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.

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WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML
Dec, 2012 | 488 pages
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Table of Contents (23 chapters)
WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML
WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
About the Reviewers
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Getting Started
Getting Started
Introducing Windows Installer XML
Your first WiX project
Adding a user interface
Viewing the MSI database
Turning logging on during installation
Other resources
Summary
2
Creating Files and Directories
Creating Files and Directories
The File element
The DirectoryRef element
The ComponentGroup element
The Fragment element
Harvesting files with heat.exe
Copying and moving files
Installing special-case files
Installing 64-bit files
Creating an empty folder
Setting file permissions
Speeding up file installations
Summary
3
Putting Properties and AppSearch to Work
Putting Properties and AppSearch to Work
Custom properties
Predefined Windows Installer properties
AppSearch
Summary
4
Improving Control with Launch Conditions and Installed States
Improving Control with Launch Conditions and Installed States
The syntax of conditions
Action state
Installed state
Summary
5
Understanding the Installation Sequence
Understanding the Installation Sequence
InstallUISequence
InstallExecuteSequence
Custom actions
Rollback custom actions
Accessing properties in a deferred action
Adding conditions to custom actions
Deployment Tools Foundation
Summary
6
Adding a User Interface
Adding a User Interface
WiX standard dialog sets
Creating your own dialogs
Modal windows
ICE20 revisited
Summary
7
Using UI Controls
Using UI Controls
Attributes common to all controls
Specific control syntax
Summary
8
Tapping into Control Events
Tapping into Control Events
Publishing control events
Subscribing to control events
Publish events
Subscribe events
Summary
9
Working from the Command Line
Working from the Command Line
Candle.exe
Compile-time variables
Conditional statements and iterations
Preprocessor extensions
Light.exe
Link-time variables
Building an installer without Visual Studio
Summary
10
Accessing the Windows Registry
Accessing the Windows Registry
Reading from the registry
Writing to the registry
Removing registry values
Copying registry values
Registry permissions
Summary
11
Controlling Windows Services
Controlling Windows Services
Creating a simple Windows service
Using sc.exe
Using WiX to install a service
Starting, stopping, and uninstalling a service
Setting the service's user account
Adding service dependencies
Service recovery with Util:ServiceConfig
Summary
12
Localizing Your Installer
Localizing Your Installer
WiX localization files
The role of Light.exe
Setting language and code page attributes
Localizing the UI
Creating a multi-language MSI
Summary
13
Upgrading and Patching
Upgrading and Patching
Planning for updates
Preparing a major upgrade
The minor upgrade
The small update
Summary
14
Extending WiX
Extending WiX
Building a custom WiX extension
Using the extension in a WiX project
Tying a custom action to the custom element
Summary
15
Bootstrapping Prerequisites with Burn
Bootstrapping Prerequisites with Burn
Using the Bootstrapper Project template
Describing the Bundle element
Restricting the install by the operating system
UpgradeCode and detecting related bundles
Chaining packages
Downloading packages
Counting package references
Rollback boundaries
PackageGroups
The Standard Bootstrapper UI
Summary
16
Customizing the Burn UI
Customizing the Burn UI
Burn extension points
Creating the class library
Extending the BootstrapperApplication class
Defining the model
Implementing the viewmodel
Marking up the view
Referencing the UI in a Burn bundle
Passing user input to a bundled MSI
Displaying progress
Downloading packages
Collecting command-line arguments
Summary
Index
Index

Chaining packages

You briefly saw that we use the Chain element to identify the MSI packages we'd like to install with our bootstrapper. However, MSIs aren't the only thing that can be referenced. The list may also contain patch files (MSPs), executables, and Microsoft updates (MSUs). Before getting to the specifics, let's take a look at the Chain element itself.

The Chain element

The Chain element enumerates the packages that you want to install together. This may include a suite of products that you'd like to install in one go, a single MSI with its prerequisites, or a group of patches, just to name a few possibilities. The packages are installed in the same order as they're listed in the markup. For example, here, Awesome1 is installed before Awesome2: 

<Bundle ... >

   <Chain>
      <MsiPackage SourceFile="Awesome1.msi" />
      <MsiPackage SourceFile="Awesome2.msi" />
   </Chain>

You can change that order either by changing which element comes before the other...

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