Installation Program

[rgratto2]

I have been assigned with creating an installation program for our application. I need some tips. The technology itself hasnt been decided, so any suggestions are good suggestions.

Thus far, I've monkeyed around with the installation projects that Visual Studio can create. These use windows installer and allow you to put some simple functionality into the program. The tool is fairly limited, however - it doesnt support custom dialogs. There is a sample set of dialogs that are available and thats that. I looked into creating custom dialogs, but as far as I could tell, it was a total nightmare.

I know that there are some other programs out there (such as NSIS and InstallShield) that will assist in building an install program, some that use the Windows Installer technology. Does anyone have any experience with such programs/recommendations? Any recommendations for other installer technologies?


Some requirements for the install program include:
- Installing the .net framework
- Placing our files on their system (duh )
- Modifying IIS settings
- Possibly modifying file permissions

 

[CEpeep]

I've used NSIS in the past and have found it excellent. The fact that it's totally free doesn't hurt either. It's very easy to build custom dialogs in NSIS, and it has all sorts of great plug-ins available that will save you time. For example, there's a pre-built plugin for installing the .net framework. All you have to do is drop it in and it handles that aspect for you.