Download .msi to client and run automatically

Question

Here's the requirement: 1. An uninstall .msi is packaged and placed in IIS server location. 2. The user would be presented with a html page or asp.net page with a link shown in the page. 3. Clicking link in the page, the .msi should be downloaded to the client machine and automatically run.

My main doubt is whether, we can download and automatically run the .msi.

Please share different approaches to implement this requirement.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You cannot do that. Thats what you call 'malicious scripts' unfortunately. Only if he downloads it manually, and runs it, it will be installed.

Answer 2

As Christopher Painter has already pointed out you could use ClickOnce to achieve it, its one of the Deployment Strategy of the ClickOnce technology.

Install from the Web or a Network Share

Using this strategy, your application is deployed to a Web server or a network file share. When an end user wants to install the application, he or she clicks an icon on a Web page or double-clicks an icon on the file share. The application is then downloaded, installed, and started on the end user's computer. Items are added to the Start menu and the Add/Remove Programs group in the Control Panel.