How to create a complete package (.exe) windows application - wpf

I have to create an project( windows Application on invoicing ) which also include Database (Sql server) .
Now i want to create an complete package for client machine .
This package includes the following :
.net framework required to run on Client machine
IIS
Sql server Database
Application itself.
if .net framework already installed on client machine it can skip installing.
Thanks !!

I think you should create installer for your application. VS2012 does not contain setup project, but if you use older version you may create this (setup project with custom actions). Also you may look at Wix or other third party installer.

Related

Windows Installer 4.5 Doesn't appear in the prerequisites component list

From Prerequisites on the setup property pages, I selected the option to Download prerequisites from the component vendor's web site
There is no Windows Installer 4.5 in the prerequisites to install option..
because every im installing my setup using the sqlexpr_x64_ENU.exe in custom actions to install, run the setup after the extracting sqlserver it pops up the window says
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. Aprogram run as part of the setup did not finnish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor
im using VS2017 on windows 10
Exclude MSI Engine: You should not include Windows Installer 4.5 with any package these days. This runtime is from back in the day of Windows Vista - we are long since on version 5. Windows Installer should be deployed only via Windows Update as of today - in my opinion. Leave the runtime out of your setup.
No Concurrency: You can not run an MSI setup from within another MSI setup via a custom action. This is due to technical restrictions. There is a mutex set when an MSI runs its actual installation sequence, and triggering another installation sequence from within it will fail. A similar answer on the topic.
Setup.exe Launcher: What you need is to install your pre-requisites via a setup.exe launcher instead. This runs installations in serial, not in parallel. Which version of SQL Server are you installing? I see only a couple of versions available in the Visual Studio Installer Project launcher.
Other tools have features to allow you to install a setup.exe with embedded packages of various kinds in sequence. I have explained a myriad of times how to do this in previous answers. Here are just a few that I found quickly:
SQL Server named instance with Visual Studio 2017 Installer project (basically exactly the same issue - I suggest WiX the open source, free alternative)
Custom installer for application in Visual Studio 2017 (I suggest WiX and several commercial tools that are easier to use - maybe try to read this one)
Cannot call command.exe(SQL Server Setup.exe) while calling C# CA with parameters
How to create a MSI file which simply copies a directory to Program Files? (tools list)
Combine exe and msi file in one installer
Visual Studio 2017 Installer Project - include VC++ 2015 Redistributable
The general situation:
The problem is not Windows Installer 4.5, it's the fact that you are trying to do a recursive MSI install (the SQL one from inside yours) which is not allowed and will fail.
The MSI 4.5 engine is pretty much obsolete, about 10 years old, and anyway it's not the issue, and it's not clear why you believe it is. But it IS in the Prerequisite list on my VS 2017 setup project prerequisites - see 3 - even though you almost certainly don't need it.
There are some SQL Express options available in the Prerequisites of the VS setup project - right click the project in solution explorer and choose Properties, then Prerequisites.

How to build a specialized installer in VS2010?

I'm looking to build a specialized msi installer, preferably with VS2010 to do the following:
Be able to configure SQL server connection.
Pick the database to be used from the SQl server.
Create database table with specified credentials.
Assign a new DB user a set of permissions.
Also configure the IIS application.
I looked into a default installer project in VS2010 and it has nothing related to dealing with SQL server and IIS. Any idea how can I do all this?
Visual Studio setup projects do not offer support for SQL scripts and IIS. The best you can do is write some custom actions (using custom code) to handle this during install.
Commercial setup authoring tools offer the most control over SQL scripts and IIS elements. You can find a list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_installation_software
You can also try WiX. It has a steep learning curve, but it's free and gets the job done.

Can I deploy & Use SSIS SQL server DTS DLL's onto a machine that does not have SQL server 2008 installed?

Greets.
I've developed some SSIS packages that I want to load up and execute in C# code. The C# code is deployed on our application machine.
I've referenced the SQLServer.ManagedDTS DLL in my C# project.
I tried gac'ing that DLL on our staging application box, which incidentally also seemed to require gac'ing the SQLServer.DTSRuntimeWrap DLL as well.
The code to execute the package is like so
Runtime.Package package = new Runtime.Application().LoadPackage(ssisPackageFilePath, null);
package.Variables["FilePath"].Value = sourceFilePath;
//Excute Package to insert data from source csv file into a SQL table
Runtime.DTSExecResult results = package.Execute();
When I try to run the process I get the following error
An Integration Services class cannot be found.
Make sure that Integration Services is correctly installed on the computer that is running the application.
Also, make sure that the 64-bit version of Integration Services is installed if you are running a 64-bit application
I figured I should be able to simply gac (Install) the one DLL I used to develop the code that executes an SSIS dtsx package file.
I developed the package in a Visual studio 2008 BIDS project which results in a dtsx file.
I referenced the SqlServer.ManagedDTS DLL in a visual studio 2010 project to execute the dtsx file from code.
Tested and debugged locally with success.
What do I need to do to setup my application box in order for my code to be able to execute an SSIS package?
I'm hoping I'm not limited to only being able to execute packages from code on a box that has an instance of SQL server or IntegrationServices installed; which may mean the need for another license.
Do I need to install Integration Services on my app box?
Yes, you need to install Integration Services to run the package on a server. Just deploying DLLs into GAC won't help in executing a package.
Here is the MSDN link that describes about Running an SSIS Package Programmatically on a Remote Computer.
You need to have at least one server with Integration Services installed to be able to do what the MSDN article describes.

Embedding SQL Server into a .NET application

Hey, I've just finished writing a VB.NET application. Now I want to package the executable and the database ofcourse into a single installer file. I tried using QSetup, InstallShield to make SQL Server embedded into the setup file, and finally after hours of try&fail I have no idea. Anyone?
You can do a rightmouse on the properties of your Visual Studio Setup Project, and then there is this button 'Prerequisites'. There you can tick 'SQL Server Express ...' Or the 'SQL Server Compact 3.5'
link to image
You're probably best off just to set the connection file directly to the mdf, and attach it when the program is run. This is easier as it doesn't require a custom setup script to install the database to the database directory itself.
Note: Consider using the Compact Version, it's smaller, people don't like a full blown engine on their computer :)
InstallShield has a concept called Setup Prerequisites where you can teach it how to install additional packages along with your own. In older versions this would happen before calling your MSI. In newer versions you can have a "Feature" prerequisite where the prereq can associated to a feature and only installed if that feature is selected to be installed and after it's been selected but still before the main activity of your MSI occurs during the install execute sequence.
InstallShield also has a pattern for executing SQL scripts against your database instance so that you can then load your database into your newly installed instance.
All of this is quite powerful but it does take a bit of digging to learn.
As far as I know, anything but the SQL Server Compact Edition (SQL Server CE) cannot be embedded into your setup, really. Microsoft doesn't want that - you need to have SQL Server Express installed separately - any other edition can't even be shipped with your software (the client must have a license and installation separately).
You can indeed distribute SQL server with your custom application:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb264562(SQL.90).aspx

SQL Server Compact error: Unable to load DLL 'sqlceme35.dll'. The specified module could not be found

I'm developing a Windows Forms application using Visual Studio 2008 C# that uses an SQL Server Compact 3.5 database on the client. The client will most likely be 32 bit Windows XP or Windows Vista machines. I'm using a standard Windows Installer project that creates an MSI file and setup.exe to install the application on a client machine. I'm new to SQL Server Compact, so I haven't had to distribute a client database like this before now. When I run the setup.exe (on new Windows XP 32 bit with SP2 and Internet Explorer 7) it installs fine, but when I run the application I get this error:
Unable to load DLL 'sqlceme35.dll'. The specified module could not be found
I spent a few hours searching for this error already, but all I could find were issues relating to installing on 64 bit Windows and none relating to normal 32 bit that I'm using.
The install application copies the all the dependent files that it found into the specified install directory, including the System.Data.SqlServerCe.dll file (assembly version 3.5.1.0). The database file is in a directory called 'data' off the application directory, and the connection string for it is
<add name="Tickets.ieOutlet.Properties.Settings.TicketsLocalConnectionString" connectionString="Data Source=|DataDirectory|\data\TicketsLocal.sdf" providerName="Microsoft.SqlServerCe.Client.3.5" />
Some questions I have:
Should the application be able to find the DLL file if it's in the same directory, that is, local to the application, or do I need to install it in the GAC? (If so, can I use the Windows Installer to install a DLL file in the GAC?)
Is there anything else I need to distribute with the application in order to use a SQL Server Compact database?
There are other DLL files also, such as MS interop for exporting data to Excel on the client. Do these need to be installed in the GAC or will locating them in the application directory suffice?
You don't need it to be in the GAC for SQL Server Compact to run, and it will pick them up from the application directory. There are several ways to deploy an SQL Server Compact project. The two main ways are:
Deploying the SQL Server Compact redistributable installer with your project, but this way is painful and also can be unistalled by the end user, or upgraded by Windows updates and breaking your application.
Including the DLL files in your application folder. Depending on the features of SQL Server Compact you are using (replication or whatever), there is a handful of DLL files to deploy in your application folder.
If you have SQL Server Compact installed on your machine, they are most likely located at "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition\v3.5". They can be added to the project in Visual Studio and then set their project output type to "copy always". And the main reference to System.Data.SqlServerCe that you have in your project references should have copy local set to true.
sqlceca35.dll
sqlcecompact35.dll
sqlceer35en.dll
sqlceoledb35.dll
sqlceqp35.dll
sqlcese35.dll
If you have these all set, then in your installer project all you have to include is the project output of this project and you're good. In my opinion this is the only way to go. It is a simple deployment, of a couple of files and you are in control of what DLL versions your application uses.
I hope that helps.
I had a similar problem, a Visual Studio 2008 Windows application targeting 32-bit Windows XP and Windows Vista that used SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP1 - that then got this error when installed on 64-bit Windows 7:
Unable to load DLL 'sqlceme35.dll'. The specified module could not be found
I was embedding an MSI for SQL Server Compact into the installer for the application.
Following this rather confused discussion on MSDN revealed that I needed to use the 64-bit MSI for SQL Server Compact on 64-bit machines. D'oh! That is, from page Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 Service Pack 1 and Synchronization Services for ADO.NET version 1.0 Service Pack 1 for Windows Desktop I needed SSCERuntime-ENU-x64.msi rather than SSCERuntime-ENU-x86.msi for 64-bit machines.
How to: Deploy a SQL Server Compact Edition Database with an Application should help, at least with your first two questions.
In general, I think you should not install anything in the GAC for a single application.
The following provide a solution to the problem and an explanation also.
Troubleshooting: Can’t load SQL Server Compact DLL
SqlCeException on application's first use of SQL Server Compact
Laxmi Narsimha Rao Oruganti 's blog
I hope this helps.

Resources