How to force deployment project to update files during installation of newer version?

Question

I have a Deployment Project for my VS2008 C# application. When installing a new version of my application I want to make sure that files are updated with the files contained in the installer.

I want my installer to automatically remove any old version of the installed application. To do that I follow this procedure (also described here):

1. Set RemovePreviousVersions to True
2. Set DetectNewerInstalledVersion to True
3. Increment the Version of the installer
4. Choose Yes to change the ProductCode

For the assemblies I make sure the AssemblyVersion is set to a higher version:

[assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.*")]

Everything is working as intended except for my configuration files (xml files). Since I cannot find a way to "version" these files I cannot make sure that the files are updated if they have been modified on the target machine.

Is there any way to do this and how?

UPDATE: I have tried the approach/solution/workaround found here

1. Include the file directly in a project with the following properties: "Build Action -> Content file" and "Copy to Output Directory -> Copy always"
2. Then add it to the deployment project via Project Output->Database->Content Files

Unfortunately it did not make any difference. The behavior is exactly the same.

Answer 1

Add the following property to the Property table of the MSI: Property REINSTALLMODE with Value amus

Note: This will cause all the files in the MSI (versioned and nonversioned) to overwrite the files that are on the system.

Answer 2

If you're willing to use Orca (there may be another way to do this method, but it's the only one I know of) you may be able to set up RemoveFile directives.

See here for a typically light-weight MSDN document -- could be a starting point. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa371201.aspx

Alternatively you could always create a very simple bootstrapper executable that simply calls "msiexec /i REINSTALLMODE=oums" (or whichever command-line switches are needed). Call it setup.exe if you like...

Better option long-term may be to switch to InstallShield or similar -- VS2010 includes a light version of IS and I believe they're moving away from vdproj projects.

Answer 3

Have you tried the approach/solution/workaround found here?

1. Include the file directly in a project with the following properties: "Build Action -> Content file" and "Copy to Output Directory -> Copy always"
2. Then add it to the deployment project via Project Output->Database->Content Files