UPDATE, Aug.2018, a new and shorter option: How to create windows installer. Focused on summarizing MSI and its major benefits and to list the major tools available (with download links), as well as mentioning some new, trending deployment technologies. I have worked in software development as a release manager, build engineer, setup developer and as … Read more
MSI files are designed specifically to support silent installation as a built-in feature – you can always skip the GUI. However, some MSI files have design flaws that render the install incomplete in silent mode – which is a serious design error. This problem is described here: : Uninstall from Control Panel is different from … Read more
The overall concept of MSI is that there is a 1:1 mapping between a component GUID (unique identifier) and an absolute path (install location / key path). The full path, including file name if any. See update below for a new Wix feature to deal auto-magically with this. Rob Mensching (WiX author): Windows Installer Component … Read more
Short Version: Lots of answers already – I’ll primarily just add some links to existing answers. Here is a previous short answer of mine on the topic. Higher “glanceability”: The above answer features a simpler format with a list view of the most important current deployment tools. In a rush? Test these, chose one. Below … Read more
For upgrade code retrieval: How can I find the Upgrade Code for an installed MSI file? (or use the html table export script – shown below in section 2) Short Version The information below has grown considerably over time and may have become a little too elaborate. How to get product codes quickly? (four approaches): … Read more
Express Options: Uninstall by Product GUID: (find product GUID) – section 3 below for logging. There is also: MSI logging in depth here: msiexec.exe /x {11111111-1111-1111-1111-11111111111X} Uninstall by MSI file: msiexec.exe /x “c:\filename.msi” Express Interactive: Right click MSI file in Windows Explorer and select “Uninstall”. There are many ways to uninstall an MSI package. The … Read more
Microsoft Orca: If you have Visual Studio installed, try searching for Orca-x86_en-us.msi – under Program Files (x86) – and install it. Then find Orca in the start menu. Current path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.17763.0\x86 Change version numbers as appropriate About MSI Files Roughly speaking MSI files are COM-structured storage files – essentially a file system … Read more
Ad-Hoc: How do I avoid common design flaws in my WiX / MSI deployment solution? a very messy and less-than-ideal ad-hoc summary of common problems found in MSI files. Not great. Better than nothing? The stuff that is not in the books (too messy). Important Topic: How do I avoid distributing sensitive information in my … Read more