GenerateBootstrapper Task

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Provides an automated way to detect, download, and install an application and its prerequisites. It serves as a single installer that integrates the separate installers for all the components making up an application.

Task Parameters

The following table describes the parameters of the GenerateBootstrapper task.

Parameter

Description

ApplicationFile

Optional String parameter.

Specifies the file the bootstrapper will use to begin the installation of the application after all prerequisites have been installed. A build error will result if neither the BootstrapperItems nor the ApplicationFile parameter is specified.

ApplicationName

Optional String parameter.

Specifies the name of the application that the bootstrapper will install. This name will appear in the UI the bootstrapper uses during installation.

ApplicationRequiresElevation

Optional Boolean parameter.

If true, the component runs with elevated permissions when it is installed on a target computer.

ApplicationUrl

Optional String parameter.

Specifies the Web location that is hosting the application’s installer.

BootstrapperComponentFiles

Optional String[] output parameter.

Specifies the built location of bootstrapper package files.

BootstrapperItems

Optional ITaskItem[] parameter.

Specifies the products to build into the bootstrapper. The items passed to this parameter should have the following syntax:

<BootstrapperItem
    Include="ProductCode">
    <ProductName>
        ProductName
    </ProductName>
</BootstrapperItem>

The Include attribute is used to represent the name of a prerequisite which should be installed. The ProductName item metadata is optional, and will be used by the build engine as a user-friendly name in case the package cannot be found. These items are not required MSBuild input parameters unless no ApplicationFile is specified. You should include one item for every prerequisite which must be installed for your application.

A build error will result if neither the BootstrapperItems nor the ApplicationFile parameter is specified.

BootstrapperKeyFile

Optional String output parameter.

Specifies the built location of setup.exe

ComponentsLocation

Optional String parameter.

Specifies a location for the bootstrapper to look for installation prerequisites to install. This parameter can have the following values::

  • HomeSite: Indicates that the prerequisite is being hosted by the component vendor.

  • Relative: Indicates that the preqrequisite is at the same location of the application.

  • Absolute: Indicates that all components are to be found at a centralized URL. This value should be used in conjunction with the ComponentsUrl input parameter.

If ComponentsLocation is not specified, HomeSite is used by default.

ComponentsUrl

Optional String parameter.

Specifies the URL containing the installation prerequisites.

CopyComponents

Optional Boolean parameter.

If true, the bootstrapper copies all output files to the path specified in the OutputPath parameter. The values of the BootstrapperComponentFiles parameter should all be based on this path. If false, the files are not copied, and the BootstrapperComponentFiles values are based on the value of the Path parameter. The default value of this parameter is true.

Culture

Optional String parameter.

Specifies the culture to use for the bootstrapper UI and installation prerequisites. If the specified culture is unavailabe, the task uses the value of the FallbackCulture parameter.

FallbackCulture

Optional String parameter.

Specifies the secondary culture to use for the bootstraper UI and installation prerequisites.

OutputPath

Optional String parameter.

Specifies the location to copy setup.exe and all package files.

Path

Optional String parameter.

Specifies the location of all available prerequisite packages.

SupportUrl

Optional String parameter.

Specifies the URL to provide should the bootstrapper installation fail

Validate

Optional Boolean parameter.

If true, the bootstrapper performs XSD validation on the specified input bootstrapper items. The default value of this parameter is false.

Remarks

In addition to the parameters listed above, this task inherits parameters from the TaskExtension class, which itself inherits from the Task class. For a list of these additional parameters and their descriptions, see TaskExtension Base Class.

Example

The following example uses the GenerateBootstrapper task to install an application that must have the .NET Framework 2.0 installed as a prerequisite.

<Project xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">

    <ItemGroup>
        <BootstrapperFile Include="Microsoft.Net.Framework.2.0">
            <ProductName>Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0</ProductName>
        </BootstrapperFile>
    </ItemGroup>

    <Target Name="BuildBootstrapper">
        <GenerateBootstrapper
            ApplicationFile="WindowsApplication1.application"
            ApplicationName="WindowsApplication1"
            ApplicationUrl="http://mycomputer"
            BootstrapperItems="@(BootstrapperFile)"
            OutputPath="C:\output" />
    </Target>

</Project>

See Also

Concepts

MSBuild Tasks

Other Resources

MSBuild Task Reference