How To Make Installer In Vb Net

This post is related to creating a installer of windows form or WPF awarding that you have created & now need to install it on other PCs with .Net framework. I promise you will empathise it. This postal service can answer Solution of How to brand a setup installer? how to Deploy C# application with .Net 4.0 , How to create a setup on install Shield to install two programs. How to Add .Net Framework 4.0 into setup project. How to run my project(windows forms) c# in a different computer.  How can I make a program work on dissimilar computers independent of .NET Framework? C# , how to Deploy C# application on any computer?

Creating Setup & Deployment in Visual Studio

Introduction:

What happens if an architect designs a lot of architectural drawings and and so does nothing with them? I mean no implementation, no building, just secured within files. Your code inside your reckoner are going to be the same equally unimplemented design if at the finish of the day they are merely debugged for errors and and so no use in friends computers or merely yours seeing its icon in the desktop.

Yous tin make your code and pattern to the real use and non just debugging by edifice it to create an assembly file where someone tin can double-click it and become happy. Merely for larger commercial applications, this simple approach might not be enough; customers would like you to install the files in the appropriate directories, fix shortcuts and have information technology in start menu list.

OK! Simply make them happy by creating .msi installer files using Setup and deployment projects in Visual Studio, and this is what nosotros are going to testify in this tutorial.

Deployment Projection

Visual Studio provides extensive aid for deployment where by you tin can create a setup projection for your application. In Visual Studio 2022, Microsoft has extended its windows installer, Click Once technology and added Install Shield 2022 limited edition. These three available templates in VS2010 are going to be the give-and-take in this postal service.

1. Windows installer:

Windows Installer deployment enables you to create installer packages to distribute to users. Windows Installer deployment is updated in Visual Studio 2022 Professional person for the latest .NET Framework versions. You can target the .NET Framework 4 or ASP.Internet four versions in your windows and Web applications. Additionally, you can check that any version of the .NET Framework is installed on the cease-user reckoner, rather than checking for a specific version of the .Net Framework.

To create a setup projection go to create new project>other projection blazon> setup and deployment> visual studio installer. Let us look at these available templates from the pic below;

create new project>other project type> setup and deployment> visual studio installer

Types of Installers & Which one to cull from higher up moving picture?

Setup Project

Builds an installer for a Windows awarding, setup projects will install files into the file system of a target computer. In addition, a Setup Wizard is bachelor to simplify the process of creating a Setup or Web Setup project.

Spider web Setup Project

Builds an installer for a Web application, the files for a Web Setup Projects are installed into a Virtual Root directory on Spider web servers. The distinction between Setup and Spider web Setup projects is where the installer will be deployed.

Merge module project

A merge module (.msm file) is a single packet that contains all files, resources, registry entries, and setup logic necessary to install a component. Merge modules cannot be installed solitary, but must be used within the context of a Windows Installer (.msi) file. Merge modules allow yous to capture all of the dependencies for a particular component, ensuring that the correct versions are installed. Much the same equally dynamic-link libraries allow y'all to share code between applications; merge modules allow you to share setup code between Windows Installers.

CAB project

Creates a CAB file for downloading to an before Web browser. You can use CAB projects to parcel ActiveX components that can be downloaded from a Web server to a Web browser.

Unlike the other deployment project types, there are no editors provided for working with Cab projects. Files and project outputs can exist added to a Cab project in Solution Explorer, and properties can be fix in the Backdrop window or in the Projection Property pages.

Customizing an installer:

If you are using a wizard, things are easy, just don't forget to put your eye in these two pages;

Customizing an installer

After the sorcerer has finished, at present you have completed to create an installer for your application. Now save all changes and start to build your application, if building completed successfully, build the installer. Go to where you have saved the solution and you volition run across an installer file inside the debug folder in your setup project directory.

Just I think this is not enough for you! You need to become deeper in customization, and then follow me in the following issues:

Deployment editors:

The deployment editors are used to configure an installer that you create with a deployment projection. Each deployment projection includes six editors: File System Editor, Registry Editor, File Types Editor, User Interface Editor, Custom Deportment Editor, and Launch Conditions Editor . To open an editor, select a deployment project and the buttons will appear as shown below or alternatively, correct-click your deployment projection, point to View, and then click the name of the editor that you want to open

File System Editor, Registry Editor, File Types Editor, User Interface Editor, Custom Actions Editor, and Launch Conditions Editor

File system editor;

When the projection is added to the solution, the beginning thing to exist displayed is the file organization editor. The flick above shows file system editor. There are three files in information technology including Application folder where your programme volition exist installed, user`s desktop where a shortcut are placed and a User'southward programme carte du jour where files in information technology are shown in first carte.

To add a file to any of these folders correct click on it and select add> file . To put shortcut of your application in start bill of fare or desktop go to awarding folder, right click on main output from… (Or any other files which you want to create shortcut for them), select create shortcut to… then the shortcut will appear, cut it and paste to the folder where you desire a shortcut to appear. Too you can add together projection outputs in the target folder using the same way explained below simply select project output… instead of a file.

User interface editor;

The user interface editor helps you to customize the installation wizard interface.

User Interface Editor

The User Interface Editor is a tree control containing two sections: Install and Admin . The Install department contains dialog boxes that will exist displayed when the end user runs the installer; the Admin section contains dialog boxes that will be displayed when a system administrator uploads the installer to a network location. Y'all may change the statements that announced during installation categorized in the three predefined dialog boxes (Start, progress & end).

Registry editor;

The Registry Editor allows yous to specify registry keys and values to be added to the registry of the target computer. By default the Registry Editor displays a standard ready of registry keys that correspond with the standard Windows registry keys: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_USERS, and HKEY_PER_USER . For Setup projects, additional keys that match the Manufacturer property for the project are displayed under HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftware and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftware.

Playing with registry need more experienced person otherwise information technology may form some trouble in target calculator, but you tin can add together or remove keys according to what your projection needs.

Registry editor

To add together a registry central select a meridian level node, in the action menu click new fundamental, then type the new name and edit properties of the key in the properties window equally necessary.

To add a sub key select a key node, in the activity menu betoken to new and so key and you can edit its properties from the properties window. Too you tin can remove a key by selecting it and and so click Delete from Edit carte. Also you can add string, binary, and DWORD values. During installation the values will be written to the registry and whatsoever existing values will be overwritten by the values that you specify.

Custom deportment editor;

Here you lot tin specify additional actions to be performed on the target estimator at the stop of an installation. Five predefined custom actions are included in Visual Studio to install Event Log, Bulletin Queue, Performance Counter, Service, and Service Process components. When these components are configured as installation components, they are wrapped in an installer grade and are recognized by the deployment system equally a custom action.

Custom Actions Editor

The editor contains four folders, each corresponding with a phase of installation: Install Commit, Rollback, and Uninstall which are run in the same guild that they are displayed in the editor.

To add custom actions first must be compiled as a .dll, .exe file or .NET framework component and added to a project as a script or assembly earlier they can be added to a deployment projection. So right click on ane of the iv folders and chose Add custom action and then select your item to be added. If the item hasn't previously been added to the deployment project, click the Add File, Add together Output, or Add Associates button to add the item equally a custom action. This too adds the item to your project. To add a custom action to all four folders, select the Custom Deportment node in the editor, and cull Add together Custom Activeness.

File Types editor;

File Types editor allows y'all to specify document types and associate them with file extensions. In addition, yous tin specify the verbs or actions for each document type and specify MIME types for the document types for use in browsers.

The File Types Editor contains a unmarried pane with hierarchical list of file types and actions. By default, the File Types Editor contains a single File Types on Target Motorcar node; new file types may exist added beneath that node. There are three steps involved in associating a file blazon with your application: calculation a certificate blazon, associating a file extension, and associating an executable file.

To add together a document type, correct click on File Blazon on Target Auto and select Add File Type and give information technology a name. And so you tin associate it with file extension by going to its properties and type the extension without precede it by a catamenia (dissever multiple extensions by ; ). Then you can set a command by selecting a .exe file associated with.

Launch weather editor;

The Launch Conditions Editor allows you to specify conditions that must be met in order to successfully run an installation. For example you may cheque for the OS version, windows installer components, registry central or fifty-fifty a file if it exists in a target motorcar.

To add an particular to search right click on Search Target Machine and and so select an item you desire to be searched in the target motorcar and then set its backdrop from the backdrop window. The post-obit pictures from MSDN summaries the properties bachelor:

File Search Properties

Registry Search & Component Search from MSDN

Launch Weather

To make your awarding run in any version of .NET framework , correct click on Requirement on Target Machine and and then click Add .Internet Framework Launch Condition , in properties window modify Version to Any. There are editors available in setup projection in visual studio.

Choosing prerequisites to install:

Sometimes your application may depend on components that must be bachelor in target computer before the installation tin take place. If i of those dependent components is non available, an error message will be raised and installation will be aborted!
Y'all can brand your user make full happy without a list of error messages, by including some prerequisites to be installed if not available in target computer.
To cull which 1 to be included in your package, correct click on your deployment project and select properties, in the Property Pages dialogue box, expand the Configuration Backdrop node, so select the Build property page. Click the prerequisite push button and make sure that the Create setup plan to install prerequisite components box is checked. Then select the prerequisites that you want to install from the Choose which prerequisites to install list.

Adding Pre Requisites to Setup Installer

Here you can select case the .NET framework version and windows installer version and other prerequisites from the dialog box.
Down the dialogue at that place is specify the install location for prerequisite , and three radio buttons are available:

Details of Prerequisites

This capability to automatically find the existence of components during installation and install a predetermined set up of prerequisites is referred to as bootstrapping and the component that performs it is called the generic bootstrapper which uses bootstrapper packages to install the prerequisite components on the target reckoner.
The default location of the bootstrapper packages is stored in the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftGenericBootstrapper4.0Path . Changing this path will alter the location in which the Prerequisites Dialog Box looks for bootstrapper packages.

Creating installer for 64 scrap platform:

The deployment tools in Visual Studio permit you to create installers for 64-fleck applications and components. The TargetPlatform Holding of a deployment project determines whether an installer will target a 32-bit or a specific 64-chip platform. The target platforms are x86 for 32-bit platforms, x64 for computers supporting the AMD64 and EM64T didactics sets, and Itanium for the 64-bit Itanium processor.
In general, 32- and 64-bit Microsoft Installer (MSI) packages are treated in the aforementioned fashion except for how Windows Installer treats folder variables such as Programme Files and System Folder , and how it writes components into the registry or GAC. To create a 64 flake installer select your setup project and in the properties window change TargetPlatform to either Itanium for an Intel Itanium 64-bit platform, or x64 for whatever other 64-flake platform (such as AMD64 and EM64T instruction sets).

Creating Installer for 64 Flake Windows Bone

Security in windows installer:

Windows Installer tin can utilize digital signatures to detect and right corrupted resources. In Windows XP, Windows Installer is integrated with Software Restriction Policy to restrict both administrators and non-administrators from running program files based on the path, URL zone, hash, or publisher criteria.
Also you can sign an assembly which gives an application a unique identity that other software tin can apply to identify and refer explicitly to it (procedure also called strong-name signing). A strong name consists of its simple text name, version number, culture information (if provided), plus a public/individual fundamental pair. This data is stored in a key file; this can be a Personal Information Substitution (PFX) file or a certificate from the current user's Windows document shop.
To sign an assembly , correct click on project and click properties, from the project course click the signing tab and and then select the sign the associates. From a Choose a strong name key file drop-downwards list, select either <new…> if you want a new key file or <scan…> for an existing file. For new file enter a proper name and password in the Create strong Name key.

Security in Setup Installer – Creating Stiff Name Fundamental

Now rebuild your awarding and then a setup projection to go a .msi file ready for installation.

2. ClickOnce technology:

To brand a ClickOnce application available to users, you must publish it to a Web server, file share, or removable media. You tin can publish the application by using the Publish Wizard; additional properties related to publishing are bachelor on the Publish page of the Project Designer.

Publishing using ClickOnce for Setup Creating

Publish properties can be set up using the Publish Wizard but only a few of the properties are available in it, all other properties are fix to their default values. At present let'south look at the backdrop that can be inverse in this Publish page:

Publish location;

Yous tin can publish the application to a Web site, FTP server, or file path. Type the location as a deejay path, file share, FTP site, or Web site URL, or click the Browse push to browse for the location.

Disk path:

Specify a local disk path from which you can copy the application to a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. The path tin be a relative or accented path in standard Windows format, for case: C:DeployDIC.

File share:

Specify a file share past using a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path from which the application will exist deployed, for example: ServerNameDIC.

FTP server:

Specify the path of a Web site from which the awarding can be downloaded by using FTP, for example: ftp://ftp.fileServer.com/DIC.

Web site:

Specify the URL of a Web site from which the application can exist downloaded by using HTTP, for instance: http://www.website.com/DIC.

Install mode and settings;

First y'all have to say if the application is available offline or non (online merely). If you select The application is available online only , then it will be run directly from the publish location without creating a shortcut on thestart card. Otherwise the application will be available fifty-fifty if a user is disconnected from the network and a shortcut will be available on start carte du jour.
Also you can click on Prerequisites.. button to specify which prerequisite to be included. The prerequisite dialog is the aforementioned as the one explained above in windows installer.
Male parent more, if you set your application to be available offline, you tin can prepare application updates either automatically or programmatically. As well y'all tin configure the application to bank check for updates automatically before the application starts, or at fix intervals after the application starts. In improver you tin specify a minimum required version; that is, an update is installed if the user'southward version is lower than the required version.

Publish version;

To increment publish version, increase major, pocket-sized, build or revision version number according to what updates yous have made! Changing the number in these fields causes the application to exist published as an update. As well y'all tin clear the Automatically increment revision with each publish if yous don't want visual studio to automatically increment the clickOnce publish version.
Then click on Publish Now to publish your awarding subsequently making sure that all settings of your application have already been set up correctly.

Security in ClickOnce:

ClickOnce security relies on Authenticode certificates to determine whether an application should be installed, a step known every bit a trust decision. Awarding and deployment manifests that depict an application can be signed with a certificate to forbid tampering. Domain administrators can configure certificates to be trusted at the enterprise or machine level. If certificates are non trusted at the time of installation, ClickOnce deployment tin can be configured to ask users to make trust decisions. Once an application is installed, ClickOnce restricts the awarding permissions and actions as defined past the Cyberspace, Local Intranet, or custom zones.

3. InstallShield 2022 Limited Edition:

Microsoft has partnered with Flexera, makers of InstallShield to create InstallShield LE for Visual Studio 2022. This is a Visual Studio extension y'all can download and utilise today to build Windows installer-based deployment packages for your application that tin exist deployed on the Windows platform. It provides comparable functionality to the Visual Studio Installer projection just in addition, y'all become the piece of cake to use, modern, graphical development environs of InstallShield, as well as the power to build your deployment projects using Team Foundation Server.
Beginning time users need to enable InstallShield LE past downloading and installing it. Become to create new project and select InstallShield. Afterward creating the project the template will bring you to registration page and then the download link. One time you take installed the production, the new projection dialog will provide an option to create an installShield LE project. Now afterward creating a new project, the first course is where nosotros showtime now:

InstallShield 2022 Express Edition

At the lesser of the screen are the steps to the installation project and I am going to talk a little on them. (Using the next push button will make sure you have passed on all steps)

Application data;

Here you will feel the basic data about the application including application name and version.

Installation requirements;

Specify the prerequisites that must be installed including version of Bone and .Net framework. Customer prerequisites tin can exist defined under create a custom software condition

Installation compages;

This footstep is disabled in the Limited Edition. In the other editions different features tin can be defined for users to choose what sections they want installed.

Application files;

The application files such as project output can be added here (don't forget to add primary output).

Visual Studio Output Selector

Awarding shortcuts;

Here you can ascertain shortcuts for Starting time menu and desktop. Click on New, on the dialog select programFilesFolder>your company name>product name and you volition find the chief output of your application, then tick on where you demand the shortcut to be available and an icon if any.

Application registry;

If the application requires any registry entries, they can be defined here.

Installation interview;

This defines the user interface past specifying which dialogs should be displayed to users and which should not. As well you lot can create a custom dialog merely this feature is not available in limited edition.
Also in solution explorer, there are many other features and explanation virtually advanced issues in deployment. You can view them for more information and customization.

Solution Explorer

Now you can build information technology to become a .msi file for installation which can exist establish from SetupNameSetupNamaExpressDVD-5DiskImagesDISK1.
Annotation: If you made whatever changes to your awarding, first rebuild your application earlier edifice the installer.
I finally installed my application in my reckoner.

Install Shield Wizard

This is the end of this tutorial almost setup and deployment in VS2010. Good to say is that many concepts from this tutorial I studied them from Microsoft Programmer Network Library.

Source: https://www.csharpens.com/articles/create-setup-installer-for-projects-in-visual-studio-92/

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