从URL安装VSTO插件

Question

I am trying to make my users install my Outlook plugin from a URL. I have this in Visual Studio. I have set the publishing folder to a local folder and then through FTP I upload the setup.exe, .vsto file and Application files to the InstallOutlookPlugin folder on the website. I have never done this before.

My question is, how will the users be able to install this? One option is to access the setup.exe file, download and run it, but most times their firewall will block that and they won't be able to run the file. The project is signed by my own certificate.

Answer 1

As far as I know, this is a limitation of ClickOnce deployment. The user must download the setup.exe and run it. You can help by signing the setup.exe with the same certificate using signtool:

signtool sign /f "certificate.pfx" /p "password" "setup.exe"

If they run into security issues, they can try adding the installation url to the Internet Explorer > Internet Options > Security > Trusted Sites list.

Other than that, you could switch up your deployment tactics to use a full installer, like InstallShield. Here are instructions:

Deploying an Office Solution by Using Windows Installer

Note: I have tried both deployment tactics and the InstallShield approach does not seem to work in Outlook 2007, which was a requirement for me. So, I went with ClickOnce and just tell people to add the url to the trusted sites list if needed. Also, ClickOnce can only install on the user level, you will need to use Microsoft Installer to install for all users on computer.