In my installer project I have a harvested output of a referenced project which creates a fragment and, inside it, DirectoryRef element.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
<Fragment>
<DirectoryRef Id="MyProject.Content">
<Directory Id="dir9B0F2CD8423EA8141263E4CAA24D1234" Name="Data">
<!-- subfolders, components etc. -->
Now, in my main wxs file I need to include MyProject.Content directory as a subfolder of two different directories.
I include <Directory Id="MyProject.Content" /> as a child of one directory and it works fine, files are added.
But if I include it in another directory I get:
error LGHT0091: Duplicate symbol 'Directory:MyProject.Content' found.
How can I reuse DirectoryRef twice?
The Id of non-Ref elements must be unique. So, somewhere in your .wxs code you have Directory Id='MyProject.Content' twice.
Unfortunately, the design of heat.exe that is part of the WiX Toolset adds a lot of identifiers preventing your scenario. You'd need to remove the Id attributes and probably still have to harvest twice to get two different ComponentGroup identifiers. This scenario just isn't in the design of heat.exe.
Contrast that with something like the WiX Expansion Pack advanced harvesting's solution where the HarvestFolder or HarvestProject element is placed directly in your .wxs code. Then you can place those elements in the appropriate directories and unique identifiers will be generated.
I am creating a Bundle installer, using WiX standard bootstrapper in order to install .NET Framework 4.5 (if not yet installed) and my application in the user's computer. The bundle installer also allows the user to set the installation path for the application, and uses WiX standard bootstrapper's UI only (no other installers' interfaces are shown to the user).
Right now I'm struggling to allow the user to launch my application at the end of the installation.
Closest related anwers I could find use a variable named LaunchTarget, which causes WiX standard bootstrapper to display a "Launch" button in the end of the installation.
Given solutions and why I wasn't able to use them follow:
Answer "A" suggests setting the LaunchTarget variable to the exact folder inside "Program Files" folder where the application should be installed. This doesn't work for me, because I want to allow the user to specify the target installation folder (application can be installed outside of the "Program Files" folder).
Answer "B" suggests setting the LaunchTarget variable by using the InstallFolder variable to determine where the user configured the standard bootstrapper to install the software to. This seemed perfect for my case, but after setting the LaunchTarget value simply to "[InstallFolder]" I verified that pressing the "Launch" button in the standard bootstrapper's UI actually opens the folder where the installer is running, and not the folder where the user chose to install the software, as I expected. (is that a bug?)
Question is: how can I correctly set the LaunchTarget variable to the right path, considering that the user can modify the installation folder through WiX standard bootstrapper's UI?
The code for the Bunde follows.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"
xmlns:bal="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/BalExtension">
<Bundle Name="My Game Trainer" Manufacturer="MY_MANUFACTURER_ID_HERE" UpgradeCode="MY_GUID_HERE" Version="!(bind.packageVersion.TrainerMsiPackage)" DisableModify="yes">
<Variable Name="LaunchTarget" Value="[InstallFolder]" />
<BootstrapperApplicationRef Id="WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.RtfLargeLicense">
<bal:WixStandardBootstrapperApplication ShowVersion="yes" LicenseFile="PATH_TO_MY_LICENSE.rtf" />
</BootstrapperApplicationRef>
<Chain>
<PackageGroupRef Id="NetFx45Web"/>
<MsiPackage Id="TrainerMsiPackage" SourceFile="$(var.SetupMSI.TargetPath)" DisplayInternalUI="no">
<MsiProperty Name="TRAINER_INSTALL_DIR" Value="[InstallFolder]"/>
</MsiPackage>
</Chain>
</Bundle>
</Wix>
Using WiX Toolset v3.11.1 (+Visual Studio 2017 Extension).
I am trying to share a variable across 2 of my wix projects but I am having issues.
Basically I am trying to accomplish having the version number of my bootstrapper and MSI in one file and then this referenced by the two projects.
I have three projects
Install - This is a setup project that creates an .msi file
Bootstrapper - This is a Wix Bootstrapper project that references and runs the .msi file at runtime
Shared - This is a wixlib project that contains a single variable in a fragment that is the version number
The shared project contains a single file i have called GlobalVars.wxs and looks like this
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
<Fragment>
<?define VersionNo = "6.86.123"?>
</Fragment>
</Wix>
The bootstrapper references this variable like this
<Bundle Name="ProgramName" Version="$(var.VersionNo)" Manufacturer="CompanyName" UpgradeCode="Guid" Compressed="no">
and the Install project references the variable like this - and has a reference to the .wxs from the shared project
<Product Id="*" Name="Program Name" Language="2057" Version="$(var.VersionNo)" Manufacturer="CompanyName" UpgradeCode="guid">
<Package InstallerVersion="200" Compressed="yes" InstallScope="perMachine" InstallPrivileges="elevated"/>
<?include GlobalVars.wxs ?>
Both projects have references setup to the wixlib project that contains the variable
When i attempt to build I am getting this error on both the install and bootstrapper project
Undefined preprocessor variable '$(var.VersionNo)'.
If the <?include?> tag resolved the issue I would expect the install project to build
Does anyone have any ideas as to what I might be doing wrong here?
To me it looks like the variable has not been defined by the time the build attempts to call it, but I am unsure as to show to change the order to ensure the variable is defined before anything else
Thanks for the help
I believe the answer to this question will help. I've used it and noticed that properties seem to be usable in my main wxs file.
To summarise, you need to set up a fake componentGroup in your library fragment, and use it in your installer. You do not need the include anymore, as long as the fake componentGroup from your fragment is referenced as a componentGroupRef in your main install, and your wixlib project is referenced in your installer project through VS (you said you'd already done this in your comments above).
Your library fragment might look something like this.
<Fragment id="fragment_id_may_not_be_needed">
<?define VersionNo = "6.86.123"?>
<ComponentGroup Id="c.define_version_num" />
</Fragment>
If the define for whatever reason doesn't work, try using a property instead. I'd be interested to know which works. Properties seem to work for me.
Then reference it in your main install like this:
<Feature Id="Main_installation" Title="Main installation" Level="1">
<!-- bringing in fragments from the shared libraries -->
<ComponentGroupRef Id="c.define_version_num" />
</feature>
Give it a whirl.
I am trying to make a setup file for an application with Wix. After the installation of the program the setup should remove a folder located in its same folder. I don't know how to do it. All I know is that I have to use the RemoveFolder element, that must be placed inside a Component element. So far I have written this but it doesn't work.
<Component Directory="CURRENTDIR" Id="cd1">
<RemoveFolder Id="rf1" On="install" Directory="NameOfFolderToRemove"/>
</Component>
Take a look at util:RemoveFolderEx
http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/xsd/util/removefolderex.html
You will need to reference WixUtilExtension in your project and include
xmlns:util="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/UtilExtension"
in your Wix tag like below:
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"
xmlns:util="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/UtilExtension">
<RemoveFolder> will only remove empty folders so if there are files in the folder the remove folder action won't work.
I am trying to create a Nuget package for a library that depends on ghostscript and therefore references gsdll32.dll - an unmanaged library. I can't just included that a standard dll reference. Where do I put this in the nuget directory structure?
Add a build folder to the package and, if the package for example has the id MyPackage, add a MSBuild target file called MyPackage.targets to this folder. It is important that the .targets file has the same name as the .nuspec file. In the .nuspec file you must have a section like this:
<files>
<file src="lib\*.*" target="lib" />
<file src="build\MyPackage.targets" target="build" />
</files>
This will add an MSBuild element in the project file pointing to the .targets file.
Furthermore, to only register the managed dlls, add a section like this:
<references>
<reference file="MyManaged.dll" />
</references>
The .targets file should look something like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Target Name="CopyMyPackageFiles" AfterTargets="AfterBuild">
<ItemGroup>
<MyPackageFiles Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\lib\*.*"/>
</ItemGroup>
<Copy SourceFiles="#(MyPackageFiles)" DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" >
</Copy>
</Target>
</Project>
Now, all files - including unmanaged files - will be copied to the project output folder (e.g. \bin\debug) after the build.
The above reference can work, but it actually modifies your post build event to push files over, which may not actually fix your issue if you have the situation we did.
The issue we were having was a dependent DLL could not be registered, but had to exist side by side with another DLL which needed to be registered by nuget so it needed to exist in the lib directory but not be registered.
The nuspec reference now allows you to specify which DLLs in the lib directory get explicitly registered in the visual studio project now, you simply need to add into your nuspec file in the metadata area an explicit references list (if this does not exist the default behavior of nuget is to attempt to register everything under lib).
Here is an example nuspec file of what I mean:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2010/07/nuspec.xsd">
<metadata>
<id>SomePackageID</id>
<version>1.0.1</version>
<title>Some Package Title</title>
<authors>Some Authors</authors>
<requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
<description>Blah blah blah.</description>
<references>
<reference file="ceTe.DynamicPDF.Rasterizer.20.x86.dll" />
</references>
</metadata>
<files>
<file src="\\SomeNetworkLocation\ceTe.DynamicPDF.Rasterizer.20.x86.dll" target="lib\ceTe.DynamicPDF.Rasterizer.20.x86.dll" />
<file src="\\SomeNetworkLocation\DPDFRast.x86.dll" target="lib\DPDFRast.x86.dll" />
</files>
</package>
As you can see, ceTe.DynamicPDF.Rasterizer.20.x86.dll needs to be registered, but DPDFRast.x86.dll simply needs to exist in that directory to support the other DLL and won't be registered but through some dynamic referencing magic will ultimately be copied over into the destination bin directory anyway because visual studio sees that the first DLL is dependent upon the second.
Here is the original nuspec reference.
Response on the Nuget forum: http://nuget.codeplex.com/discussions/352689
pranavkm:
The SQLCE package has a similar issue that we handle via PS
scripts. Checkout out the scripts at
https://bitbucket.org/davidebbo/nugetpackages/src/1cba18b864f7/SqlServerCompact/Tools.
I largely got this to work using Lars Michael's method, but one thing I needed to add comes from James Eby's answer. Visual Studio was trying to register all the dll's in my lib directory, so I added a references element to the metadata in the nuspec file to tell it to only register the managed dll:
<references>
<reference file="FANNCSharp.dll" />
</references>
Also in
<MyPackageFiles Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\Packages\MyPackage\lib\*.*"/>
I first tried the id of my package FANNCSharp-x64, but it needed the full package name: FANNCSharp-x64.0.1.4.
One problem I had was that the packages path wasn't always in the same place relative to the project file. The following worked for me:
Within the NuGet package, place your unmanaged DLLs in the lib\native folder.
Add the following script to the tools folder:
install.ps1
#This script creates or updates a PackagesPath property in the project file
param($installPath, $toolsPath, $package, $project)
$project.Save()
#Load the csproj file into an xml object
[xml] $xml = Get-Content -path $project.FullName
#grab the namespace from the project element
$nsmgr = New-Object System.Xml.XmlNamespaceManager -ArgumentList $xml.NameTable
$nsmgr.AddNamespace('a',$xml.Project.GetAttribute("xmlns"))
#find or create the property
$property = $xml.Project.SelectSingleNode("//a:PropertyGroup//a:PackagesPath", $nsmgr)
if (!$property)
{
$property = $xml.CreateElement("PackagesPath", $xml.Project.GetAttribute("xmlns"))
$propertyGroup = $xml.CreateElement("PropertyGroup", $xml.Project.GetAttribute("xmlns"))
$propertyGroup.AppendChild($property)
$xml.Project.InsertBefore($propertyGroup, $xml.Project.ItemGroup[0])
}
#find the relative path to the packages folder
$absolutePackagesPath = (get-item $installPath).parent.FullName
push-location (split-path $project.FullName)
$relativePackagesPath = Resolve-Path -Relative $absolutePackagesPath
pop-location
#set the property value
$property.InnerText = $relativePackagesPath
#save the changes.
$xml.Save($project.FullName)
Add a targets file to the build folder. (Change "MyPackage" to the name of your package). Using a unique name for the target, like "CopyMyPackage", avoids conflicts with other packages trying to define the "AfterBuild" target. This targets file makes use of the $(PackagesPath) property defined by the above script.
MyPackage.targets
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Target Name="CopyMyPackage" AfterTargets="AfterBuild">
<ItemGroup>
<MyPackageSourceFiles Include="$(PackagesPath)\MyPackage.*\lib\native\*.*"/>
</ItemGroup>
<Copy SourceFiles="#(MyPackageSourceFiles)" DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" >
</Copy>
</Target>
</Project>
Finally, add a "MyPackageReadMe.txt" to the Content folder. This will enable the package to install.
See also: http://alski.net/post/2013/05/23/Using-NuGet-25-to-deliver-unmanaged-dlls.aspx
For .NET Core this is pretty straightforward if you know what runtime platform your native code targets. You might notice a folder called "runtimes" in the .NET Core build folder under the bin tree when you build. It looks something like this:
These folders are designed to hold any platform specific stuff, including unmanaged/native DLLs.
In your NuGet package add a the following under the "Files" section:
<file src="[source path for file in package]" target="runtimes\[platform]\native\[file name]" />
When executing the application, the runtime environment will look for unmanaged dlls in the corresponding platform directory.
If you want to target multiple platforms, just add another file entry for each platform.