Authoring Installations for Microsoft s.net Framework

Transcription

1 Authoring Installations for Microsoft s.net Framework using Wise for Windows Installer Vanessa Wasko Wise Solutions, Inc. Abstract This paper provides an overview of creating an installation for an application created for Microsoft s.net Framework. By following the process, a software developer will be able to install private and shared.net assemblies using a Windows Installer (.MSI) package.

2 Introduction The.NET Framework will make it much easier to deploy certain types of applications, while others become more complicated and increase the reliance upon Microsoft s Windows Installer service. As Microsoft explains: The.NET Framework simplifies deployment by making zero-impact install and XCOPY deployment of applications feasible. Because all requests are resolved first to the private application directory, simply copying an application s directory files to disk is all that is needed to run the application. No registration is required. There are scenarios where XCOPY is not sufficient as a distribution mechanism. An example is when the application has little private code and relies on the availability of shared assemblies, or when the application is not locally installed (but rather downloaded on demand). For these cases, the.net Framework provides extensive code download services and integration with the Windows Installer. The Windows Installer is another powerful deployment mechanism available to.net applications. All of the features of Windows Installer, including publishing, advertisement, and application repair will be available to.net applications in Windows Installer 2.0. Excerpt from Microsoft.NET Framework FAQ, December 2000 Installation Options for Simple Applications For a.net application that only uses managed code and private assemblies, the installation process can be as simple as copying files to the end user s PC. Even in this case, however, developers will typically create an installation that provides a user-friendly interface to the end user, as well as to have a compressed, single-file installation that can be easily deployed. Installation Options for Complex Applications For.NET applications that use shared assemblies, or that have a mix of managed and unmanaged code, the Windows Installer service should be used to install the application. The Windows Installer service manages all installed components on a system and can even fix components if they become broken. Wise for Windows Installer makes this installation technology accessible to developers by providing a visual, step-by-step approach to creating installations for.net applications. This whitepaper describes the process of creating a.net installation, as well as how Wise for Windows Installer simplifies this process. Creating Installations for.net Copyright 2001 by Wise Solutions, Inc.

3 Getting Started Before you begin to create an installation for your.net application, identify the following information about your application: 1. Gather all of your assemblies, Win32 and.net, and their manifests into a common location. 2. Determine where the assemblies are to be installed (INSTALLDIR, Global Assembly Cache, WinSxS directory). 3. Generate PrivateKeyTokens for the assemblies and sign all the assemblies if they are to be installed to the Global Assembly Cache. Preparing Wise for Windows Installer A beta release of Wise for Windows Installer is now available that includes enhancements for creating installations for.net. These enhancements require you to have Windows Installer 2.0 installed on your development PC, which will occur automatically when you install this beta release. You can customize how Wise for Windows Installer handles the assemblies added to your installation by changing the settings on the Preferences dialog. Set the Default Application Type to.net Application when installing.net assemblies. You can set the installation to be a standard Win32 install without assemblies, a mixed install with Win32 and.net components, or a.net installation with only.net components. These settings will determine how Wise handles the scanning of COM inter-operability registry entries. Creating Installations for.net Copyright 2001 by Wise Solutions, Inc.

4 In addition, you can set Wise up to automatically add any dependency assemblies. When the Scan Dependencies option is set to Always Scan Dependencies, Wise will scan the assembly manifest for any dependencies and will automatically add those assemblies to the installation, along with the required assembly entries in the Windows Installer tables. For full control, this can be turned off and you will be prompted to scan for dependencies or you can add all files manually. This enables you to have a full range of control throughout the creation of the installation. Once you have customized these preferences, you are ready to begin creating your project with Wise for Windows Installer. Common Language Runtime You will need to add the Common Language Runtime (CLR) merge module to your installation to ensure all the necessary runtimes are installed with your application. On the Merge Module page of the Installation Expert, click Add and specify the location of the Common Language Runtime merge module on your system. The Common Language Runtime merge module is distributed within the.net Framework SDK. Adding Files On the Files page in Installation Expert, you can drag and drop your assemblies into the appropriate directory. Wise will automatically add the appropriate table entries to install and register your assemblies in their destination location. Creating Installations for.net Copyright 2001 by Wise Solutions, Inc.

5 Global Assembly Cache, WinSxS, Private Assemblies For those assemblies that should be installed into the Global Assembly Cache (GAC), drag these files and drop them into the Global Assembly Cache folder. Note: To install.net Assemblies into the Global Assembly Cache, they must be Strongly Named. You can find out more on this topic in the.net Framework SDK. To install your Win32 assemblies into the WinSxS folder, simply select the destination location as the WinSxS folder under the Windows folder and add your assembly files. Wise will automatically select the.manifest file as the file in your component that contains the manifest. To customize any of these automated entries, you can directly edit the MsiAssembly and MsiAssemblyName tables in Setup Editor. Wise gives full access to all tables within the Table Editor so you have complete control throughout the install authoring process. (See Behind the Scenes for specific examples of how to edit these entries.) To install your assemblies to a private location, you can add them as a normal file to your installation directory. Note: You cannot drag and drop files directly from the Global Assembly Cache (C:\WINNT\Assembly folder) on your Windows XP machine. Creating Installations for.net Copyright 2001 by Wise Solutions, Inc.

6 Behind the Scenes When you are using Wise for Windows Installer to automate the table entries for your.net application, there is a lot going on behind the scenes. A Windows Installer package includes a number of database tables that describe the application to Microsoft s Windows Installer service. The tables involved in installing an assembly are MsiAssembly and MsiAssemblyName. These tables will be automatically filled in if your Default Application Type in Preferences is set to.net Application. The tables that are described below store the data that Windows Installer needs to install and/or register your assembly in the destination location. MsiAssembly Table The MsiAssembly table will contain one record for each assembly to be installed. There are five fields in the MsiAssembly table. A few examples that will be referenced in this document are as follows: Component_. This is the foreign key to the Component record that contains the assembly. If your assembly is comprised of multiple files, they should be authored into the same component. Feature. With this field, specify the Feature in the installation with which the assembly is associated. File_Manifest. This field should be a foreign key to the File table for the file that contains the manifest for the assembly. If the assembly is comprised of many files, this entry will be the file in the assembly that contains the assembly manifest information. A Portable Executable is a self-contained.net assembly. It contains the compiled assembly in addition to the assembly manifest and strong name information. When working with Portable Executables (PE), the File_Manifest field will contain the Portable Executable file name. This is because the Manifest is self-contained within the PE.DLL or.exe. File_Application. This field should be left blank if the assembly is to be installed into the Global Assembly Cache on the destination PC. For private assemblies, the File_Application field will contain a foreign key to the File table for the main application file. Windows Installer will install the assembly into the directory where the component will be installed, as determined in the Component table s Directory field. If the Component is installed into the INSTALLDIR directory, the assembly will then be installed in that directory, along with the application files. The directory assigned to this component is resolved in the Directory table and can be set at runtime by the user on the Single Feature Destination dialog. Private Assembly (NOT available with Windows 95, 98, or NT) From the example above, Component2 will be installed into the application directory. This means it is a private assembly and only available for the application being installed. Component1 is a shared Creating Installations for.net Copyright 2001 by Wise Solutions, Inc.

7 assembly and will be installed and registered into the Global Assembly Cache on the end user s PC. WinSxS Assembly (only available with Windows XP) When Win32 assemblies are installed into the WinSxS directory, they are not registered globally on the system, as they are when installed into the Global Assembly Cache. However, they are available to any application installed that references them. To enable side-by-side sharing, your component must be installed into the WinSxS folder. During installation of the application, the installer resolves the Directory table for the path to the WinSxS folder if the File_Application field is not null. For assemblies to be installed into the WinSxS directory, a.local file is not needed, as it not utilized in this scenario. Shared Assembly (Global Assembly Cache or GAC) When the File_Application table is set to a null value, Windows Installer ignores the component s destination directory and installs the entire component into the Global Assembly Cache. The assembly will be available to all other applications that use this assembly version. From the example above, Component1 will be installed into the Global Assembly Cache, based on the null value in the File_Application field. Attributes. This field is used to determine if the assembly is a Win32 or a.net Application. For.NET assemblies, the value authored into this field would be 0 (zero), and if the assembly is a Win32 Application, the value would be 1. MsiAssemblyName Table For each assembly attribute (as authored in the manifest), a record initializing the attribute and its data value needs to be entered into the MsiAssemblyName table. Wise for Windows Installer includes the ability to scan the assembly manifest to automate this process. Windows Installer needs these attributes in order to appropriately register the assembly when it is installed. When you add an assembly, this table will be automatically propagated. Examples of possible entries are as follows: Component. This field will contain one of the Component_ values authored into the MsiAssembly table that represents an assembly. Creating Installations for.net Copyright 2001 by Wise Solutions, Inc.

8 Name. This field will contain one of the assembly attributes (as defined in the manifest). Value. This field will contain the string value of that attribute. The entries are variant, and this example shows only a few possible entries. For all possible attributes, see the.net Framework SDK. In the example above, Name, Version and Culture are pulled directly from the string that is entered into the manifest. Compilation and Distribution At this point, you have enough information to get started distributing.net and Win32 assemblies. After you have added all of the assemblies to your installation package, the package is ready to be compiled and distributed. Compilation of your Wise project will produce an.msi or.exe, depending on the settings you have set in the Releases page of Installation Expert. Once you have created the.msi or.exe, your project can be distributed. It is important to note that the Global Assembly Cache and the WinSxS folders are only supported on Windows XP. Conclusion Wise Solutions, Inc. is committed to providing the most current and thorough support for Microsoft s.net Framework. This is exemplified by the timely.net updates to our Wise for Windows Installer product line, as well as our close relationship with several key Microsoft teams. Please keep checking our website for product updates and support documentation to aid you in your transition to the.net Framework. Creating Installations for.net Copyright 2001 by Wise Solutions, Inc.

9 For More Information The following pages of the.net Framework Developer s Guide will provide an excellent background for the information in this white paper. Shared and Private Assemblies Described Global Assembly Cache Redirecting Assembly Versions Here are some additional links that will provide a better understanding of the underlying concepts of Microsoft s.net Framework. Microsoft.NET Framework FAQ Simplifying Deployment and Solving DLL Hell with the.net Framework Download Page for.net Framework SDK e.asp?url=/msdn-files/027/000/976/msdncompositedoc.xml Wise for Windows Installer Resource Kit Support for Shared and Private Assemblies Wise Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. Wise Solutions and Wise Installation System are registered trademarks of Wise Solutions, Inc. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Wise Solutions, Inc N. Canton Center Road, Suite 450 Canton, MI USA Last Updated : 10/1 Creating Installations for.net Copyright 2001 by Wise Solutions, Inc.