Create bootstrapper packages

Applies to: Visual Studio Visual Studio for Mac

The Setup program is a generic installer that can be configured to detect and install redistributable components such as Windows Installer (.msi) files and executable programs. The installer is also known as a bootstrapper. It is programmed through a set of XML manifests that specify the metadata to manage the installation of the component. Each redistributable component, or prerequisite, that appears in the Prerequisites dialog box for ClickOnce is a bootstrapper package. A bootstrapper package is a group of directories and files that contain manifest files that describe how the prerequisite should be installed.

The bootstrapper first detects whether any of the prerequisites are already installed. If prerequisites are not installed, first the bootstrapper shows the license agreements. Second, after the end user accepts the license agreements, the installation begins for the prerequisites. Otherwise, if all the prerequisites are detected, the bootstrapper just starts the application installer.

Create custom bootstrapper packages

You can generate the bootstrapper manifests by using the XML Editor in Visual Studio. To see an example of creating a bootstrapper package, see Walkthrough: Create a custom bootstrapper with a privacy prompt.

To create a bootstrapper package, you have to create a product manifest and, for each localized version of a component, a package manifest as well.

• The product manifest, product.xml, contains any language-neutral metadata for the package. This contains metadata common to all the localized versions of the redistributable component. To create this file, see How to: Create a Product Manifest.

• The package manifest, package.xml, contains language-specific metadata; it typically contains localized error messages. A component must have at least one package manifest for each localized version of that component. To create this file, see How to: Create a Package Manifest.

After these files are created, put the product manifest file into a folder named for the custom bootstrapper. The package manifest file goes into a folder named for the locale. For example, if the package manifest file is for English redistribution, put the file into a folder called en. Repeat this process for each locale, such as ja for Japanese and de for German. The final custom bootstrapper package could have the following folder structure.

CustomBootstrapperPackage
  product.xml
  CustomBootstrapper.msi
  de
    eula.rtf
    package.xml
  en
    eula.rtf
    package.xml
  ja
    eula.rtf
    package.xml

Next, copy the redistributable files into the bootstrapper folder location. For more information, see How to: Create a localized bootstrapper package.

*\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\ClickOnce Bootstrapper\Packages*

or

*<VS Install Path>\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\BootstrapperPackages*

You can also find the bootstrapper folder location from the Path value in the following registry key:

*HKLM\Software\Microsoft\GenericBootstrapper*

On 64-bit systems, use the following registry key:

*HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\GenericBootstrapper*

Each redistributable component appears in its own subfolder under the packages directory. The product manifest and redistributable files must be put into this subfolder. Localized versions of the component and package manifests must be put in subfolders named according to Culture Name.

After these files are copied into the bootstrapper folder, the bootstrapper package automatically appears in the Visual Studio Prerequisites dialog box. If your custom bootstrapper package does not appear, close and then reopen the Prerequisites dialog box. For more information, see Prerequisites dialog box.

The following table shows the properties that are automatically populated by the bootstrapper.

Separate redistributables from application installations

You can prevent your redistributable files from being deployed in Setup projects. To do this, create a redistributable list in the RedistList folder in your .NET Framework directory:

%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft.NET\RedistList

The redistributable list is an XML file that you should name using the following format: <Company Name>.<Component Name>.RedistList.xml. So, for example, if the component is called DataWidgets made by Acme, use Acme.DataWidgets.RedistList.xml. An example of the redistributable list's contents might resemble this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<FileList Redist="Acme.DataWidgets" >
<File AssemblyName="Acme.DataGrid" Version="1.0.0.0" PublicKeyToken="b03f5f7f11d50a3a" Culture="neutral" ProcessorArchitecture="MSIL" InGAC="true" />
</FileList>

See also

• How to: Install prerequisites with a ClickOnce application
• Prerequisites dialog box
• Product and package schema reference
• Use the Visual Studio 2005 bootstrapper to kick-start your installation