how to force my app to distribute the .NET framework?

[AFN]

Another developer (who is gone now) told me to put "dotnetfx.exe" in my zip
file, in the same folder as my setup.exe, setup.msi, and setup.ini files.
He said to change one line in the INI file:

InstallUrl=dotnetfx.exe

I did that, zipped up the folder, and gave the ZIP file to a beta tester.

She reported back that it said:

"this setup required the.net framework version 1.1.4322. Please intall the
..net framework and run this setup again. The .net framework can be obtained
from the web. Would you like to do this now"

Why would it do that? That sucks. And worse, she ended up installing it
from the internet which was slow.

Now, this MS article says to do 101 other things to distribute the framework
with your app, but my other developer didn't say to do this.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/d...ary/en-us/dnnetdep/html/vsredistdeploy1_1.asp

I'll do all that if I must but that sounds like a real pain. Can someone
please give me the shortest way to fix this problem and still have the
setup.exe install the framework if necessary?

 

[Sijin Joseph]

Hi,

That guide describes the best possible ways to deploy .Net framework
with your apps.

In fact the InstallUrl method is also described correctly in the document.

Let me know if you have some problems while using the methods described
above.

Sijin Joseph
http://www.indiangeek.net
http://weblogs.asp.net/sjoseph

 

[AFN]

but I DO have a problem...

ERROR: "this setup required the.net framework version 1.1.4322. Please
intall the
..net framework and run this setup again. The .net framework can be obtained
from the web. Would you like to do this now?"

I want it to install the framework automatically.

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

Now, this MS article says to do 101 other things to distribute the framework
with your app, but my other developer didn't say to do this.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/d...ary/en-us/dnnetdep/html/vsredistdeploy1_1.asp

I'll do all that if I must but that sounds like a real pain. Can someone
please give me the shortest way to fix this problem and still have the
setup.exe install the framework if necessary?

Some information on distributing the .NET Framework in a setup package:

Using Visual Studio .NET 2003 to Redistribute the .NET Framework
<URL:http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnnetdep/html/vsredistdeploy1_1.asp>

Plug-In:

<URL:http://groups.google.com/[email protected]>

Bootstrapper:

<URL:http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/downloads/tools/bootstrapper/>

Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Bootstrapper Plug-In
<URL:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=627921a0-d9e7-43d6-a293-72f9c370bd19>

<URL:http://workspaces.gotdotnet.com/vsboot/> (old URL)

Download
<URL:http://www.gotdotnet.com/community/...f0a23-f529-4158-8e0a-d187d16f41f1&newsId=1981>

Framework 1.1:

Redistributing the .NET Framework 1.1
<URL:http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnnetdep/html/redistdeploy1_1.asp>

..NET Framework 1.1 Deployment Guide
<URL:http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnnetdep/html/dotnetframedepguid1_1.asp>

..NET Framework 1.1 Redistributable Prerequisites
<URL:http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnnetdep/html/NETFx1Redistreq1_1.asp>

..NET Framework Redistributable Package 1.1 Technical Reference
<URL:http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnnetdep/html/dotnetfxref1_1.asp>

Framework 1.0:

..NET Framework Deployment Guide
<URL:http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnnetdep/html/dotnetframedepguid.asp>

Using Visual Studio .NET to Redistribute the .NET Framework
<URL:http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnnetdep/html/vsredistdeploy.asp>

 

[Brian P. Hammer]

AFN,

There is a little more than just adding that line to the ini file. Read the
article and it gives you all the steps required to eliminate the error.

The simple question is does the ini point back to the setup.msi package and
is your user running the bootstrapper or the application setup? They have
to run the bootstrapper unless you have the bootstrapper plug-in. The
article goes into detail about this.

 

[AFN]

The user is clicking the "setup.exe" created by VS2003. I don't know jack
about the bootstrapper and all I know is that I want setup to install .NET
framefork if needed. Thanks to all the generosity here, I now have about
20 articles to read. Is there just a simple couple steps someone can say
is best for my simple needs? If I read about 10 different ways, I don't
know the difference. I just want it to install the .NET framework when a
user clicks my "setup.exe".

 

[Charles Collins]

There is no way to get the VS2003 setup.exe to install the framework because
it needs the framework to run. That is what the bootstrapper does. Take
the time to read the article. Your only other option is to use a different
install builder that is capable of installing the framework (installshield,
etc..).