Then, in the Attached DLL field, browse to the previously created DLL file. Once here, s earch for Call function from attached native DLL and click Add custom action with sequence. Once we have our DLL created, we are going to open Advanced Installer and navigate to the Custom Actions Page. We are going to need this when we place the DLL in the MSI.Īfter we finish with the code, we go to Build > Build Solution, or CTRL+SHIFT+B. The only thing we need to remember from this step is the name of the method (function) is MyMethod. We are going to put all the desired code that we want to execute under a ActionResult Class.įor this example, I only went and created some registry keys, and the code looks as following:
You will also notice that the namespace contains a reference for the CustomAction class. This is the class which offers access to all the Windows Installer APIs. cs file that the namespace is automatically added. Write the codeĪfter the project is created, you will notice in the. For this example I ain’t going to do something crazy, so I’m going to leave. Select WiX and then search for C# Custom Action Project for WiX v3.Īfter you selected it, click on Next and give it a Project Name and select the desired Framework. Now that the WIX Toolset extension for Visual Studio is installed, open up Visual Studio and you will see that under Languages, a new one called WiX has been added. If you want to learn more about WIX Toolset, you can install the full version from here, and read some of my other posts regarding this. This article is intended for Visual Studio 2019, if you are using older versions of Visual Studio you can check this article.Īfter you download & install Visual Studio 2019 (in my case the Community edition), download & install the Wix Toolset Visual Studio 2019 Extension: Let’s start with what is needed in order to create C# DLLs for the Windows Installer. With the help of WIX Toolset, creating C# dlls for custom actions was never easier, and let’s see how we can achieve this. When discussing about dynamic linked libraries, many think that you can only use C/C++ to create suitable ones for the Windows Installer, however, this is not the case.
Windows Installer technology offers the possibility to use Visual Basic Scripts, Javascript files or dynamic linked libraries (DLL) as custom actions to control the install/uninstall of a certain product.
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