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How Do I Package and install a Released compiled version version of my .Net Framework?

William Thompson 80 Reputation points
2024-07-17T16:04:37.3133333+00:00

This might be a simple question. I searched online and there was a lot of information that seemed to be just a distraction. How Do I Package and install a Released compiled version version of my .Net Framework? Do I just need to pass along the compiled .exe?

Do I bundle the contents of the Release folder or just the EXE's and DLL's? Do I need to include the app.config and packages.config?

Do I need to create an installer somehow?

I have heard of Squirrel

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Microsoft Technologies based on the .NET software framework.
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An object-oriented and type-safe programming language that has its roots in the C family of languages and includes support for component-oriented programming.
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  1. Michael Taylor 51,071 Reputation points
    2024-07-17T18:32:11.3533333+00:00

    Sounds like you have a Windows app (console, Winforms, WPF, etc) so you can just xcopy the contents of the output directory to any machine that has a copy of .NET Framework installed on it and then run your app. Note that this will generally be the exe, dlls, your app.exe.config file and possibly some .pdb files. These are all that are needed to run your app. But if you have additional file system dependencies (like images or something you are expecting to be in subdirectories of your app) then you would need to mark them as content (Build Actions in Solution Explorer) and then those folders would show up in the output directory as well.

    On Windows machines, if you xcopy the folder, then the files are likely to be blocked since it is coming from an untrusted source. You would need to unblock the exe in Windows Explorer.

    If you want something more like an installer or a single binary to share then look at ClickOnce for a simple case of bundling up an app. If you need more complex installation options like file extensions or registry entries then you'll want to look at a formal installer like WiX, InstallShield or Install Anywhere.

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  2. Bruce (SqlWork.com) 61,101 Reputation points
    2024-07-17T19:57:55.0466667+00:00

    you need to deploy all the contents of the release folder. you can use the publish PublishSingleFile option to get just one file to distribute. how this works depends on the o/s

    • for windows, it a self extracting app, that is expanded in a temp location, than ran from the temp location
    • for MacOs it just an Mac application bundle which contains internal folders (basically an executable zip file).
    • not sure the linux implementation.

    note: you still have the option to include the runtime files, or require .net already be installed on host machine.

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