WiX Cookbook

Over 60 hands-on recipes packed with tips and tricks to boost your Windows installations

About This Book

• Build WiX projects within Visual Studio, as part of a continuous-integration build process and from the command-line
• Install, configure and populate relational databases up front to complement your application
• Automate your day-to-day administration tasks such as setting up performance counters and exceptions to the Windows firewall

Who This Book Is For

If you are a developer with a good understanding of WiX projects and would like to further explore advanced WiX topics, this book is for you. To get the most out of this book, knowledge of proper XML syntax is recommended.

In Detail

WiX is a dialect of XML used to make installers for Windows. Its declarative style avoids the complexity and limitations of procedural code, providing you with everything you need to package up an entire application into a single MSI file.

This book gives you a good overview of WiX’s capabilities to develop your own installer packages with functionalities beyond those available in Windows Installer. In the recipes of this book, you will see ways in which WiX can cut down on your installation time and help you streamline your deployment processes. You will see how to make customized installer UIs, write custom actions, create shortcuts, and also set your application as the default for a file type.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Organizing and Building WiX Projects
Chapter 2: Installing Files and Directories
Chapter 3: File and Folder Permissions
Chapter 4: Shortcuts
Chapter 5: Editing XML Files during Installation
Chapter 6: Custom Actions
Chapter 7: Installing Wizards
Chapter 8: Users and Groups
Chapter 9: Handling Prerequisites
Chapter 10: Installing Websites
Chapter 11: Linking to the Web
Chapter 12: Installing SQL Server Databases
Chapter 13: Admin Tasks