We have used msi factory for years, for windows apps, but it has been abandoned by the developer and not revved for years.
We are building a new app, pure .NET 4.51. It is a rather small app (very small, actually!), but we need a perfect installer. MSI or non MSI is fine.
What installer tool will let us build:
- Minimalistic installation (no prompts, no nags, just click on the installer and it is completely silent... except for maybe an "I am done" screen)
- .NET 4.5 checker: Check that .NET 4.5 is present, and automagically download it and silently install it if needed
- Update/upgrade functionality: Needs to smartly see our app is running, terminate it, and then update our app or uninstall existing version/reinstall new version (we have scripted this in the past in installshield and the like). Key is that the update is also silent once started.
- Automatic download and installation of app updates. I saw a clickonce approach that checked for update every time the app ran. Do normal tools have this?
- Ability to add our icon to Startup folder.
- Ability to do service management (our app may evolve into a service)
In the past (distant past) we wrote large installers in installshield. MSI Factory has treated us rather well. Please share your suggested tool to tackle this.
UPDATE, 5/29/14
Wix looks like the best, but we didn't want the learning curve of a new tool. We used Setupfactory (aka msifactory) from indigo rose. This tool is old (not updated for years), but we know it and it is great. We got it to do the .net 4.51 installation, and a rather silent update. No brains (yet) for silent automatic update, but we did get these needs met:
- zero prompts for install and update
- .net check and install
- light and fast to run and use