How to deploy an Office VSTO add-in using Visual Studio 2017

Question

I've created an Outlook add-in, debugged and works fine. I want to be able to package it up for distribution. This is for a very limited audience 5-10 people. What are the steps to doing so?

I tried Build | Publish which appears to work (using options of local filename and CDROM install location), but creates a massive 1.5MB setup.exe file and when it is executed, takes forever (it appears trying to contact some remote server and times out and pops an error, although the add-in appears to be registered).

Looking online, I found references to creating a SetupProject or using InstallShield Limited addition, but none of those appear to apply to Visual Studio 2017.

I'd be happy if I could just provide my DLL and a .reg file -- this is for a small set of 5-10 power users.

What is the simplest way to deploy this add-in?

Answer 1

The easiest way is Build | Publish. Just disable any online activities if you don't want it. You can do that in Project -> Settings -> Publish. Check your "Updates" settings for example.

Answer 2

You can download a Visual Studio project type from here: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=VisualStudioProductTeam.MicrosoftVisualStudio2017InstallerProjects

This will allow you to deploy the package, but it's somewhat buggy in my opinion. Also, the link above does not have any documentation. You have to go to another page for that and the answer is buried in the comments:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ybshs20f(v=vs.90).aspx

The ClickOnce has worked more consistently for us, however. Just right-click and select Publish on the Project.

It is a long ways off from the old InstallShield LE process, which allowed you to customize the entire process including images, click-through licensing, etc.

But the InstallShield LE had it's own set of issues, and seems to have been all but abandoned.

It may be worth looking at other 3rd-party tools like WiX (http://wixtoolset.org/) to get things installed correctly, or even manually writing your own installer to get things put where they need to be.