How to install .Net Framework with my C# application ?

[CoderForEver]

Hey my friends I develop C# application all the time .... But when I want to install them on my customer PC's .. I always have to insert .Net Cd and Install it ... But is there any way so that my Setup will contain .Net Framework together and install them together with my application? ... Pleas help me ... am tired of it. Thank you

[realJSOP]

You have three options: 0) You can configure a setup project in your solution that will download the required version of the framework from the site your users downloaded your program from, 1) You can configure a setup project in your solution that will download the required version of the framework from the Microsoft site. 2) You can download the redistributables for the framework and install that setup from your setup.

.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

[Wamuti]

John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

2. You can download the redistributables for the framework and install that setup from your setup.

How do you install that setup from your setup. Again, for example, framework 3.5 is an online resource. How do you deal with that?

Wamuti: Any man can be an island, but islands to need water around them! Edmund Burke: No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.

[SeMartens]

Hi, I recommend using the WiX toolset. This is a easy to use abstraction of the windows installer. With this toolset (it is free) you can use a bootstrapper to put the redistributables of the framework to your setup. Have a look here: http://wix.sourceforge.net/manual-wix3/install_dotnet.htm[^] Used this for all my installation projects and it works. Regards Sebastian

It's not a bug, it's a feature! Check out my CodeProject article Permission-by-aspect. Me in Softwareland.

[realJSOP]

Here's a link to the full DotNet 3.5 package: http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/0/f/60fc5854-3cb8-4892-b6db-bd4f42510f28/dotnetfx35.exe[^] Just execute it from within your setup. If you familiarize yourself with using google, you can find full installers for all of the other DotNet versions as well.

.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

[Mouldiwarp]

I just spent a long time getting to the bottom of this one..... Nothing ever seems as simple as it should be. Here is how I managed to do it, When you add in the installer project into your solution, in the Solution explorer right click and view properites of the installer project. Take a look down the right hand side of the properties screen pop and you will see a 'Prerequisites' button. On the pre-req screen you can add in or remove dependencies (I am building to .net 2.0 for some older clients), once you have selected the pre-req's you want check the radio button 'Download pre-req's from the same location as my application' then hit OK, then OK again to close the property page. At this point I save all files for the solution. If you are installing an older version of .net with your app you also need to take a look at the dependencies under the installation project. Expand the 'Detected Dependencies' container and double click 'Microsoft .net framework'. In the properties window beneath the solution explorer look at the version informaiton and select the appropriate version for your install (If you dont do this, the setup.exe bootstrap will install the older version of .net as a pre-req but the installer for your application will then error because it is expecting a newer version than has just been installed - the default on my system and I guess other VS 2008 systems is 3.5.21022). Once you build the solution be sure to install from setup.exe and not the MSI. I hope this helps, I found it very frustrating. (p.s. sorry if there are any spelling cock ups... I have yet to install a HTML spellcheck utility on my work machine).