How to create MSI Installer for silent Installation with free toolset

0
votes

I have developed an application which is basically a folder with an .exe file and some more files/folers lying next to it.

Now I need to create an .msi installer for silent installation that supports version numbers.

So far, all tools/tutorials that I have found either aim to create a wrapper, assuming that an exe installer already exists or work with Visual Studio Projects or try to achieve something much more complex.

Can someone please point me in the right direction to find a tutorial on how to create an .msi installer with free tools that do not try to create a wrapper?

2
windows-10wixwindows-installer
Maybe this is worth a look? and here are some more hints. – Stein Åsmul

2 Answers

0
votes

https://github.com/iswix-llc/iswix-tutorials

https://iswix.com/2015/04/17/building-and-deploying-a-windows-desktop-application-using-iswix/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnV_OU6fk8c

Take a look at the "Desktop Application" tutorial. Note the parts that talk about versioning the MSI for Major Upgrade support.

As a standards compliant MSI, the silent installation is easy.

From an elevated command prompt:

msiexec /i product.msi /qn

Disclaimer: I'm the project coordinator for IsWiX. Consulting services are available. A simple project like this would take about two hours of pair programming to gather the requirements, create the installer, integrate it into a CI system and cross train you on MSI fundamentals so you can support it yourself.

0
votes

I was also able to use a Gradle Plugin (this is a good option for me because Gradle is available in my development environment).

https://plugins.gradle.org/plugin/de.inetsoftware.setupbuilder

It also needs Wix Toolkit to be installed but works fine in my development environment, so in the end I chose de.inetsoftware.setupbuilder.