I'm going to build an installer to deploy my application which is a Windows executable file(not a MSI file). I'm using NSIS. This application targets French people and "install" word is close to "installation" in French.
Is there a filename convention? What is the best choice for you?
It seems that "setup.exe" is the most popular name compare to "install.exe"
What do you think?
Thanks for your reply.
Sometimes setup.exe is used for install, repair and remove application. I think there is no good answer for this question. I prefer such names as application_installer or application_setup. Even in one organization there is Firefox Setup 3.5.6.exe and sunbird-0.3.pl.win32.installer.exe.
setup.exe is definitely the most popular convention in the Windows world. I'd say go with that.
I'd never really thought about it... but having done just that - setup is really the wrong word and install is, I suppose, the correct term.
You're installing the software, so I would go with install... setup implies it has already been installed (unless your changing settings during the install) - either way you are still installing something.
Related
I have a game in MonoGame, and I'd like to make it downloadable from my website. I'd like it if people could just download the game and then play it, though I wouldn't mind if they installed it as well. (it's a very small game, however, so I don't think they'll want to go through that process, though perhaps I'd like to offer both options!)
For now, I'd just like to deploy to Windows and make sure that works, but any advice on how to compile/deploy to Mac/Linux would be great, too.
Thanks!
This actually something I have always wanted to know but found little info on. From my experience which is not by any means the final answer and just something to you help down the right path...
You can follow this:How to: Publish a ClickOnce Application using the Publish Wizard
Now in my example project I was able to download it and had to install it. I know this is only one of the ways you asked but for the other way I believe you would want to make your project an executable. Which you can find a question on it here. Hope this helps. :)
If you compile your game, you end up with a bin folder that contains a .exe file, and if you do this on mac you also get a .app file.
These are actual apps that you can play by clicking on them. This also works on other machines that don't have your development environment. You might need to include the .dll files that are in the bin folder. (I haven't tested this).
Of course, downloading an .exe is strongly discouraged since there is no way for your users to know if they are installing malware, but in theory this is possible!
Can you install a program for "All Users" using Visual Studio ClickOnce Publishing?
I ran setup and was not given the option "Install for All users" => then I inspected the actual install directory and it was in the folder:
C:\Users\Patrick\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\Z5AWACYL.000\4EQB7LVJ.RXP\mapl..tion_0000000000000000_0001.0000_d31e4ada0d11807b\
So I think no other user will be allowed to run it. How does one create a project installer that installs a program to all users?
After a bunch of research the answer is No.
I figured out a really hack way to pull it off. But it caused problems in production, specifically, I got calls from this guy, and he's like "Do I have to install the app for every user?", Then later he would say, "User1 is running version X.X.X.1, but user2 is running X.X.X.2" So it was a lot of work for disappointing results.
Have you taken a look at this? http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd997001.aspx
I need to monitor and report on all changes (folders and directories added, permissions changed, registry entries added) that are made during the installation of a software program. Can anyone suggest a tool that is capable of doing this?
Thanks, MagicAndi.
Note: Please see my other answer below as well.
Seeing as you want to create a Wix setup, I want to add a new answer with some hints on how to accomplish this in the quickest way.
I would recommend using the InstallRite (no longer available) software to get a log of changes done by the installer you got. This tool does not allow you to convert the capture into an MSI, but it gives you a good change log (which does contain a bit of junk). The PictureTaker tool appears to have been renamed and is now commercial - it does allow conversion of the capture to MSI though.
There seems to be a new capture tool called Scalable Smart Packager CE (link removed Nov, 2017 - target site has changed and looks a little suspicious). I have not tested this tool thoroughly.
Once you have your log or capture, you can convert to WIX in 2 "fast track" ways:
Use the dark.exe WIX MSI decompiler (if you have an MSI already)
Use the heat.exe WIX harvester tool (to auto-generate WIX XML for folders, registry etc..)
If you use the dark.exe tool you should get a complete WIX XML file that you can then compile again - but you should clean it up a bit (take out the UI junk, then link with WIX's detault built-in GUI etc...).
Using heat.exe is the cleaner way. You simply run the heat.exe tool against a folder, and it will create WIX XML elements for you to install those files. You will then need to put it all together in a WIX source files along with other required sections. I can provide you with a basic WIX "minimal sample" to get you going (I don't seem to be able to attach files here).
Looks like this is a duplicate of a question answered already on ServerFault (my bad!). The answers given there are:
Process Monitor from SysInternals Software
Total Uninstall from Martau.com
UPDATE: Stefan Kruger's comprehensive list of repackaging tools at installsite.org.
Your question is a bit open ended since it is not entirely clear what the overall goal is:
Application Repackaging: capture all changes and then package them into a deployable package format such as MSI (or similar).
Reporting / Monitoring: just looking for a way to "see what happens" during an installation.
For application repackaging the main tool is AdminStudio (the main competitor "Wise InstallStudio" was pulled from market due to legal issues, see Wise section here: What installation product to use? InstallShield, WiX, Wise, Advanced Installer, etc).
AdminStudio has very comprehensive feature sets and a hefty price tag (and learning curve). You could try to use the trial version to do your repackaging and see if the resulting MSI is useable. If it is not you can convert it to a Wix MSI relatively easily via the dark.exe Wix tool.
Then there used to be more light weight tools such as PictureTaker and InstallRite which I suppose were better suited for "reporting purposes" but could be used for MSI creation. Both these tools seem to have disappeared as well.
There seems to be a new capture tool called Scalable Smart Packager CE (removed broken link Jan, 2018 - the tool appears discontinued). I have not tested this tool thoroughly.
UPDATE: I just removed a broken link to Scalable Smart Packager CE (appears discontinued). For repackaging software / tools, perhaps see Stefan Kruger's comprehensive list at installsite.org. Hard to keep up with all these tools that are useful but end up deprecated.
You could use the method suggested here: Tracking file and registry changes, or you can try to locate the old version of WININSTALL LE on a Windows 2000 Server CD in \VALUEADD\3RDPARTY\MGMT\WINSTLE.
I believe Advanced Installer allows capture, but I am not sure you can export a proper MSI file with the trial version (or at all for that matter).
I've used Process Monitor on multiple occasions to document the impacts of installing COTS software on servers. Has always seemed to do the trick.
There is a programme called "sandboxie"
You'll need to configure it once its installed for it to work properly.
run sandboxie. drag and drop the installation file into the gui and watch it try to install.
Sandboxie creates a log of everything that happens. While it redirects all of the exe - DLL - inf - scripts and everything else into a quarantine file instead.
The SB GUI then lays out the file structure to all the intended installation locations.
Any download Im not too sure is legitimate, now gets downloaded and executed straight through SB's web browser feature. I can then check it all out and it never infects my system if it is naughty.
On the other hand...
If it was a online installer.exe that was executed in SB gui, youll now have a copy of everything that makes up the installer package. Place it all in a file on a USB, make a simple autorun.inf and .bat file with notepad++ to create ya own offline installer
Hope this helps...
Where are the Windows binaries for the command-line version of SVN? Everywhere I search, it has to be some company's fancy client software with an installer.
I'm working on a machine where I don't have administrator account. Just give me the plain command-line binaries, where the hell are they?
The former direct links don't work, but the subversion project now provides several offsite links to Windows binaries:
http://subversion.apache.org/packages.html#windows
I use Slik SVN. It doesn't require a bunch of registration information like the CollabNet one does.
Get the version from Slik SVN, which doesn't require registration, and you should be able to install it anywhere you want (and have permissions).
If you can't run the installer, you could always try extracting the files from it using UniExtract, or possibly Total Commander with the MSI plugin.
You could always use cygwin and install the subversion package during install which would make it accessible in command prompt (with some $PATH changes) but I understand if this doesn't fit your criteria of 'just binaries'.
Edit: I understand why people are downvoting but it was just a last resort suggestion to getting the binaries for subversion. To answer the question 'why install all of cygwin if you just need subversion': I find that originally being a linux app that I'd be more comfortable using subversion in a *nix environment such as cygwin and could consequently leverage GNU utils such as find, grep, bash etc to perform file based operations, which subversion primarily deals with.
I suggested it because of this and I thought it would be the easiest and quickest way to get subversion as the OP had expressed dismay about finding legitimate binaries: a few clicks and you're done. It was a suggestion that was asked for and in my original comment I had the caveat of installing cygwin right there.
I have hust found this: http://alagazam.net/ . This is really the same project as http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32svn/ , which was suggested in another answer.
This is the closest solution to the original, pre-Apache binary. I've been using it without problems for the last two-three years.
http://subversion.tigris.org/
The client-side binaries ship with the source, as well as several other packaged installers.
The Command Line Client from CollabNet, while it does have an installer for windows, all it asks you is where you want to put the files, and then finish. Its just the command line client, like it says, nothing else. Subversion doesn't distribute their own binaries.
The Subversion project does not
officially endorse or maintain any
binary packages of the Subversion
software. However, volunteers have
created binary packages for different
distributions and platforms, and as a
convenience, we maintain a list of
links to them here. If there are any
problems with or questions about the
different binary packages please send
email to the Subversion users mailing
list.
I've successfully downloaded the binaries in a zip file and used them on windows w/o administrator access from here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32svn/
As already suggested, take a look at the official Apache Subversion Binary Packages page.
If you are looking for zipped binaries of the latest Subversion command-line tools, you can get them at http://www.visualsvn.com/downloads/ (!) without any registration.
Portable binaries can also be found at:
http://www.smartsvn.com/download#svn
Much searching has lead me to find several descriptions of how to create a bootstrapping msi, but these solutions all assume the msi is local or a standard Windows component. Is there a way to make an msi that downloads an installer (which is also an msi) with normal MSI or Wix code rather than by having the bootstrapper execute some non-native program to do so?
My experience with msi's has been it's not possible to run 2 at the same time. (could be wrong though)
What I ended up doing was to instead make an installer exe using Inno Setup (http://www.jrsoftware.org) and ISTool (http://www.istool.org) which downloads and installs the various msi's. With ISTool it's very easy to do.
I know it's not as chic or sexy as Wix, but it worked for me very well.
I would create a custom action that runs in the InstallUISequence. This would download the MSI if necessary (to the source folder), and then try to launch it as a nested installation.
Windows prevents two installs from being in the InstallExecuteSequence at the same time, so if you're looking for a silent install solution with a bootstrapper, you're SOL.
However you can start another install from the UI sequence, which is probably an OK solution as long as you advise your customers that certain other dependencies must be installed first if they're going to deploy via group policy or some other 'silent' method.
If it helps, I'm pretty sure you can also call MSIEXEC with a URL, eg. msiexec.exe /i http://some.domain/blah.msi /passive
I would suggest that you write a native app and have it run the first msi and then run the seccons msi. I wrote a blog on how to do this. Here is a link (http://blog.foldertrack.com/?p=45)