Walkthrough: Deploying a .NET Framework Client Profile Application by using Windows Installer

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This walkthrough shows how to deploy a simple .NET Framework Client Profile application by using Windows Installer.

In this walkthrough, you perform the following tasks:

  • Create and configure the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) project for deployment as a .NET Framework Client Profile application.

  • Create an installer for the application.

When you are finished, you will have a Windows Installer setup program that installs your .NET Framework Client Profile application and .NET Framework prerequisites.

Note

The dialog boxes and menu commands you see might differ from those described in Help depending on your active settings or edition. To change your settings, choose Import and Export Settings on the Tools menu. For more information, see Visual Studio Settings.

Prerequisites

You need the following components to complete this walkthrough:

  • Visual Studio 2008 SP1.

Creating and Configuring the WPF project

The first step is to create the project for the WPF application.

To create the WPF project

  1. Create a new WPF Application project in Visual Basic or Visual C# named DemoApplication. For more information, see How to: Create a New WPF Application Project.

    Window1.xaml opens in the WPF Designer.

  2. In the project's property pages, check the Client-only Framework subset check box. For more information, see How to: Configure a .NET Framework Client Profile Application for Deployment.

Creating the Setup Project

You create the Windows Installer setup program for a .NET Framework Client Profile application by using the same procedure as other .NET applications.

To create the setup project

  1. Add a new Windows Installer Setup project named Setup1 to the solution. For more information, see How to: Create or Add a Setup Project.

  2. In Solution Explorer, right-click the Setup1 project and select Properties.

    The Setup1 Property Pages dialog box opens.

  3. Click Prerequisites.

    The Prerequisites dialog box opens.

  4. In the Choose which prerequisites to install section, check .NET Framework Client Profile.

  5. Uncheck .NET Framework 3.5 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 if they are checked.

  6. In the Specify the install location for prerequisites section, leave the default Download prerequisites from the component vendor's web site option selected.

    This option specifies to download the .NET Client Profile from Microsoft's Web site.

  7. Click OK two times to close the dialog boxes.

  8. In Solution Explorer, right-click the Setup1 project, point to Add, and then select Project Output.

    The Add Project Output Group dialog box opens and lists the outputs that can be included in the installer.

  9. Select Primary output and then click OK.

    In Solutions Explorer, the Setup1 project node is updated.

  10. Build the solution.

  11. Build the Setup1 project. By default, the Setup1 project is not configured to build with the solution.

  12. Open the DemoApplication\Setup1\Debug folder.

  13. Double-click setup.exe to start installing your application.

    During the installation, if the computer does not have the full .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 or the .NET Framework Client Profile, you will be prompted to download and install the .NET Framework Client Profile from Microsoft's Web site.

    Note

    Administrator permissions are required to install the .NET Framework Client Profile.

Next Steps

See Also

Tasks

How to: Create or Add a Setup Project

Walkthrough: Deploying a .NET Framework Client Profile Application by using ClickOnce

Concepts

.NET Framework Client Profile

.NET Framework Client Profile Deployment Configuration Schema

Reference

<supportedRuntime> Element

Change History

Date

History

Reason

July 2008

Added new topic.

SP1 feature change.