For C# developers needing to create a Windows Installer MSI to deploy their app, Wix# is perhaps the best replacement for the "Packaging and Deployment" project type that Microsoft removed from Visual Studio starting with VS2012. Wix is a C# front end for the WiX toolset that allows building a complete Windows Installer MSI in the C# language.
For C# developers needing to create a Windows Installer MSI to deploy their app, Wix# is perhaps the best replacement for the "Packaging and Deployment" project type that Microsoft removed from Visual Studio starting with VS2012. Wix is a C# front end for the WiX toolset that allows building a complete Windows Installer MSI in the C# language. Wix# works by translating C# code to WiX XML (.wxs file), that is then processed by the WiX toolset, to produce a resulting MSI. Wix# is generally simpler to start creating installers with than using WiX XML directly. In the process of learning and using Wix# you will also want to learn more about the WiX toolset, to fully understand what Wix# is doing.
For WiX features that are not directly implemented in Wix#, it is possible to include them in your installs by using a feature known as XML injection, which injects the WiX XML for the feature into the .wxs file that Wix# produces, which is then processed by the WiX toolset compilers.
Wix# also removes the necessity to develop MSI Custom Actions in a completely different language (e.g. C++) from the main installer. Using Wix#, the MSI installer's components plus also any Custom Action behaviors can both be specified in the same language (C#), and in the same C# source file. This simplifies the creation of MSI installers and allows developers with a strong C# skill set to use their preferred skill set in creating MSI installers.
