Create MSI or setup project with Visual Studio 2012

Question

I create a small application and I would like to create one MSI file  In Visual Studio 2010 you have this project type under  Other Project Types - gt  Setup and Deployment - gt  Visual studio Installer - gt  Setup Project But the only thing you got in Visual Studio 2012 is  quot Enable InstallShield Limited Edition quot   You can change the  NET Framework  but nothing changes  Why is it not there any more  And how can I get it back  Is there a new way to do this

User · Accepted Answer

To create setup projects in Visual Studio 2012 with InstallShield Limited Edition, watch this video.

The InstallShield limited edition that cannot install services.

"ISLE is by far the worst installer option and the upgraded, read - paid for, version is cumbersome to use at best and impossible in most situations. InnoSetup, Nullsoft, Advanced, WiX, or just about any other installer is better. If you did a survey you would see that nobody is using ISLE. I don't know why you guys continue to associate with InstallShield. It damages your credibility. Any developer worth half his weight in salt knows ISLE is worthless and when you stand behind it we have to question Microsoft's judgment."

By Edward Miller (comments in Visual Studio Installer Projects Extension).

The WiX Toolset, which, while powerful is exceeding user-unfriendly and has a steep learning curve. There is even a downloadable template for installing Windows services (ref. VS2012: Installer for Windows services?).

For Visual Studio 2013, see blog post Creating installers with Visual Studio.

User · Answer

There is some progress for Visual studio 2013 developers  -D woot woot  See blog post Visual Studio Installer Projects Extension   Link and information were retrieved from Brian Harry s blog post Creating installers with Visual Studio

User · Answer

Microsoft has listened to the cry for supporting installers  MSI  in Visual Studio and released the Visual Studio Installer Projects Extension  You can now create installers in Visual Studio 2013  download the extension here from the visualstudiogallery

User · Answer

Please see   Visual Studio setup projects  vdproj  will not ship with future versions of VS  Windows Installer Deployment  It was announced 1 1 2 years ago that the project types were being killed   Alternatives are    Use A VS2008 2010 Solution to build your installer Switch to another tool such as InstallShield or Windows Installer XML

User · Answer

I think that Deploying an Office Solution by Using ClickOnce  MSDN  can be useful   After creating an Outlook plugin for Office 2010 the problem was to install it on the customer s computer  without using ISLE or other complex tools  or expensive    The solution was to use the publish instrument of the Visual Studio project  as described in the link  Just two things to be done before the setup will work    Install the PIA  Primary Interop Assembly  of Office 2010 Install the VSTO 2010 runtime

User · Answer

ISLE  InstallShield Limited Edition  is the  replacement  of the Visual Studio Setup and Deploy project  but many users think Microsoft took wrong step with removing  vdproj support from Visual Studio 2012  and later ones  and supporting third-party company software   Many people asked for returning it back  Bring back the basic setup and deployment project type Visual Studio Installer   but Microsoft is deaf to our voices    really sad   As WiX is really complicated  I think it is worth to try some free installation systems - NSIS or Inno Setup  Both are scriptable and easy to learn - but powerful as original SADP   I have created a really nice Visual Studio extension for NSIS and Inno Setup with many features  intellisense  syntax highlighting  navigation bars  compilation directly from Visual Studio  etc    You can try it at www visual-installer com  sorry for self promo     Download Inno Setup  jrsoftware org isdl php  or NSIS  nsis sourceforge net Download  and install V amp I  unsigned-softworks sk visual-installer downloads html    All installers are simple Next Next Next      In Visual Studio  select menu File -  New -  Project  choose NSISProject or Inno Setup  and a new project will be created  with full sources

User · Answer

Have you tried the  Publish  method   You just right click on the project file in the solution explorer and select  Publish  from the pop-up menu   This creates an installer in a few very simple steps   You can do more configuration of the installer from the Publish tab in the project properties window   NB  This method only works for WPF  amp  Windows Forms apps

User · Answer

Have a look at the article Visual Studio Installer Deployment  It will surely help you   You can choose the correct version of  NET framework on the page  So for you  make it  NET 4 5  I guess that would be there for Visual Studio 2012

[installation] Create MSI or setup project with Visual Studio 2012

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