Member Avatar for mrclark

I have made a program consisting of about 15 smaller projects, each with their own .dll/.exe
I need to make a custom installer that will prompt the user for different options, which the installer setup built into VS10 does not support.
I need to be able to have this run like its own program, with combo and text boxes for usr input, and then to compress all the files i need into the .exe
How would one go about doing this?
if possible i would like to keep everything inside of VS10 instead of a third party application. And free would be the best too. =)
Thanks
~Matt

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Short answer: two practical, free routes that keep you in .NET/Visual Studio.

One: create a proper installer bundle with the WiX Burn bootstrapper and a Managed Bootstrapper Application (MBA). Build your project outputs as MSI/EXE packages, author a WiX bundle that chains them, then implement a small WPF/WinForms MBA that presents the combo/text controls, sets bundle variables and decides which packages to install. Burn will compress the payloads into a single EXE and gives you MSI-level features (install/repair/uninstall) while letting you write the installer UI in .NET.

Two: write a simple custom bootstrapper app inside VS (pure WinForms/WPF). Have the UI gather options, embed a ZIP (or include it as content) containing the 15 outputs, decompress at runtime (use System.IO.Compression if you can target .NET 4.5+, or a small library such as SharpZipLib for .NET 4.0), copy files to the target folder, create shortcuts, write any needed registry entries, and optionally launch prerequisite installers. Add an application manifest so the EXE requests elevation when writing to Program Files.

Example manifest line to request elevation:

<requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator" uiAccess="false" />

Practical tips and cautions:

  • If you want Windows to handle uninstall/repair/patching, use the MSI+Burn approach; it’s more work up front but more robust.
  • For the DIY bootstrapper you must implement an Uninstall entry (or provide an uninstaller EXE) and careful rollback/logging.
  • Always request elevation only when needed, test installs on clean VMs, and code-sign the final EXE to reduce AV false positives.
  • ’s SharpSetup mention is relevant if you want a designer for the installer UI; , and pointed out installer tools — the two routes above show how to stay inside VS and remain free while getting the custom UI you described for .

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Naveed_786

Please use installationshield

Member Avatar for grobelny

If you want very customizable WinForms GUI that can be graphically designed inside Visual Studio for your software installer then have a look at SharpSetup.

Member Avatar for Luc001

I have made a program consisting of about 15 smaller projects, each with their own .dll/.exe
I need to make a custom installer that will prompt the user for different options, which the installer setup built into VS10 does not support.
I need to be able to have this run like its own program, with combo and text boxes for usr input, and then to compress all the files i need into the .exe
How would one go about doing this?
if possible i would like to keep everything inside of VS10 instead of a third party application. And free would be the best too. =)
Thanks
~Matt

Hi,

I think you can find some explanation in the Launch Condition Management in Deployment
Look, here.

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