and modifying it is the quickest way to get something up and running.
This is the result of such work: http://halsvik.net/downloads/WebSetup2013Installer.zip
And it seems MS has decided to add support for the old Microsoft Setup projects (VDPROJ) again: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2014/04/17/visual-studio-installer-projects-extension.aspx
https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/9abe329c-9bba-44a1-be59-0fbf6151054d