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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
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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
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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

Redistributing the .NET Framework with a bootstrapper

A bootstrapper checks for prerequisites and installs them if they're missing. So, we could install .NET or SQL Server if it's not present and then follow up by installing our own software. WiX Toolset adds a Visual Studio project template called Bootstrapper Project. In this recipe, we'll see how to deploy the .NET Framework with it.

Getting ready

Create a new setup project and call it InstallerThatNeedsDotNet. We'll use a bootstrapper to bundle this MSI with the .NET Framework.

How to do it...

Add a bootstrapper project, reference NetFxExtension within it, and then include one of its .NET packages in the bootstrapper:

  1. Add a Bootstrapper Project to the solution by right-clicking on the solution in Solution Explorer and going to Add | New Project... | Windows Installer XML | Bootstrapper Project | OK:

  2. NetFxExtension contains packages to install .NET. Add it to the project by right-clicking on the References node in Solution Explorer and going...

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