manual inputs embed in msi using wix

Question

I would like to install a third party executable that expects some user inputs on a user machine.To this aim, I would like to make the installation silent.

Is there a way to achive using wix?

Answer 1

The most "correct" way would be to create a Bundle that used a Chain to install the ExePackage and your MsiPackage . You can control the inputs to the ExePackage via the InstallCommand attribute. The InstallCommand attribute can use Variable s from the Bundle by doing something like:

<ExePackage InstallCommand="[MyVariable] -someswitch"
            DetectCondition="DetectedThirdPartyInstalled"
            SourceFile="path\to\thirdparty.exe" />

If you really must try to install the executable during your .msi then you'll need to use a CustomAction and the ExeCommand attribute can pass parameters. That would look something like:

<CustomAction FileKey="FileIdForThirdPartyExe" ExeCommand="[MyProperty] -someswitch" />

Take a look in the WiX.chm for those key words for more other details.