I assume that the organization of the setup is already determined because it's a migration, right? Some of things you may need to look at are:
1. Organization of the parts of the setup into functional units - features, and from that the components in those features. The terms "feature" and "component" aren't generic in this context - they're specific installer terms. Features are units that a customer can choose not to have installed, or can add later. 2. Any custom code that you may be running from your existing setup for functionality that's not available in WiX or Windows Installer will need migration to be called as custom actions. The fewer custom actions you have, the more robust the install. The three main reasons installs fail are custom actions, custom actions and... custom actions ;) You should alter any of that code so that it runs as proper custom actions, handles errors, uses Windows Installer APIs, returns the right error values etc. 3. I'm not sure what NSIS does, but Windows Installer surprises for you may include: a) Repair (when the installed product looks broken to Windows, and that includes file changes that are not done with a proper MSI update). b) Upgrades and updates with major upgrades, patches, and requirements for file and product versions to increment. c) Installation of COM components that does not use self-registration but instead uses Heat and results in writing the registration without calling the COM Dll. d) Installation of services using built-in Windows Installer/WiX functionality without running any code. e) Similarly, installation of assemblies into the GAC without running your code - this functionality is built-in. Knowing WiX is obviously useful, but this kind of migration will need you to look closely at what Windows Installer can do with built-in functionality that NSIS probably doesn't have. Phil -----Original Message----- From: John Ludlow [mailto:john.ludlow...@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, July 22, 2013 4:43 AM To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Starting a complex project Agreed, that's really the only complete reference source for WiX 3.6, and there's quite a lot that you can only really learn via the book. Be careful though as I saw a bogus addition flying around on Amazon UK (it's gone now so maybe it was just a mistake). In the book, your requirements above mean you'll probably be getting to know Burn quite well, and chapters 15 and 16 cover that in some detail. On 22 July 2013 12:02, Gregg Swanson <gregg.swan...@microsoft.com> wrote: > I would encourage you to purchase this book - > http://www.amazon.com/WiX-3-6-Developers-Windows-Installer/dp/17821604 > 26/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374490843&sr=8-1&keywords=wix > > WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML [Paperback] > Nick Ramirez > > Be sure to get the latest edition. > > Thanks, > Gregg > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Walter Gray [mailto:chrysal...@gmail.com] > Sent: Monday, July 22, 2013 1:58 AM > To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net > Subject: [WiX-users] Starting a complex project > > Hey List! > I've just begun the exciting journey of migrating our company's > installer from a large, slow NSIS script to a shiny new WiX project, > and I was hoping the list could point me towards a few more or let me > know about any pitfalls I may encounter. I've done some research & > found a few resources, but much of the documentation seems to be a bit > out of date or scattered between stackoverflow posts & blog entries, > so I was hoping people here might have some suggestions on where to > look for the most up to date resources. The scope of this project is > pretty large, and will need support for at minimum: > -Slight UI customization (we'd prefer a relatively standard UI, but > need > 1-2 custom checkboxes for launching the readme, & a few other minor > things like that. ) -An OEM preinstaller with slightly different > behavior -A mixed > x86/x64 package - I'm aware I'll have to make separate .msi packages & > bundle them with burn. > -chaining the VS2010 redistributable packages -chaining a 2nd driver > installer > > Some stretch goals would be building a web installer & adding a > totally custom UI experience, perhaps akin to the VS2012 one (is there > a tutorial on how they built that or an example? I'm presently > downloading the source for wix to look at their installer files) > > So far I've found these: > http://wix.tramontana.co.hu/tutorial - helpful, but somewhat out of > date http://wix.sourceforge.net/manual-wix3/schema_index.htm - > helpful, but only if you have some idea what you're looking for > http://stackoverflow.com/questions/471424/wix-tricks-and-tips - The > only best practices list I've seen, with some conflicting advice & > sadly locked > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > -------- See everything from the browser to the database with > AppDynamics Get end-to-end visibility with application monitoring from > AppDynamics Isolate bottlenecks and diagnose root cause in seconds. > Start your free trial of AppDynamics Pro today! > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=48808831&iu=/4140/ostg.c > lktrk _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > -------- See everything from the browser to the database with > AppDynamics Get end-to-end visibility with application monitoring from > AppDynamics Isolate bottlenecks and diagnose root cause in seconds. > Start your free trial of AppDynamics Pro today! > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=48808831&iu=/4140/ostg.c > lktrk _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- See everything from the browser to the database with AppDynamics Get end-to-end visibility with application monitoring from AppDynamics Isolate bottlenecks and diagnose root cause in seconds. Start your free trial of AppDynamics Pro today! http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=48808831&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ See everything from the browser to the database with AppDynamics Get end-to-end visibility with application monitoring from AppDynamics Isolate bottlenecks and diagnose root cause in seconds. Start your free trial of AppDynamics Pro today! http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=48808831&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
