Windows Service - Creating an installer Visual studio 2012 How?

Question

I'm developing a Windows service in VS2012 and the setup/deployment part has been removed. So I'm not able to create a setup project. I would like to hear what you guys could recommend for a good easy to use the installer. I need to take some inputs, only strings, under the installation of the service. I've been looking at WiX but that seems a bit complex, and I only got 1 or 2 days to make this installer.

So what installer should I use other than Wix?

Answer 1

I've had really bad experiences with InstallShield LE (the one that comes with Visual Studio 2012), especially for Windows Services. The features that you need to install a service (custom actions, etc), don't come with the light version.

What I'm planning to do for the current Windows service I'm working on is to build it with Topshelf, which (amongst other things) means installing your service is as simple as running MyServiceApp.exe install. I'm sure even InstallShield will let you run your app once it's installed, and then your app/Topshelf can install the service component.

If InstallShield doesn't work for you, I've had good results before with NSIS. Simple, powerful, free, decent documentation. It looks a bit clunky.

Answer 2

Here is a list of setup tools which can get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_installation_software

If you don't have a lot of time for creating the installer, I recommend using a commercial tool like Advanced Installer or InstallShield. You need a license, but they are focused on usability (do more in less time).