The VC2005 merge modules will install files to:
- [WindowsFolder]System32 on Windows 9X and 2000;
- The appropriate WinSxS folder on Windows XP, 2003 and Vista.
They are not retargetable.
The vcredist_x86.exe package will do exactly the same since it's basically
just all the merge modules repackaged inside an MSI inside a bootstrapper.
--
Mike Dimmick
_____
From: Chris Bardon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 19 March 2007 13:37
To: Rob Mensching; Mike Dimmick; wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: RE: [WiX-users] Consensus about CRT/MCF merge modules?
Well, for the apps I'm building installers for, we've already decided
against static linking, so we need to deploy the DLLs somehow. In the past,
we've just included the merge modules using installshield, which I believe
deploys the DLLs to the system32 directory, but I've also tested with
including a private copy of the DLLs, and this also appears to work. I'm
not sure if this is a permitted option though.
When installing a merge module, is there a way to specify the module's
install directory? For example, if I want to install the CRT MSM from VS
2005, I can put something like this in:
<Merge Id="crt.B22E6F9A-D396-4F96-84D9-A822C63B9994" Language="1033"
DiskId="1" SourceFile="C:\Program Files\Common Files\Merge
Modules\Microsoft_VC80_CRT_x86.msm"/>
Since this is under a "directory" tag though, I don't know where it'll
install the files. The module default should be the system32 directory,
shouldn't it?
_____
From: Rob Mensching [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2007 8:44 AM
To: Mike Dimmick; Chris Bardon; wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: RE: [WiX-users] Consensus about CRT/MCF merge modules?
Agreed. However, based on early reports I'm not sure that pushing patches
into WinSxS is really working due to the complexity that is the
CustomActions to work around bugs in WinXP. The ideas behind Fusion are
interesting but the complexity of the system has made it difficult to verify
and for users to truly understand it.
Personally, I prefer a model where a patch to a shared binary has the
ability to update that binary everywhere (not that I can get anyone in
Microsoft to agree with me, so maybe I'm just confused <smile/>).
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike Dimmick
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 12:56 PM
To: Rob Mensching; 'Chris Bardon'; wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Consensus about CRT/MCF merge modules?
However, with static linking you have the servicing problem - if there's a
security issue in the CRT (not unknown) or in MFC, you will have to rebuild
your application to pick up the fix, then rerelease your application. By
contrast, if using the WinSxS versions, Microsoft can ship an update
directly to end-users (either as an updated assembly with the same version
number, but different file version number, or as an additional assembly with
a newer version number plus a policy binding).
I have to admit looking at how the VS2005 CRT merge modules work and being a
bit confused as to why they're configured to do something different on Vista
(not just using MsiAssembly/MsiAssemblyName tables) especially as they were
released over a year before Vista was.
Using a private copy of the DLLs in your application directory is also a
possibility but I don't think this is recommended (or even permitted?) for a
final distribution. It still has the servicing problem but not the problem
of having to rebuild the application or having the large binaries.
--
Mike Dimmick
_____
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rob Mensching
Sent: 16 March 2007 16:35
To: Chris Bardon; wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Consensus about CRT/MCF merge modules?
I'm not quite yet ready to make this a "recommendation" but I'm currently
leaning towards statically linking the libraries directly. I'm seeing hints
that the WinSxS/Fusion stuff they did for these libraries in VS2005 has some
seriously bad repercussions when it comes to patching and some possibly
strange behavior on Vista. It's a research project I'm doing slowly.
For the WiX toolset, we statically link to the CRT (MFC, haven't done that
since I wrote Orca <grin/>) to minimize our dependencies on the machine.
That makes the binaries a bit bigger but it is worth it to not have to worry
about "Is the WinSxS store updated at X point in time in my install?"
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chris Bardon
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 9:20 AM
To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: [WiX-users] Consensus about CRT/MCF merge modules?
Looking through the archives, there appear to be a couple of ways to include
things like the CRT and MFC redistributables in an installer. Some have
advocated including the DLLs directly, which seems to go against the concept
of having a redistributable MSM to link against. I tried building with the
Microsoft CRT msm that comes with VS 2005, and got a long list of warnings
from light.
Is there a "recommended" method for dealing with these kinds of
dependencies?
Chris
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