Creating an MSI installer for the first time

Question

I need to make an msi installer for my very simple (no databases or anything) vb.net application in VS2010. I don't know anything about installers. Where do I start?

Answer 1

I would recommend taking a look at Windows Installer XML, commonly referred to as WiX. It's a bit more complicated than Visual Studio setup projects, but it allows you to treat your installer like source code.

Makes longer term maintenance of installers easier than the GUI-based alternatives. Microsoft uses it to create many of their own installers.

It's available free here: http://wix.sourceforge.net/

A good tutorial for beginners is available here: http://www.tramontana.co.hu/wix/

Be warned though, MSI has a somewhat steep learning curve. The biggest problem you'll probably face isn't with Windows Installer (MSI) itself, but the deployment of the .NET Framework to the target machines. There's no way to deploy .NET from within Windows Installer - you'll need a separate executable "bootstrapper" that installs .NET before the MSI can be launched.