How to create simple Wix setup project

Question

We have a client/server application which includes a Windows Service and a Winform client tool. I've managed to create a Wix project in Visual Studio (2010, using the wix 3.5 toolset). I'm using the "harvest" feature on the references instead of specifying every file, because there are many library projects involved.

Problems I'm trying to figure out:

1. How to include referenced DLLs? Some are in the GAC, some are in a relative path within the workspace. I assume I could list each file explicitly but it seems like there should be a way for Wix to autodetect them.

2. How to install the service while "harvest" is enabled. All the examples I've seen require adding an explicit element with KeyPath=true. However this doesn't work with the harvest=true setting.

I realize that the harvest functionality might be a convenience which is not feasible when there are more complex things going on. Should I give up on harvesting and just try to specify each file explicitly?

Most of the examples I've seen on Wix have been just snippets of xml files. Is there anywhere I can find complete real-world examples of installing services other non-trivial setup features?

Answer 1

Use WixEdit. http://wixedit.sourceforge.net/

It's very easy to import an entire folder using it.

Also, check out the great WiX tutorial here: http://www.tramontana.co.hu/wix/
5.4 Services Rendered
Services can be installed and started automatically.
http://wix.tramontana.co.hu/tutorial/net-and-net/services-rendered

For even more information, check out more WiX documentation here: http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual