Browse Library
Sign In Start Free Trial
Close icon Search icon
Account
Browse Library Advanced Search Sign In Start Free Trial

Add to playlist

Create a Playlist

Modal Close icon
You need to login to use this feature.
  • Book Overview & Buying WiX Cookbook
  • Table Of Contents Toc
  • Feedback & Rating feedback
WiX Cookbook

WiX Cookbook

By : Nicholas Matthew Ramirez
3.5 (10)
Buy this Book
close
close
WiX Cookbook

WiX Cookbook

3.5 (10)
By: Nicholas Matthew Ramirez
Buy this Book

Overview of this book

WiX is a dialect of XML used to make installers for Windows. Its declarative style avoids the complexity and limitations of procedural code, providing you with everything you need to package up an entire application into a single MSI file. This book gives you a good overview of WiX's capabilities to develop your own installer packages with functionalities beyond those available in Windows Installer. In the recipes of this book, you will see ways in which WiX can cut down on your installation time and help you streamline your deployment processes. You will see how to make customized installer UIs, write custom actions, create shortcuts, and also set your application as the default for a file type.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
close
close
close
Preface
Icon
Preface
Icon
What this book covers
Icon
What you need for this book
Icon
Who this book is for
Icon
Conventions
Icon
Reader feedback
Icon
Customer support
Lock Free Chapter
1
1. Organizing and Building WiX Projects
chevron up
Icon
1. Organizing and Building WiX Projects
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Installing WiX and creating a new project in Visual Studio 2013
Icon
Referencing the output of a .NET console application in a WiX project by using a preprocessor variable
Icon
Separating a portion of WIX markup into its own library
Icon
Compiling a WiX installer on a build machine using MSBuild
Icon
Building a WiX installer from the command line
2
2. Installing Files and Directories
Icon
2. Installing Files and Directories
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Installing directories onto the target computer
Icon
Adding a file to a directory
Icon
Installing a 64-bit executable file to Program Files
Icon
Including one component or another depending on the condition
Icon
Using the heat.exe tool to generate components
3
3. File and Folder Permissions
Icon
3. File and Folder Permissions
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Changing the permissions on a folder for a user
Icon
Changing the permissions on a file for a user
Icon
Marking a file as read only
Icon
Creating a file share
Icon
Setting the default program for a file type
4
4. Shortcuts
Icon
4. Shortcuts
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Adding an application shortcut to the Start menu
Icon
Adding an icon to a shortcut
Icon
Placing a shortcut on the desktop
Icon
Creating a shortcut to a folder
Icon
Creating an advertised shortcut that installs a feature on demand
5
5. Editing XML Files during Installation
Icon
5. Editing XML Files during Installation
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Adding a new element to an XML file during installation
Icon
Setting the value of an attribute on an XML element
Icon
Inserting inner text into an XML element
Icon
Adding an XML element only if it does not already exist
Icon
Removing an XML element
6
6. Custom Actions
Icon
6. Custom Actions
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Creating a C# custom action and referencing it in your project
Icon
Passing information entered by a user to a deferred custom action
Icon
Preventing custom action data from being displayed in the install log
Icon
Running an executable as a custom action without showing a console window by using CAQuietExec
Icon
Testing rollback custom actions with WixFailWhenDeferred
7
7. Installing Wizards
Icon
7. Installing Wizards
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Adding a wizard to guide users through the installation
Icon
Changing the logo images and default license agreement text of the wizard
Icon
Customizing the wizard by adding a new dialog window to it
Icon
Deciding which dialog to show next depending on the user's choices
Icon
Setting a property based on user input
8
8. Users and Groups
Icon
8. Users and Groups
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Creating a local user
Icon
Adding a new user to a new group
Icon
Adding a new user to an existing group
Icon
Adding an existing user to a new group
Icon
Adding a new user with the log on as a service security setting
9
9. Handling Prerequisites
Icon
9. Handling Prerequisites
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Stopping the installation with a launch condition
Icon
Installing only to supported versions of Windows
Icon
Redistributing the .NET Framework with a bootstrapper
Icon
Executing either a 64-bit or 32-bit MSI depending on the user's operating system
Icon
Downloading resources from the Web with a web installer
10
10. Installing Websites
Icon
10. Installing Websites
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Spinning up a new application pool in IIS
Icon
Adding a website to IIS that runs under your app pool
Icon
Creating a virtual directory
Icon
Adding a web application to IIS
Icon
Setting up a website to use SSL
11
11. Linking to the Web
Icon
11. Linking to the Web
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Adding a hyperlink control to a wizard dialog
Icon
Opening an installed HTML file after a successful installation
Icon
Launching a web page when a user uninstalls our software
Icon
Installing a shortcut that opens a web page
Icon
Updating programs and features to show a link to our company's website
12
12. Installing SQL Server Databases
Icon
12. Installing SQL Server Databases
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Installing a SQL Server instance with a bootstrapper
Icon
Adding a database to a SQL Server instance
Icon
Creating a table within a SQL Server database
Icon
Inserting data into a database table
Icon
Creating an ODBC data source for a SQL Server instance
13
13. Admin Tasks
Icon
13. Admin Tasks
Icon
Introduction
Icon
Setting an environment variable
Icon
Creating a scheduled task
Icon
Defining a new event source for the Windows event viewer
Icon
Registering a performance counter
Icon
Adding an exception to Windows Firewall
14
Index
Icon
Index

Installing WiX and creating a new project in Visual Studio 2013

It's possible to work with WiX outside of Visual Studio, but within it, you'll benefit from the project templates; IntelliSense and shortcuts to the compiler and linker settings are available on the project's properties. The only downside is that WiX doesn't work with Visual Studio Express. However, its installer will give you the compiler and linker so that you can still get work done even if you're using Notepad to write the markup. SharpDevelop, a free and open source IDE, also supports WiX projects.

Getting WiX up and running starts with downloading and running its installer. This is a one-stop shop to update Visual Studio, getting the compiler and linker as well as other utilities to work with MSI packages. WiX supports Visual Studio 2005 and later, including Visual Studio 2013, which we'll cover here. In this recipe, we will download and install WiX and create our first setup project.

Getting ready

To prepare for this recipe, install Visual Studio 2013 and close it before installing WiX.

How to do it…

Download and install the WiX toolset to get access to new project templates, IntelliSense, and project properties in Visual Studio. The following steps will guide you:

  1. Open a browser, navigate to http://www.wixtoolset.org, and follow the link to the downloads page:
    How to do it…
  2. Once downloaded, launch the WiX installer and click on Install:
    How to do it…
  3. After completing the installation, open Visual Studio and go to File | New | Project | Windows Installer XML.
  4. Select the Setup Project template from the list of available project types. The version of .NET that's displayed has no bearing on the project since it's comprised of XML mark-up and not .NET code. Give the project a name and click on OK:
    How to do it…
  5. The project will initially include a file named Product.wxs, which contains the skeleton markup you'll need to create an installer:
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
  <Product Id="*" 
      Name="My Software" 
      Language="1033" 
      Version="1.0.0.0" 
      Manufacturer="My Company" 
      UpgradeCode="889e2707-5235-4d97-b178-cf0cb55d8ab8">
    <Package InstallerVersion="200" 
      Compressed="yes" 
      InstallScope="perMachine" />

    <MajorUpgrade DowngradeErrorMessage="A newer version of [ProductName] is already installed." />
    <MediaTemplate />

    <Feature Id="ProductFeature" 
      Title="MyFirstWixProject" Level="1">
      <ComponentGroupRef Id="ProductComponents" />
    </Feature>
  </Product>

  <Fragment>
    <Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
      <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
        <Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" 
          Name="My Software" />
      </Directory>
    </Directory>
  </Fragment>

  <Fragment>
    <ComponentGroup Id="ProductComponents" 
      Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
      <!-- TODO: Remove the comments around this Component element and the ComponentRef below in order to add resources to this installer. -->
      <!-- <Component Id="ProductComponent"> -->
        <!-- TODO: Insert files, registry keys, and other resources here. -->
      <!-- </Component> -->
    </ComponentGroup>
  </Fragment>
</Wix>

How it works…

The WiX team has always worked quickly to keep up with the latest versions of Visual Studio. For example, WiX 3.9 supports Visual Studio 2013. When we launched the installer, it checked which versions of Visual Studio were present and registered its project templates with all that were compatible.

Behind the scenes, WiX introduces a new project type that has a .wixproj file extension. This project file contains MSBuild markup, which points to the WiX compiler and linker. Other IDEs, such as SharpDevelop, can take advantage of these project files to build MSI packages too.

The Product.wxs file contains everything we need to get started with writing WiX markup. The best coding practices for how to structure a WiX file have been defaulted for you. For example, the Directory elements are separated into a Fragment element so that directories are decoupled from the files that will go into them. A ComponentGroup has been set up with a comment guiding you to add Component elements to it. Each version of WiX brings a better Product.wxs file with it.

There's more…

If you were curious about what effect changing the version of the .NET framework listed in the drop-down list at the top of the New Project window would have, the answer, at least for setup projects, is nothing at all. A WiX file contains XML and is compiled with a specialized WiX compiler, so the version of .NET that we select will ultimately be ignored. That's not to say that it doesn't make a difference for any of the other project types. For example, C# Custom Action Project will have a dependency on the version of .NET that's selected. Anyone who uses the installer that in turn uses that custom action will need to have that version of .NET installed.

Visually different images
CONTINUE READING
83
Tech Concepts
36
Programming languages
73
Tech Tools
Icon Unlimited access to the largest independent learning library in tech of over 8,000 expert-authored tech books and videos.
Icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Icon 50+ new titles added per month and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
WiX Cookbook
End of Section 1
Next Section
notes
bookmark Notes and Bookmarks search Search in title playlist Add to playlist font-size Font size

Change the font size

margin-width Margin width

Change margin width

day-mode Day/Sepia/Night Modes

Change background colour

Close icon Search
Country selected
Close icon Your notes and bookmarks

Confirmation

Modal Close icon
claim successful
Order Page Read Now

Buy this book with your credits?

Modal Close icon
Are you sure you want to buy this book with one of your credits?
Close
YES, BUY

Submit Your Feedback

Modal Close icon
Modal Close icon
Modal Close icon