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  • Book Overview & Buying WiX Cookbook
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WiX Cookbook

WiX Cookbook

By : Nicholas Matthew Ramirez
3.5 (10)
Buy this Book
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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)
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Preface
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Preface
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What this book covers
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What you need for this book
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Who this book is for
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Conventions
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Reader feedback
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Customer support
Lock Free Chapter
1
1. Organizing and Building WiX Projects
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1. Organizing and Building WiX Projects
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Introduction
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Installing WiX and creating a new project in Visual Studio 2013
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Referencing the output of a .NET console application in a WiX project by using a preprocessor variable
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Separating a portion of WIX markup into its own library
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Compiling a WiX installer on a build machine using MSBuild
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Building a WiX installer from the command line
2
2. Installing Files and Directories
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2. Installing Files and Directories
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Introduction
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Installing directories onto the target computer
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Adding a file to a directory
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Installing a 64-bit executable file to Program Files
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Including one component or another depending on the condition
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Using the heat.exe tool to generate components
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3. File and Folder Permissions
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3. File and Folder Permissions
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Introduction
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Changing the permissions on a folder for a user
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Changing the permissions on a file for a user
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Marking a file as read only
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Creating a file share
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Setting the default program for a file type
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4. Shortcuts
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4. Shortcuts
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Introduction
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Adding an application shortcut to the Start menu
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Adding an icon to a shortcut
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Placing a shortcut on the desktop
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Creating a shortcut to a folder
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Creating an advertised shortcut that installs a feature on demand
5
5. Editing XML Files during Installation
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5. Editing XML Files during Installation
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Introduction
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Adding a new element to an XML file during installation
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Setting the value of an attribute on an XML element
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Inserting inner text into an XML element
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Adding an XML element only if it does not already exist
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Removing an XML element
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6. Custom Actions
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6. Custom Actions
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Introduction
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Creating a C# custom action and referencing it in your project
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Passing information entered by a user to a deferred custom action
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Preventing custom action data from being displayed in the install log
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Running an executable as a custom action without showing a console window by using CAQuietExec
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Testing rollback custom actions with WixFailWhenDeferred
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7. Installing Wizards
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7. Installing Wizards
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Introduction
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Adding a wizard to guide users through the installation
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Changing the logo images and default license agreement text of the wizard
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Customizing the wizard by adding a new dialog window to it
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Deciding which dialog to show next depending on the user's choices
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Setting a property based on user input
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8. Users and Groups
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8. Users and Groups
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Introduction
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Creating a local user
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Adding a new user to a new group
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Adding a new user to an existing group
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Adding an existing user to a new group
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Adding a new user with the log on as a service security setting
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9. Handling Prerequisites
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9. Handling Prerequisites
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Introduction
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Stopping the installation with a launch condition
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Installing only to supported versions of Windows
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Redistributing the .NET Framework with a bootstrapper
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Executing either a 64-bit or 32-bit MSI depending on the user's operating system
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Downloading resources from the Web with a web installer
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10. Installing Websites
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10. Installing Websites
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Introduction
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Spinning up a new application pool in IIS
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Adding a website to IIS that runs under your app pool
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Creating a virtual directory
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Adding a web application to IIS
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Setting up a website to use SSL
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11. Linking to the Web
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11. Linking to the Web
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Introduction
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Adding a hyperlink control to a wizard dialog
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Opening an installed HTML file after a successful installation
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Launching a web page when a user uninstalls our software
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Installing a shortcut that opens a web page
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Updating programs and features to show a link to our company's website
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12. Installing SQL Server Databases
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12. Installing SQL Server Databases
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Introduction
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Installing a SQL Server instance with a bootstrapper
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Adding a database to a SQL Server instance
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Creating a table within a SQL Server database
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Inserting data into a database table
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Creating an ODBC data source for a SQL Server instance
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13. Admin Tasks
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13. Admin Tasks
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Introduction
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Setting an environment variable
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Creating a scheduled task
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Defining a new event source for the Windows event viewer
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Registering a performance counter
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Adding an exception to Windows Firewall
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Index
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Index

Setting the value of an attribute on an XML element

Although settings can often be configured by adding entire elements, others can be configured by setting an attribute on an already existing element. For example, we can replace a default database connection string by setting the connectionString attribute on an add element. By doing it at installation time, we're given the flexibility to collect the connection details from the user or base them on the environment in which the installer is running. In this recipe, we'll see how to use the XmlConfig element to change a default connection string to something else.

Getting ready

To prepare for this recipe, perform the following steps:

  1. Create a new setup project and name it XmlAttributeInstaller.

  2. Add an XML file to the project and call it Web.config. Add the following markup to it:

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
  <appSettings />
  <connectionStrings>
    <add name="mydb" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" connectionString...
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