how to use VS Setup and Deployment project and build an .msi file to install the program?

Question

我想使用安装和部署项目技术部署一个C＃Windows应用程序项目，但我不知道在打开文件>新建>项目>设置和部署>后我应该使用什么....然后我该怎么办？

Answer 1

In the past I've used the Visual Studio Setup Project or Innosetup for my programs. I prefer to build .msi's over exe's so Visual Studio Setup Project has been my goto for a while now. It is however, very lacking in capabilities. The interface is not intuitive either in my opinion. Every time I build an installer there is a lot of trial and error install/uninstall to get it right. Other's have pointed out WIX and I've looked into it. It appears to be very flexible and since it is open source, we should be able to count on it for the long term.

Here is a recent article about WIX. What I found interesting is the article claims (see link in article) that Visual Studio Setup Project is being End Of Life'd in VS 2010 + NEXT_VERSION. This is a little disconcerting to me. Since I don't want to begin to rely on the new Install Shield "Lite" in VS, I'm going to put effort into learning WIX. I hope it'll pay off in more flexible builds for my applications as well.

All that said, when creating a VS Setup project, I usually use the wizard to put in the initial plumbing. You'll point it at the files you want in the .msi. Typically for me this means the "outputs" of one or more programs in my solution. Any managed assemblies referenced in the programs will automatically get picked up as dependencies and included. Unfortunately unmanaged assemblies don't and I usually have to add them manually using the "File System Editor" mode in the Setup Project UI. Adding shortcuts is a little hokey as well. You right click under the start menu and desktop section of the "File System Editor" mode and select create shortcut. This is all by memory so hopefully I'm getting this right. You will certainly have to test your installer multiple times before you get it just how you want. I like to test under a VM as well.

Finally, the VS Setup project produces a setup.exe and .msi file. Setup.exe is used for detecting and installing dependencies (such as .Net) before unpacking the actual DLL.

Answer 2

当您执行此File > New > Project > Setup and deployment >然后右键单击Application folder> Add > File...并添加您的应用程序的.exe文件，您还可以在桌面和程序的菜单中添加您的应用程序的快捷方式

Answer 3

I would recommend you to go for some tool for creating msi.

I am using WIX

Answer 4

What you need depends on... what you need.

For a large percentage of applications, all you need the installer to do is let the user choose an install location, copy files to a directory structure at that location, and create a few shortcuts. For that, a Visual Studio Installer -> Setup Project is fine. It can handle this basic functionality, as well as installing prerequisites like the .Net Framework redistributables, providing custom install options, and/or writing simple registry keys. The Setup Wizard creates a Setup Project as well, but runs you through a wizard to set up the basics. This is a good option if you've never created an installer before.

If you want this application to be controlled by a larger, more custom install, choose the CAB Project; it will simply pack the necessary files into an archive that is easily accessible from another setup project.

If you are publishing a class library, use a Merge Module. Merge Modules work within install programs themselves, providing files needed for the main application to work.

If you need serious customization, or you want to interface with existing InstallShield logic, I'd get a third-party installer. I've worked with InstallShield before, and it's pretty full-featured, but by the same token, the installers it creates are applications in their own right and can take days or weeks of logic programming to "tweak" to your satisfaction.