How to create a desktop icon with Inno Setup

Question

I am very new of Inno Setup and I wish to add an optional Desktop icon to my executable in Inno Setup. The file is stored in

C:\Users\PycharmProjects\GIOTTOconverter\dist\giotto.ico

I tried to follow several examples but without results.

; Script generated by the Inno Setup Script Wizard.
; SEE THE DOCUMENTATION FOR DETAILS ON CREATING INNO SETUP SCRIPT FILES!

#define MyAppName "GIOTTO"
#define MyAppVersion "1.0"
#define MyAppExeName "GIOTTO.exe"

[Setup]
; NOTE: The value of AppId uniquely identifies this application.
; Do not use the same AppId value in installers for other applications.
; (To generate a new GUID, click Tools | Generate GUID inside the IDE.)
AppId={{48A8A469-1711-46FD-AC87-1596EF57C123}
AppName={#MyAppName}
AppVersion={#MyAppVersion}
;AppVerName={#MyAppName} {#MyAppVersion}
DefaultDirName={pf}\{#MyAppName}
DefaultGroupName={#MyAppName}
AllowNoIcons=yes
OutputBaseFilename=GiottoSetup
SetupIconFile=C:\Users\PycharmProjects\GIOTTOconverter\dist\giotto.ico
Compression=lzma
SolidCompression=yes

[Languages]
Name: "english"; MessagesFile: "compiler:Default.isl"
Name: "french"; MessagesFile: "compiler:Languages\French.isl"
Name: "italian"; MessagesFile: "compiler:Languages\Italian.isl"
Name: "spanish"; MessagesFile: "compiler:Languages\Spanish.isl"

[Tasks]
Name: "desktopicon"; Description: "{cm:CreateDesktopIcon}"; GroupDescription: "{cm:AdditionalIcons}"; Flags: unchecked
Name: "quicklaunchicon"; Description: "{cm:CreateQuickLaunchIcon}"; GroupDescription: "{cm:AdditionalIcons}"; Flags: unchecked; OnlyBelowVersion: 0,6.1

[Files]
Source: "C:\Users\PycharmProjects\GIOTTOconverter\dist\GIOTTO.exe"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion
Source: "C:\Users\PycharmProjects\GIOTTOconverter\dist\*"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion recursesubdirs createallsubdirs
; NOTE: Don't use "Flags: ignoreversion" on any shared system files

[Icons]
Name: "{group}\{#MyAppName}"; Filename: "{app}\{#MyAppExeName}"
Name: "{group}\{cm:UninstallProgram,{#MyAppName}}"; Filename: "{uninstallexe}"
Name: "{commondesktop}\{#MyAppName}"; Filename: "{app}\{#MyAppExeName}"; Tasks: desktopicon
Name: "{userappdata}\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\{#MyAppName}"; Filename: "{app}\{#MyAppExeName}"; Tasks: quicklaunchicon

[Run]
Filename: "{app}\{#MyAppExeName}"; Description: "{cm:LaunchProgram,{#StringChange(MyAppName, '&', '&&')}}"; Flags: nowait postinstall skipifsilent

Answer 1

In [Files] section, you install your giotto.ico to the application folder (you may want to install the icon only when the desktopicon task is selected).

In [Icons] section, you create the desktop icon using the installed giotto.ico (when the desktopicon task is selected).

#define SourcePath "C:\Users\PycharmProjects\GIOTTOconverter\dist"
#define MyAppName "GIOTTO"
#define MyAppExeName "GIOTTO.exe"
#define MyAppIcoName "giotto.ico"

[Tasks]
Name: "desktopicon"; Description: "{cm:CreateDesktopIcon}"; \
    GroupDescription: "{cm:AdditionalIcons}"; Flags: unchecked

[Files]
Source: "{#SourcePath}\{#MyAppExeName}"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion
Source: "{#SourcePath}\{#MyAppIcoName}"; DestDir: "{app}"

[Icons]
Name: "{userdesktop}\{#MyAppName}"; Filename: "{app}\{#MyAppExeName}"; \
    IconFilename: "{app}\{#MyAppIcoName}"; Tasks: desktopicon

If you want to create the icon by default, remove the Flags: unchecked. If you want to create the shortcut unconditionally, just remove the desktopicon [Tasks] section entry and Tasks parameter from the [Icons] section entry.

---

Though if the executable file (GIOTTO.exe) has the same icon linked into, you do not need to install the icon separately. Just use the icon from the EXE file:

#define SourcePath "C:\Users\PycharmProjects\GIOTTOconverter\dist"
#define MyAppName "GIOTTO"
#define MyAppExeName "GIOTTO.exe"

[Tasks]
Name: "desktopicon"; Description: "{cm:CreateDesktopIcon}"; \
    GroupDescription: "{cm:AdditionalIcons}"; Flags: unchecked

[Files]
Source: "{#SourcePath}\{#MyAppExeName}"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion

[Icons]
Name: "{userdesktop}\{#MyAppName}"; Filename: "{app}\{#MyAppExeName}"; \
    Tasks: desktopicon