Deployment (How Do I in C#)

This page links to help on widely used deployment tasks. To view other categories of popular tasks covered in Help, see How Do I in C#.

ClickOnce

• How to: Publish a ClickOnce Application
  Demonstrates how to make a ClickOnce application available to users by publishing it to a Web server, file share, or removable media.

• How to: Specify a Publishing Location
  Demonstrates how to specify the location where the application files and manifest will be placed.

• How to: Specify an Installation URL
  Demonstrates how to use the Installation URL property to specify the Web server where users will go to download the application.

• How to: Specify a Support URL
  Demonstrates how to use the Support URL property to identify a Web page or file share where users can go to get information about the application.

• How to: Specify the ClickOnce Install Mode
  Demonstrates how to set the Install Mode to specify whether the application will be available offline or online.

• How to: Enable AutoStart for CD Installations
  Demonstrates how to enable AutoStart so that the ClickOnce application will be automatically launched when the media is inserted.

• How to: Set the ClickOnce Publish Version
  Demonstrates how to set the Publish Version property, which determines whether or not the application that you are publishing will be treated as an update.

• How to: Automatically Increment the ClickOnce Publish Version
  Demonstrates how to change the Publish Version property to cause the application to be published as an update.

• How to: Specify Which Files Are Published by ClickOnce
  Demonstrates how to exclude files, mark files as data files or prerequisites, and create groups of files for conditional installation.

• How to: Install Prerequisites with a ClickOnce Application
  Demonstrates how to specify a set of prerequisite components to be packaged along with your application

• How to: Manage Updates for a ClickOnce Application
  Demonstrates how to specify when and how update checks are performed, whether updates are mandatory, and where the application should check for updates.

• How to: Include a Data File in a ClickOnce Application
  Provides procedures that show you how to add a data file of any type into your ClickOnce application.

• How to: Deploy the .NET Framework by Using Systems Management Server
  Provides tasks that must be performed on the server running Systems Management Server.

• How to: Add a Trusted Publisher to a Client Computer for ClickOnce Applications
  Shows you how to use the command-line tool CertMgr.exe to add a publisher's certificate to the Trusted Publishers store on a client computer.

• How to: Specify an Alternate Location for Deployment Updates
  Shows you how to specify an alternate location for updates in your deployment manifest so that your application can update itself from the Web after its initial installation.

• How to: Deploy the .NET Framework by Using Active Directory
  Provides a procedure to deploy the .NET Framework by using Active Directory.

• How to: Retrieve Query String Information in a ClickOnce Application
  Provides procedure to show you how to use a ClickOnce application to obtain query string information. It also shows how your ClickOnce application can use a small piece of code to read these values the first time the application launches.

• How to: Enable ClickOnce Security Settings
  Demonstrates how to temporarily disable the security settings during development.

• How to: Set a Security Zone for a ClickOnce Application
  Demonstrates how to set a security zone to populate the Permissions required by the application table.

• How to: Set Custom Permissions for a ClickOnce Application
  Demonstrates how to restrict the application to the specific permissions that it needs to operate properly.

• How to: Determine the Permissions for a ClickOnce Application
  Demonstrates how to analyze your application to determine which permissions it needs by running the Permission Calculator tool.

• How to: Debug a ClickOnce Application with Restricted Permissions
  Demonstrates how to debug the application with the same permissions as the end user.

Windows Installer

• Windows Installer Deployment
  Links to articles on how to use Windows Installer deployment to create installer packages to be distributed to users.

• Walkthrough: Deploying a Windows-based Application
  Demonstrates the process of creating an installer for a Windows application that launches Notepad.

• Walkthrough: Installing Shared Components Using Merge Modules
  How to use merge modules to ensure that shared components are packaged and delivered for consistent deployment.

• Walkthrough: Creating a Custom Action
  Demonstrates the process of creating a DLL custom action to direct a user to a Web page at the end of an installation.

• Walkthrough: Using a Custom Action to Display a Message at Installation
  Demonstrates how to use a custom action to take user input and pass it to a message box that appears during installation.

• Walkthrough: Using a Custom Action to Compile a Binary to Native Code at Installation
  Demonstrates how to pass the path name of a DLL to the CustomActionData property in order to precompile the assembly to native code during installation.

• Walkthrough: Using a Custom Action to Create a Database at Installation
  Demonstrates the use of a custom action and the CustomActionData property to create a database and database table during installation.

• Walkthrough: Redirecting an Application to Target a Different Web Service at Installation
  Demonstrates how to create a Web application that can be redirected to target a different XML Web service by using the URL Behavior property, an Installer class, and a Web Setup project.

• How to: Install Prerequisites in Windows Installer Deployment
  Demonstrates how to automatically detect the existence of components during installation and install a predetermined set of prerequisites, a process known as bootstrapping.

• How to: Create or Add Deployment Projects
  Demonstrates how to specify where and how your solution will be deployed both during and after development.

• How to: Create or Add a Setup Project
  Demonstrates how to create Windows Installer (.msi) files, which are used to distribute your application for installation on another computer or Web server.

• How to: Create or Add a Merge Module Project
  Demonstrates how to create a merge module project to package files or components that will be shared between multiple applications.

• How to: Create or Add a Cab Project
  Demonstrates how to create a CAB project to create cabinet (.cab) files that can be used to download components to a Web browser.

• How to: Set Deployment Project Properties
  Demonstrates how to set configuration-dependent properties using the Deployment Properties dialog box.

• How to: Add Items to a Deployment Project
  Demonstrates how to specify what needs to be included in the installer and where to install it on the target computer.

• How to: Add Merge Modules to a Deployment Project
  Demonstrates how to use merge modules (.msm files) to share components between multiple deployment projects.

• How to: Add and Remove Icons
  Demonstrates how to install and associate icons with your application on a target computer during installation

• How to: Exclude Items from a Deployment Project
  Demonstrates how to exclude a file or files from a deployment project.

• How to: Set Conditional Installation Based on Operating System Versions
  Demonstrates how to set the Condition property to add conditional logic to an installer, for example, installing different files or setting different registry values for different operating system versions.

See Also

Concepts

How Do I in C#

Deploying C# Applications