Preferred installation package
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
I'd vote again for NSIS since it's so customisable and far better than the various (recent) versions of IS I've tried out. One thing which I did do when I had to create several different installers from the same files was a relatively simple XSLT transformation from a configuration file to an NSIS script (good way to learn XSLT) and then the little batch program executed the NSIS compiler et voila! (Sorry don't have that program anymore, my employers at the time managed to hose one of their (thankfully not too important) hard drives).
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Josh Smith wrote:
I was afraid of getting that type of feedback
You wanted honest feedback. Right? You can also look at NSIS: http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page[^]
Rama Krishna Vavilala wrote:
You can also look at NSIS:
My, it's been a while since i've used that, but i sure did love it. If i ever again need to write an installer for something truly awful (like say, Crystal Reports...) NSIS is coming back out of the box.
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It appears that everybody is under the impression that I approve of the documentation. You probably also blame Ken Burns for supporting slavery.
--Raymond Chen on MSDN
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
Just FYI, another very good program: Inno Setup. (However, not sure whether it is enough for your case.) Something from its website: Inno Setup is a free installer for Windows programs. First introduced in 1997, Inno Setup today rivals and even surpasses many commercial installers in feature set and stability. http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php[^] It is really free of charge, even for commercial use.
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Rama Krishna Vavilala wrote:
You can also look at NSIS:
My, it's been a while since i've used that, but i sure did love it. If i ever again need to write an installer for something truly awful (like say, Crystal Reports...) NSIS is coming back out of the box.
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It appears that everybody is under the impression that I approve of the documentation. You probably also blame Ken Burns for supporting slavery.
--Raymond Chen on MSDN
..err folks I'm kinda surprised that no-one has mentioned WiX. Yes, it takes investment of your time to learn how to use it well but it is very nice to have full control over your installs furthermore, there are a fair number of users on the email distribution list to get help from. It also integrates nicely into continuous integration environments like CruiseControl.Net and (a big plus for me) this allows me to focus developers on maintaining the WiX files early in the project so we don't have a mad last minute panic. Tutorial here http://www.tramontana.co.hu/wix/ Source here http://wix.sourceforge.net/
You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time.
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Never have, I've tried that free one before which was actually very good, I forget the name of it, we used it for a while until we outgrew it.
John Cardinal wrote:
I forget the name of it
Inno Setup?
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
A bit late arriving for this thread but I find myself in a similar situation, going to have to make a setup for a client/server application around May time. I used Inno on previous projects and it's OK(ish). I was wondering if I could use the deployment from VS2005 for a solution (including both client and server projects) developed under VC++ 6.0 (.NET1.1), I suppose I'll just have to give it a go. If anyone has tried this and can save me time by saying it's simply impossible I'd appreciate it. The deployment option I have used in a simple C# application (.NET2.0) and I've had a few problems I think related to user privileges. It works fine for some users and not for others in different groups. Thanks y bon weekend.
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
Personally I have not been pleased with Installshield. It is a very heavy application that blows installation files to a size not worthwhile. For another alternative, try Inno Setup. It a free application, but dont let that deter you. It is small, lightweight and only puts into the installation the info that it needs. It is a brilliant app and definitely worth checkingout. http://www.jrsoftware.org/
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Just FYI, another very good program: Inno Setup. (However, not sure whether it is enough for your case.) Something from its website: Inno Setup is a free installer for Windows programs. First introduced in 1997, Inno Setup today rivals and even surpasses many commercial installers in feature set and stability. http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php[^] It is really free of charge, even for commercial use.
If you are going for InnoSetup (which I also recommend), I would suggest to download the Quick Start Pack. It also contains some other helpfull tools. Especially ISTool makes development a lot easier: it has a complete gui built around all the possible options. The support on the newsgroups is also very good and the PascalScripting is also quite powerfull.
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
My prefered tool for installation packages is Wix, it integrates easily into any automated build process. There is a commercial IDE called WiXAware if a design view to help build GUI of installer is needed. CET
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Given that the two top players in the Install-App field are as unpopular as they are, it's a million-dollar market out there for some smart individuals to come up with something that's simple to use and that will work out of the box :-)
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)Hi I have been using IS for over 5 years now and although I have to agree with other comments in regards to the quality of the product and their support (very poor), I would still recommend it, even though admittedly I have not tried Wise. The majority of the bugs and problems are within the IDE and usually have a workaround, not ideal I know. However IS is a very powerful product and I have yet to find a situation/configuration I could not create an installer for. It can be very frustrating at times to work with, but there is an excellent user base and forum full of very helpful people always willing to help out a fellow installer. If you are still set against IS there is an alternative called InstallAware that I believe was founded by ex-employees of IS when they where taken over by Macrovision. Hope that helps… Neil.
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
Having been through this one myself I can strongly recommend InstallAware[^]. We bought 2 copies of InstallAware Studio after seeing it in action at a conference last year, and we haven't regretted it. It's fast, easy to use and flexible - with full scripting support and (in higher editions) the capability to import existing installers. I believe InstallAware was started by a group of disgruntled ex-Installshield developers about 10 years ago. That kinda says it all, I think! :laugh:
Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
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I switched to AdvancedInstaller (www.advancedinstaller.com) when Windows Vista out... They are dedicated on Windows Installer (MSI) installers... and it costs less then Wise and InstallShield... Serhiy Horobets
We looked into that one as well, but ended up plumping for InstallAware in the end. From what I can see, Advanced Installer is pretty good for its price point though. :)
Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
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One other that I remember, http://www.ethalone.com/products.php[^] I remember trying out Ghost Installer several years ago and thinking it was pretty cool. I don't know what it's like today.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Techno Silliness
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Having been through this one myself I can strongly recommend InstallAware[^]. We bought 2 copies of InstallAware Studio after seeing it in action at a conference last year, and we haven't regretted it. It's fast, easy to use and flexible - with full scripting support and (in higher editions) the capability to import existing installers. I believe InstallAware was started by a group of disgruntled ex-Installshield developers about 10 years ago. That kinda says it all, I think! :laugh:
Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
I've no idea what must have happened to Wise. It's tragic really; it used to be so good. Having said that the only criticism really aimed at it is that it hogs system resources while installing. This may be awkward for very large installs but the real benefit of Wise is that it's not only extremely easy to use but that it's also extremely flexible. So flexible in fact that it doubles as the most simple to use system scripting tool I’ve ever used. Tom
Philosophy: The art of never getting beyond the concept of life.
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
I have tried Installshield, from 5.5 Professional version to Installshield X version. I also tried some version of Wise. It is true that Installshield looks more professional and has a lot of features, some of which you may never have to use, but it is also true that it is full of bugs (from crashes of the application and UI freezing to incorrect saving of settings and so on). I would go for the .Net installer, maybe with some custom actions and dialogs. But to make sure you make the right decision, I also recommend you try out some free evaluation versions of these installers. This way you can see for yourself if the features you need are truly there and will make (or not) your life easier. I hope this helps,
Michael
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Given that the two top players in the Install-App field are as unpopular as they are, it's a million-dollar market out there for some smart individuals to come up with something that's simple to use and that will work out of the box :-)
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*) -
Having used both recently (though I didn't use any really advanced stuff in either), I'd say that Installshield is better than Wise. Wise was horribly slow and its UI is coded so bad then when some heavy operation is going on, the whole UI freezes and unless you have a multi-core CPUI, your machine is frozen during the entire build process. Not saying Installshield is all that better, because with each new version they add tons of features and the package gets heavier and heavier, but it's still the better choice of the two (my opinion).
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*) -
Never have, I've tried that free one before which was actually very good, I forget the name of it, we used it for a while until we outgrew it.
InnoSetup? That's what I use, and it's very good. The only thing I have found it lacking out of the box is internet update/download capabilities, but it has a full scripting language (Pascal), so you could make your own internet stuff if you need it. It has no nags, just a permanent entry in the executable's Comment field.
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Given that the two top players in the Install-App field are as unpopular as they are, it's a million-dollar market out there for some smart individuals to come up with something that's simple to use and that will work out of the box :-)
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)So far, we haven't found anything we need to do that cannot be done with the .net tools. However, the .net tools are underdocumented and at times frustrating. I have used Wise in the distant past and also a couple of lesser known installers. If I found something needed installing that would not install with the .net tools, I would consider writing a C++ program to get the job done before I would consider Wise or InstallShield.
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
The Visual Studio installation project is the way to go. Installshield SUCKS. I cannot say just how much it sucks, but believe me, it SUCKS. Did I mention installshield SUCKS - anyone who has done any real work with installshield will tell you IT SUCKS. If someone doesn't think Installshield SUCKS, then they don't realize how screwed up their project really is. There is no comparison - just use the Visual Studio Installation project - Its really straightforward. If it cannot do what you need, then you're doing it wrong. Also, look to see what installers some of the open source projects are using - I've seen some really nice installers on various mainstream projects such as Python, MySQL, and many others.