Installing .NET Framework with my app using MSI

Question

I have created a setup project in VS2008. My WinForms app uses .NET 2.0, so I chose .NET 2.0 Prerequisity and built the setup project.

When I run my Setup.msi on a clean PC, it correctly detects that the .NET is missing and asks if it should be installed. After a successful installation of the .NET, the installer simply exits and doesn't continue with installation of my app (I think it should).

When I run the MSI file on a PC with .NET already installed, my app installs correctly.

Is there any way how to install .NET 2.0 and my app together in one step?

Answer 1

How did you install the product?

The setup project will output two files:

• a Windows Installer package (.msi), and
• a so-called bootstrapper (setup.exe)

The bootstrapper will check for the presence of any pre-requisite that you specified and possibly download and install it if it is not installed yet and then continue to install your application (by calling the .msi). Therefore you should always start the setup.exe to install your application and not the .msi file (unless you know that all pre-requisites are on the target system).

As Krakkos says, the bootstrapper will install both the pre-requisites and your application (i.e. your .msi file). However, I'm not aware of any configuration settings which would prevent the bootstrapper from installing the msi.

To troubleshoot you could try to create a log of your installation and look for any problems in the log file.