WiX Cookbook

Over 60 hands-on recipes packed with tips and tricks to boost your Windows installations

About This Book

• Build WiX projects within Visual Studio, as part of a continuous-integration build process and from the command-line
• Install, configure and populate relational databases up front to complement your application
• Automate your day-to-day administration tasks such as setting up performance counters and exceptions to the Windows firewall

Who This Book Is For

If you are a developer with a good understanding of WiX projects and would like to further explore advanced WiX topics, this book is for you. To get the most out of this book, knowledge of proper XML syntax is recommended.

What You Will Learn

• Install websites, application pools, and virtual directories in IIS
• Add a wizard to your installer and customize it with your own dialogs
• Set up new user accounts, add security groups, and secure files and folders on installation
• Prevent deployment to unsupported systems by using launch conditions
• Update XML files during installation
• Configure shortcuts to your application
• Include prerequisites with a bootstrapper
• Create custom actions using C#
• Add environment variables to the system

In Detail

WiX is a dialect of XML used to make installers for Windows. Its declarative style avoids the complexity and limitations of procedural code, providing you with everything you need to package up an entire application into a single MSI file.

This book gives you a good overview of WiX's capabilities to develop your own installer packages with functionalities beyond those available in Windows Installer. In the recipes of this book, you will see ways in which WiX can cut down on your installation time and help you streamline your deployment processes. You will see how to make customized installer UIs, write custom actions, create shortcuts, and also set your application as the default for a file type.