Building a Windows Installer Package

AdminStudio 2021 R2 SP1 | 22.01 | Repackager

Edition:This feature is available in AdminStudio Professional and Enterprise Editions.

You can simultaneously build an InstallShield Editor project (.ism) and a Windows Installer package (.msi) from your Repackager project (.irp). However, before you do so, you must configure options in your Repackager project necessary for the build.

Note:For information on building a virtual application, see Automatically Generating a Virtual Application During Repackager Project Build.

To build an InstallShield Editor project (.ism) and a Windows Installer package (.msi):

1. In the Repackager interface, open the Repackager project that you want to convert to an InstallShield Editor project and build a Windows Installer package.
2. Select Repackaged Output from the View List. The Repackaged Output view opens.
3. In the Editor Project field, enter the name and location of the InstallShield Editor Project file you want to create.
4. Select the Create Microsoft Windows Installer Package option, and select the following additional options:
a. The compression option that you select for this package depends upon the size of your application’s installation and your delivery method.

Neither Setup.exe nor your .msi file can be spanned across multiple disks. So, if the source files associated with your Windows Installer package cannot fit on the same disk as the setup.exe and .msi file, you will need to include them in .cab files on other disks. But if you are performing a network installation and have unlimited space, there is no need to compress files or include additional files in .cab files.

From the list, select one of the following options:

Option

Description

Single Compressed .MSI File

Select this option if you want to compress all necessary files inside the .msi package, as opposed to storing them outside of the .msi database.

Single Compressed Setup.exe File

Select this option if you want to compress all files inside a setup.exe file, including the .msi file and all other necessary files.

.MSI File With External .CAB File

Select this option if you want to create an .msi file and want to compress the rest of the necessary files in an external .cab file.

For example, you might have an installation that contains three features—each containing a 1.5 MB file, Setup.exe, and the installation files for Windows NT—and you want to create a custom media type that is 2 MB in size. The build will span multiple disks.

Disk one will contain Setup.exe, InstMsiW.exe (which contains the logic to install the Windows Installer service on Windows NT machines), Setup.ini (which is required for installations that include Setup.exe), and your .msi file.
The remaining disks will contain .cab files that store compressed copies of all your source files.

.MSI File With External .CAB File and Setup.exe

Select this option if you want to create an .msi file and a setup.exe file, and want to compress all the rest of the necessary files in an external .cab file.

Uncompressed .MSI File

Select this option if you want to create an uncompressed .msi file. All of the rest of the necessary files, in uncompressed format, would be shipped with the .msi file.

Uncompressed .MSI File With Setup.exe

Select this option if you want to create an uncompressed .msi file along with a setup.exe file. All of the rest of the necessary files, in uncompressed format, would be shipped with the .msi and setup.exe files.

b. To reduce versioning conflicts by modifying an application so it always loads the versions of components—such as DLLs—with which it was originally developed and tested, select the Create Isolated Version of the Package. An additional Windows Installer package will be created in the same directory as the .ism file and the other .msi file, with the naming convention of:

appname.isolated.msi

For more information on how Repackager isolates applications and the available isolation options, see Isolating Windows Installer Packages.

c. Select the Run Automated Tests on the Package option to automatically run best practice tests against the newly built Windows Installer package to determine if it is built according to Windows Installer standards, and if it is in compliance with the installation requirements of the Windows operating system.
d. To build a virtual application, select the Create Microsoft App-V Package, Create VMware ThinApp Package, Create Citrix XenApp Profile, and/or Create a Symantec virtual application option. See Automatically Generating a Virtual Application During Repackager Project Build.

Note:In order to select one of these virtualization options, you must have already selected the Create Microsoft Windows Installer Package option.

5. A project template contains all of the default settings and design elements that you want to use as a starting point when you create an installation project. In the Repackaged Output Options area, select the InstallShield Editor Project Template you want to use when creating the project:
Use the default Editor template—Select this option to use the default InstallShield Editor Project Template.
Use a customized template—Select this option to use a customized InstallShield Editor Project Template.

For example, if you wanted all of your InstallShield Editor projects to have a special custom dialog, a set of required redistributables, and a particular SQL script, you could create a project template that has all of those settings. Then, any time that you wanted to create a new project, you could base it off of your custom template. This enables you to avoid re-creating the custom dialog, re-adding the redistributables, and re-adding the SQL script every time that you create a new InstallShield Editor Project.

6. Select Package Information from the View List. The Package Information view opens, where you can specify information for the Windows Installer package that you build from the Repackager project. Much of this information may be prepopulated based on settings used in the Repackaging Wizard.
7. Enter the following information:
a. Company Name—The name of the company that developed the product you are repackaging.
b. Product Name—The name of the product you are repackaging.
c. Version—The product’s version number.
d. Product URL—The URL for product information. This appears in Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.
e. Support URL—A URL for support information. This also appears in Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel, and is often changed during repackaging to provide an internal support URL.
8. Select Advanced Settings from the View List. The Advanced Package Settings view opens.
9. Select the options that you want to use, as described in Configuring Advanced Conversion Options.
10. Select Repackaged Output on the View List. The Repackaged Output view opens.
11. Click the Build button. The build process begins, and its progress is reported in the output window.

When the build process is complete, a Conversion completed message appears in the output window, a link to the build log file is provided, and the location of the .msi file is listed. For example:

Output file: C:\1516261\WinZip.msi