Book Image

WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML

Book Image

WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML

Overview of this book

The cryptic science of Windows Installer can seem far off from the practical task of simply getting something installed. Luckily, we have WiX to simplify the matter. WiX is an XML markup, distributed with an open-source compiler and linker, used to produce a Windows Installer package. It is used by Microsoft and by countless other companies around the world to simplify deployments. "WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML" promises a friendly welcome into the world of Windows Installer. Starting off with a simple, practical example and continuing on with increasingly advanced scenarios, the reader will have a well-rounded education by book's end. With the help of this book, you'll understand your installer better, create it in less time, and save money in the process. No one really wants to devote a lifetime to understanding how to create a hassle-free installer. Learn to build a sophisticated deployment solution targeting the Windows platform in no time with this hands-on practical guide. Here we speed you through the basics and zoom right into the advanced. You'll get comfortable with components, features, conditions and actions. By the end, you'll be boasting your latest deployment victories at the local pub. Once you've finished "WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML", you'll realize just how powerful and awesome an installer can really be.
Table of Contents (23 chapters)
WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Using sc.exe


To communicate with the Service Control Manager, you can use a command-line tool called sc.exe. Note that you ought to be logged in as an administrator before running this utility. To register our executable as a service, we'll use its create command. Every service gets a behind-the-scenes short name such as testsvc. Specify the new name as the first parameter to create. The binPath parameter sets the path to the executable. Be sure that the equal sign has no spaces before it and one after it. Follow this convention with all sc.exe parameters that use an equal sign.

sc create testsvc binPath= "C:\WindowsService1.exe"

Note

On Windows 8, this requirement of having a space after the equals sign has been removed.

After running this command, you'll see the new service in the services management console (services.msc) among the other installed services. Yours will show up as testsvc. It won't be started yet for you. You'll have to start it manually, either through the services management...