How to deploy VS2008 express desktop project?

Question

i was wondering how could i deploy/make it into an installer for an app which is created using vs 2008 express. i know that the setup and deployment feature is only available via the full version of visual studio right?

So are there any add ons or perhaps additional free/or non-free if it has to come to that which i can use to do this?

or is the best tool for the job is the old visual studio installer from the vs 6.0 days? :)

thanks

Updates: After some googling, i found this link on using click once to deploy vs 2008 express with tutorials in them, i'll check it out, but of course more & better recommendation is always welcomed :)

Pannell

Answer 1

WiX is excellent. Here is a good MSDN article on it too.

Phytohormone

Answer 2

I would definitely recommend ClickOnce. It's how I distribute Comicster (my own hobby project written using C# Express). It handles updates to your app, too, which is very nice.

If you can't deploy to a web site, ClickOnce also supports deploying to a folder for file-based installs (eg CD or network share).

Assoil

I've included a link to the Comicster site in case you want to check it out. It's free, so I don't consider this spam. If anyone objects, let me know and I will remove the link. – Assoil

hi Matt, is this clickonce only available in the full version of visual studio 2005? or how do i get it? thanks & my bad if this sounds really dumb :P – Pannell

No, ClickOnce is available in Express. You just right-click on your project and select "Publish" to step through the deployment wizard (or bring up your project's properties and have a look at the "Publish" tab). – Assoil

mm, weird as i just installed the vs 2008 C# express, maybe i have to download the whole vs 2008 express iso and download that one. thanks, spare me a lot of unnecessary googling :) – Pannell

Yea, it would seems that the publish option is only available from the vs 2008 express that i installed from the iso and not just from the 2MB installer which download the rest of the setup files. weird :s – Pannell

Do you get the Publish tab in the project properties? – Assoil