Create an Installer for Your Desktop App — Step by Step
Microsoft already has a setup installer extension, that will add a new project type to Visual Studio, and then you can configure your setup.
Step by Step
1 — Open your solution on Visual Studio;
2 — Add a new project;
3 — Select Setup Wizard (Please install the extension first);
4 — Set a project name;
5 —CLick create button;
6 — A File System (Setup) should appear;
7 — Double click Application Folder;
8 — Add project files;
.NET Framework
- Add, Project Output and select Primary Output App;
This will add all the dependencies, Dll, EXE files to the project.
.NET Core
- Primary Output doesn’t add EXE file and dependencies, so I just added everything manually;
- Go to release output folder;
- Copy all files (not the .pdb files);
- Paste everything inside Application Folder;
9 — Create application shortcut;
- Right-click on .exe file and choose to create a shortcut;
- Go to properties of the shortcut and select an icon and choose a meaningful name;
- Add the shortcut on User’s Desktop and User’s Programs Menu
10— Add metadata to Setup;
11 — Click on Setup and then properties;
12 — Add Icon, Author, Description, Localization, ManfacturerUrl, Product Name, SupportUrl, Title;
13 — Right-click on Setup and Properties;
14 — Select .NET Core Runtime for your project version;
15 — Rebuild project;
16 —Installer created 💪🏻.
Conclusion
This is a simple extension created by Microsoft. There are others that can be explored, depending on the application, you should choose the most suitable for you.
