Visual Studio 2015: How to create MSI Installer package

[@fredmaney8364]

10 out of 10. No wasted words, just concise and to the point.

[@davidcheng2167]

Thanks, Good job! This one deserves a lot more views than the first popup while searching for "MS installer for VS 2015"

[@jiminycricket6791]

This deserves way more views then the other ones! Finally someone talks and explains whats going on (roughly but i'll take it)

[@TheDQ13]

Every day I bake a cookie for a special someone. Today, I give YOU that cookie.

[@OfficialBetta]

Dave Quarick YAYY

[@ToughKevin]

Thanks a lot Byron. This set is missing from my beginner books and you have explained it very well. Thanks for helping us out!

[@kylekukshtel9945]

This is probably the best modern tutorial on this - thanks!

[@russs.1489]

Great video! Took me a while to figure out how to create a desktop icon and subdirectory to run my record-keeping program, but your very clear tutorial got me started down the right path very quickly.

[@spritefun9362]

Just wanted to say thanks. This extension was a pain at first, but your vid helped a lot!!

[@waltkraybill5129]

Awesome! Straight and to the point with good comments on the features that you didn't use.

[@ByronBennett]

Thanks, Walt.

[@natefidalgo7625]

Great explanation looks like the installers is pretty straight forward to use. Its not expensive or to detailed/obscured by to many features. WOW glad you made that video. Excellent always want to make more professional deployment methods with software rather then zip files and readme /install instruction files.

[@alexmattelaer8105]

Nice simple and clear walk through - great stuff thanks!

[@mikegibbs6879]

Excellent! This works exactly the same on VS17. Many, many thanks.

[@leeshuster3798]

Thank you so much for an easy to follow video. I was able to follow this step by step & I have to say it was a lot easier than I was expecting it to be!

[@ByronBennett]

Very welcome.

[@ForSynthsSake]

That was really really helpful, the pace was perfect.

[@ForSynthsSake]

Byron I have a question. if i make a change to the program do i just need to rebuild both is that enough to create the new setup file with the changes?

[@ByronBennett]

Hey FSS, yes, rebuilding both will change the MSI. I don't think the Setup.exe actually changes, but I could be wrong. The MSI is the key file, but you need them both. I have my users go to Control Panel and do an uninstall before running the Setup.exe again. I some cases, that may not be necessary, but I have the small group of folks I'm building for do it. I'd recommend testing it out on your system to see if it is needed. Cheers!

[@eeidfn]

This was so easy to follow. Thank you for the video.

[@eileenb849]

Thanks so much for making this video. It's been very very helpful!

[@osPA78]

Boom!!! Great video Mr. Bennett! Thank you for putting out such great content!

[@ByronBennett]

Welcome ;-)

[@raokblee2157]

Awesome video Byron, concise and useful.

[@ItsBTrue]

You explained everything extremely well and concisely. Thank you for the help

[@darkmesa8107]

So, let me understand. I need to download an Installer to Install an Installer which requires Install to create the Installer? Did I get it right?

[@ByronBennett]

:P I think you forgot the Installer. But yeah, the Installer is the important part.

[@jlumley]

You need to download a pre-installer, to install the IDE which requires an extension with which you can create your own installer.

[@natefidalgo7625]

Wow really good video i wish i new about that windows msi installer plugin back when i was using visual studios and just releasing exe builds. I am wondering did they ever incorporate that plugin in the standard projects one can select or is it always a plugin you have to install with your VS IDE?? Also was the first time they had in visual studios an MSI installer project option??? I started way back in visual c++ then went on to visual studio in around 2000 and left visual studio around 2012 editions. Is this something only new in 2015. Curious been so hard to find an msi install program out there freely available?????

[@brianmulligan4351]

If only the MSDN documentation could be that easy. Thanks!

[@mconejackson8645]

Hey thanks man. Got my stupid project up and running. Good video!

[@ByronBennett]

:)

[@beluv]

Thank you for the video! Very concise and informative. Although next time maybe close Outlook before recording.

[@syeddanishali440]

Perfect tutorial. Succinct and Simple. Thanks a lot man. Secondly, I followed the same procedure but didn't get any icons on desktop for the newly installed application. Can you please guide me if there is an additional step to be taken to get an icon on the users desktop. Thanks in advance.

[@thearchibaldtuttle]

Gave me a good head start for VS2017! Thanks!

[@ByronBennett]

Welcome!

[@williambiggs2308]

Very nice. Thank you. How does VS know which project to present as primary output? Does it presume the most recent? Also, my build placed the .msi in the Debug folder?

[@ByronBennett]

Hi William, Glad it was helpful! I'm not sure if it''s the same thing, but you can set the Startup Project by going to the top node in Solution Explorer, right click > Properties > choose Startup Project from tree and set it in the drop down. You should be able to switch to Release by choosing Release in the drop down right below the main top toolbar. I always Clean and Build Release before I run the build on the Setup project, may not be necessary, but it makes me feel better.

[@aleksandarmalovic8535]

Thank you for the great video, it helped me a lot :)

[@bananskillet]

Perfect video, really helped me..thanks!

[@ajinkyarasal5965]

Hey One thing I figured out is My "Primary Output" file doesn't show up as the .exe file when I try to assign a AddRemoveProgramsIcon.Can that be a issue?

[@noah_edwrds]

Your voice in this video : ASMR Me : zzzzzzzzz

[@cuinjune1]

Thanks. It was really helpful.

[@Bodyja]

How can I add the dependences? I'm making a videogame using c++ and SDL and i want to make an installer but it doesn't show th dll's to me... :/ Any solutions?? thx

[@PulkitsoftLLP]

Do you have an idea? How to add additional executable and installable files with C# installer project, that install automatically with application setup.

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Pulkitsoft, I am not sure how to go about that with the basic installer these days, and I don't have it setup so that I could play with it. I have switched to using Advanced Installer which allows you to add other files and run custom actions, etc. You could do it fairly easily with that, but unfortunately, I'm not set up to explore how to do it with the basic installer now.

[@alyabdullah9232]

this error appear Unable to update the dependencies of the project. The dependencies for the object 'PasswordEncrypt.dll' cannot be determined.

[@ksukat87]

2019 and find this incredibly useful. Followed you're exact formula but no msi or exe in the release folder. I get no errors when I build/rebuild. Did I miss something ? I have been through the video step by step.

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Darryl, You’ve probably already checked, bu see if you were building the Debug by accident. If so, the MSI would be in the Debug folder, I think.

[@ksukat87]

@@ByronBennett Thanks for the quick reply on an older video. No, I'm building Release and I checked both bin subfolders just to be sure. I have to be missing something very simple.

[@ksukat87]

Well, I figured it out. It was stupid. I had a Shortcut in the User's Desktop but did not have the property Always Create set to true on the Application folder (in the File System). Once corrected, worked like a charm. This little fly in the ointment was due to the Output window not being displayed, and the Build statement indicating it was done with no errors. Output window showed one project built, the other failed. Lesson learned. Thanks.

[@Shillkith]

Thanks Byron, very helpful video, just what I needed. Do you happen to know how I can include a couple of shortcut files (.lnk) with my project? When I try "add file" and try to add them, it won't. I tried searching but can't really find anything. Thanks man!

[@ByronBennett]

Thanks, shillkith! If you're trying to add shortcuts from your machine, these will not likely have the same values on another user's machine. Their harddrive may be mapped to something other than C, or the file may not exist. I think that is why you're not finding any support for adding actual shortcuts. You may need to add the actual files you're trying to link to just like you were trying to add the shortcuts, and then create shortcuts from the added files. Here is how you would create a shortcut to your applications executable...this should work for any files you add to the File System on Target Machine. Try this: 1) Right-click on your Setup project 2) Select View -> File System 3) Click on Application Folder in the tree under File System on Target Machine 4) Right-click on the file 'Primary output from [Your project name] (Active)' 5) Select 'Create Shortcut to Primary output from [Your project name]' 6) Then take and drag the shortcut to the User's Desktop folder if you want it on the desktop. You can also rename the shortcut.

[@solveet2011]

Would you happen to know how I could add a EULA to this (vs 2015 community C#)? Thanks

[@ByronBennett]

Hi aj, I haven't gone that deep into it. I think that using a 3rd party MSI builder as Widkey suggests below (kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnimpoyti9-DfK8&lc=z13rdzoottmatdlvn22atr1rjuu1hfgc2.1492916100966117) would be your best bet if you want to do a lot of user interaction during install.

[@gavinbalajadia8697]

how to you build just an installer for an update?

[@geoffoverfield37]

Hey Byron. This video is a huge help!! Thank you so much!! Question: My installs are showing the file extension (.exe) - how can I make that NOT happen??

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Geoff, glad it helped. If you're seeing the .exe extension on the shortcuts, you should be able to change the name of the shortcut. To get to that, you can right-click on your Setup project in the Solution Explorer, select View / File System, then navigate to the shortcut (probably in the User's Desktop folder), then click on the shortcut and then in the properties window, change the name. If you're seeing the .exe on the actual Exe, that would be an operating system level setting to show extensions or not. This search can get you there: www.google.com/search?q=windows+hide+file+extensions

[@geoffoverfield37]

Awesome!! Thanks Byron!!

[@DaddyDadBod]

Hi, I followed your tutorial. It seems that I have missed something because my build location went to /Debug not in the /Release. I tried to install using the .msi, I cant find where my installed application folder in /Program Files and /Program Files(x86). Please help. Thanks!

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Maki, I believe you can switch your build from Debug to Release and that will put it in the /Release folder. There should be a drop down in the top toolbar of VS (don't have VS in front of me, so trying to go by memory). You need to have both the .exe and the .msi to install your app. Run the .exe and that will use the .msi during the installation. Hope that helps.

[@mohammedabdulsubhan8018]

Dear Byron, I have dependent projects and multiple languages also. But, the setup is not working with other language and dependent project. Please help me. How can I resolve this. Thanks

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Mohammed, if it is possible in your case, I'd recommend compiling your dependent projects to DLLs and then add them as References in your main project, just like you would any other reference. This should take the complexity of dependent projects out of the mix.

[@АндрейЗаостровцев-т7х]

This is useful, thank you.

[@geoffoverfield37]

Hey Byron. I have a question about this. First - your video is great. Straight-forward and easy to follow! What I am curious about is this: When I want users to install my app, this will place the files in the specified location - but it places the whole file folder - icons, dll's and the executable. If I want this to happen AND I want the app to install (a shortcut) to the desktop and start menu, how do I do that? Thanks!!

[@geoffoverfield37]

Found this: stackoverflow.com/questions/3303962/visual-studio-deployment-project-create-shortcut-to-deployed-executable

[@ByronBennett]

That's it. Thanks for the comment.

[@EBLITZR]

Very nice, Thank you!

[@ahmedkhawaja7524]

Hello, Firstly I would like to say this is a clear and excellent tutorial. thank you! I am facing an issue when giving the MSI file to windows XP users. The installation window opens however gives the message 'The Installation Was Interrtuped before [MyProductName] could be installed. You need to restart the installer to try again ' and then you can only close the window. It works fine for windows 7 users. Any ideas what I am doing wrong and how to create an MSI for Windows XP users? Any help would be appreciated, Thanks!

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Ahmed, I am afraid there a lots of reasons that might be the case. It could be one of the libraries you are linking is not compatible with Windows XP. My recommendation would be to build a basic application with just the default references, build an MSI for that, and see if you can get it to install on XP and 7. If so, then you can start adding references from your app to the dummy app and see where it starts to fail. I have no experience doing this for XP, so there are probably lots of other things that might be the problem (.Net version, etc.). If you can get something basic to work for both, it would be just a matter of working through your app to see what's causing the issue. Sorry, not much help. Byron

[@ahmedkhawaja7524]

Thank you for your help Byron!

[@martinwinkler3063]

Thanks very much for this video

[@firsansen]

thanks sir. it works :D

[@Savageboi506]

Thanks! Very helpful!

[@ByronBennett]

Welcome :-)

[@ajinkyarasal5965]

Hi Byron, I created the installer as per your video. Installed the msi file on other machine,The Add-in Outlook active add-in list,but it doesn't appear in the UI (Added a button on AppointmentItem Ribbon) Could you suggest anythingon this pls?

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Ajinkya, I'm sorry, I haven't worked with Outlook add-in's. I don't have any experience to suggest where to start looking. Best regards, Byron

[@ajinkyarasal5965]

But whatever the project is,,shouldn't the installer package it all as ONE!?

[@ByronBennett]

Ajinkya Rasal It sounds like you are seeing the Add-in in the add-in list, so I would presume that the packager got all of the projects in your solution. I don't have access to view it at this time, but you should be able to see all of the projects that are packaged in the log that is generated during the build of the setup project. Assuming you just have your main project and the setup project in your solution, you should see 2 projects built. As I mentioned, I haven't done anything with outlook addins, so I am not sure what to look for, but since you can add it to outlook after running the installer, my first thought would be that it might need to be selected to view in the ribbon or something like that.

[@ajinkyarasal5965]

Byron,Would it be fine if I share my main project with you? I tried various things to get the installer correct. Could you please give it a try to just make a setup project? You having a better knowledge and the Know How of creating a setup could make it work. :)

[@ajinkyarasal5965]

I understand I am asking for bit too much :). Its ok if its not possible.

[@ghislainnkagou7150]

How i can add a icon application

[@HomoSiliconiens]

Thank you very much!!!

[@Widkey]

Do you have any information on how to do user updates to existing installs?

[@ByronBennett]

Hey Widkey, I haven't looked into complicated installs that do a bunch of registry changes, et al, so mine have been fairly straight forward: have the user run the uninstall from start/control panel/software, and then run reinstall by running Setup.exe against your new MSI.

[@Widkey]

Thanks, your video here was very helpful BTW. I was weighing my options because I'd really like to have a 'check for updates' button for my users to click. I know this can be done but would require more coding and research than what I have time for at this point. I ended up purchasing Advanced Installer instead. Their system has most of the stuff already in place, so will be less work on my end I hope. My plan is to actually create the installer using the free visual studio installer, and then run Advanced Installer to convert my setup, and then create the 'click to update' button. I'll update this post here on how everything goes if this does or doesn't work out. May be of help to others down the road.

[@ByronBennett]

That is my plan as well. A 3rd party is probably the best bet if you have a customer facing app unless you have lots of time or resources.

[@Widkey]

Well after working with Advanced Installer for several days now, I have to say I'm very pleased with it. It took me a little while to get my bearings but I was able to setup an installer for my application and a 'check for updates' button that works nicely. I would now recommend it if you're looking to go further than what the free VS setup will do. I'm using the professional edition $399, well worth it in my opinion compared to some of the others I looked at.

[@ByronBennett]

Hey, thanks for the report on that! I looked at it after you mentioned it, and it did look good. The auto updater in particular. Hope it goes well for you.

[@bitemyshinymetalass7393]

if i ever meet you .. i'll buy you a box of beer

[@ByronBennett]

:P

[@sjkrypaa5997]

it works, but without DB how can I make a wpf app deploy with DB please?

[@ByronBennett]

Hi SJ, I haven't tried that yet. Depending on which database you need, it can be very involved or relatively straightforward. The easiest option (from my reading) is SQL Server Compact Edition, which is essentially a database in a single file that you can include as a file resource in your msi: www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17876. The level of difficulty goes up from there. Sorry, but I haven't done this and can't really supply the details. Best regards, Byron

[@NadeemAhmed-jj7bv]

Hi I have followed your steps but i get a error while building the project, Unrecoverable build error. Can you help me. Thanks in advance

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Nadeem, not sure I can help, but here is a Stackoverflow that addresses the issue...there's an anwer on there that appears to fix it for some: stackoverflow.com/questions/42624572/unrecoverable-build-error-whilst-trying-to-build-setup-on-vs2015

[@NadeemAhmed-jj7bv]

Thanks for your reply.. I can build my setup project now. I have a Question can i add SQL Database .bak file in my exe and restore it in the client sql management while installing the .exe setup file?

[@emilejuniorada6670]

please i'm making a software with visual studio 2013 and mysql workbench and i need to make a setup for client machine but it doesn't take my database can you help me ?

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Junior ADA, sorry I don't have any experience with that. Depending on your requirements, MSFT has a simple install for their SQL Server Express LocalDB that you can add to a project by adding the MSI installer for that and having your installer run the MSI. But that's probably a lot more of a change to your project than you'd want to tackle.

[@emilejuniorada6670]

Byron Bennett okay thank you

[@emilejuniorada6670]

Byron Bennett this video helped me a little

[@Mirrorz_]

Is it possible to deploy updates for this kind of installer?

[@ByronBennett]

Hi CPU_Gamin, honestly, I don't know how to do that. I am in the process of switching to Advanced Installer, which has an Updater feature. www.advancedinstaller.com/user-guide/updater.html

[@Mirrorz_]

Byron Bennett Ok cool. I'll try that one out and see if it has all the features I need!

[@markbriones4329]

I followed every step but no file created in the /release folder. Why? I'm using vs2015

[@ByronBennett]

Hi mark, check to make sure that you have selected Release in the drop down right below the VS tool bar (at least that's where it is on VS 2017). If still not working, check to see if it is putting the build in your Debug folder.

[@markbriones4329]

I saw the .exe in the debug folder when the dropdown is in "Debug" mode. But when I change it to "Release", there is no file in the release folder and there is an error on that. Please help me, I really need this. =(

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Mark, I don't have access to my PC that has the set up, so I can't check it to verify. Hopefully, someone else will chime in if they have an answer. Some things to check: 1) try setting both of the projects (your main one and the Installer project) to Release if you can. Make sure you're looking in the Installer project for the setup.exe and the .msi file. Additionally, I'm not 100% sure if there is any difference between the output between the Debug and Release, unless you intentionally make some changes between the two.

[@independantistes]

Why I don't have setup wizard types ?

[@weapon_nkelenkele6868]

please download it here in the link bellow, and execute it online it will be added in your visual studio. marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=visualstudioclient.MicrosoftVisualStudio2015InstallerProjects

[@richie3143]

can you style this? Like make it custom?

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Richino, I think most of the styled installers are built with third party installers like Advanced Installer (see Widkey's comments below). I'm not aware of a way to style this. It may be possible, but it's not immediately evident.

[@Organic-Life4U]

Good one.....Thank you

[@borc63]

Well done!

[@ChandraSekhar-qf9pz]

tq so much sir im very happy

[@pedrofilhoalvesdasilva5533]

Quando inicio essa aula...Quase chorei, não foi de alegria...foi de tristeza, depos, uma vontade louca de sorrir, nem com um século, vou saber o que este inglês esta falando...kkkkkkkkkk

[@dirklemmen9493]

After the installation my application doesn't run when clicking on the .exe

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Dirk, not sure what that could be, but something to check: make sure that all the files that get built in your bin\debug or bin elease folder exist in your installation folder. Just a simple place to start.

[@dirklemmen9493]

I fixed it thanks!

[@ByronBennett]

welcome

[@atilliar]

how do you set the .exe icon?

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Jonathon, in Visual Studio, click on your project in the Solution Explorer pane, then in the main VS toolbar, go to Project / Settings. In the first menu selection, "Application", look for Icon and Manifest section. That should do it.

[@atilliar]

Thanks

[@sajjadahmad6436]

How to set Password on setup file

[@mima6535]

Visual Studio 2015: How to create MSI Installer package """"with prerequisites"""" Please !!!!

[@rainbowsixification]

Will this work in dll project

[@ByronBennett]

Yes, it should.

[@oscarvlogs5327]

It does work, but I dont get the files. Someone help?

[@ByronBennett]

Hi Oscar, it could be hiding in the Debug folder if you are building the Debug. Try Right-click the Setup project, select Open Folder in File Explorer and then check the Debug and Release folders to see if it's there.

[@oscarvlogs5327]

Thanks, it worked.

[@wickiwicked]

Thanx bro!

[@talesseed]

Does it work with C++ too?

[@ByronBennett]

It should.

[@talesseed]

Byron Bennett Thanks a lot for the answer!

[@Wavesonics]

Thanks!

[@MrSchehed]

thank you

[@coryulrich2092]

LOL Bing!

[@meghamisra5622]

I have a small windows desktop application and I am trying to package and deploy it the application uses a special third-party font to create barcode and print the barcodes you have already added the DLL from third party to the application library but once setup is created that the font is not working and my project font is also back to ms office font not the barcode font The required font is also installed on the system. Can you please help me to fix this issue

[@binaryblu9298]

If it is a microsoft word 2016 add-in designed on VS2017, how to create the installation file? thanks

[@biagio4689]

Thanks for the video!

[@kobimizrahi9397]

Thank you!

[@ChandraSekhar-qf9pz]

tq so much sir im very happy