How To Create Installer In Visual Studio 2015

Create an installer from Visual Studio

The following article uses options that are available starting with the Freeware edition and project type.

This tutorial will prove you how to create installers for your Visual Studio solutions using Visual Studio 2022. For other versions of Visual Studio, delight brand certain you first download the corresponding Advanced Installer extension from the Visual Studio Marketplace.

We will get-go by adding an Advanced Installer Project to an existing solution, editing it and creating a package. Afterwards, nosotros will include and a new Visual Studio project to the solution and build both projects in a single package.

1. Open the Visual Studio solution
2. Add an Advanced Installer Projection to the solution
iii. Create the outset install packet
four. Edit the installer project
5. Add together another Visual Studio Project to the solution
vi. Create the final install package
seven. Automatically import .VDPROJ files (optional)
8. Add projection output of a .Cyberspace cadre projection to your setup projection (optional)
ix. Video tutorial
10. See too

1. Open the Visual Studio solution

Open the solution for which you desire to create the install package.

Visual Studio Solution

2. Add an Avant-garde Installer Project to the solution

One time the Visual Studio solution is loaded:

From the "New Project" dialog select Advanced Installer Project
In the "Solution" field select Add to solution pick
In the "Name" field you can write a name for your projection
Press [ OK ] to add together the project to the solution

Add Advanced Installer Project

Past default, when calculation an Advanced Installer Project, the build output of the solution will not be automatically added to the installer project, to do this you must:

Become to the "Files and Folders" section of the Installer Project
Press "Add Project Output" button
Select the "Primary Output" and "References"
Press [ OK ]

The output of each projection contained by the solution is automatically synchronized in the Advanced Installer project.

Following these steps, Advanced Installer Extension for Visual Studio adds in the installer projection all awarding references except the Microsoft .NET assemblies.

Visual Studio solution included in the installer project

iii. Create the beginning install packet

In Visual Studio select "Build" > "Build Solution" pick to showtime the build.

Afterward the build is completed successfully, it volition create two master files: HelloWorld.exe which is the output from the C# project and Installer Projection.msi which is the installation package.

Visual Studio first build

4. Edit the installer project

Using the Avant-garde Installer Project viewer, you lot can edit bones information about your installer like Product Details, Launch Conditions, Install Parameters, and much more than..

Product Information

Allow's suppose nosotros have an Enterprise edition of Advanced Installer. Past default, the installer projection will be created based on a Freeware license. Since we want to employ features from the Enterprise edition, similar selecting a theme for the installation dialogs, nosotros will need to upgrade our project type:

Press the [ Edit in Advanced Installer ] button to open your installer projection in Advanced Installer
From the "Project" menu select "Options..."
Navigate to the Project Type Tab and select Enterprise
Press the [ OK ] button

Product Information

Now, that nosotros have an Enterprise project we have full admission to all the available Advanced Installer Enterprise features.

Become to Themes Page
From the right view select the desired theme and variation for your installer dialogs
Relieve the project and go out Advanced Installer

Visual Studio will ask you if you want to reload the installer project since information technology was modified. Press the [ Yes ] push button.

5. Add another Visual Studio Project to the solution

If an Avant-garde Installer Project is added to a solution, it will automatically import the build output and all useful information related to the projects from the solution. If after, the existing projects are modified, or another project is added to the solution the import operation must exist redone.

Let's add together a new Visual Studio project to the solution:

From the "New Project" dialog in Visual Studio select "Visual C#" > "WPF App"
In the "Solution" field select Add to solution option
Press the [ OK ] push. The new project volition be added to the solution
Rebuild the solution

New Project added

6. Create the terminal install parcel

Include the second project in the installer package:

Select the Installer Projection.aip file from the "Solution Explorer"
Check that both projects output builds are included in the installer package from the "Files and Folders" page
Rebuild the solution
Test the new installation bundle

The newly created installer will contain all the projects from the solution.

Both projects are included in the installer project

7. Automatically import .VDPROJ files (optional)

If you have solutions that contain old Visual Studio Deployment projects (.vdproj) y'all can automatically convert them to an Advanced Installer project and take it included in your solution, replacing the old VDPROJ. Just open the solution in Visual Studio, with our Avant-garde Installer VS extension installed, and VS will prompt you to accept the conversion from VDPROJ to AIPROJ (Avant-garde Installer VS project).

The new project Advanced Installer project volition contain all the resources from the one-time VDPROJ. If you desire to customize it more than but use the "Edit in Advanced Installer" button, available when you open the .aip file in Visual Studio.