Publishing a Project with the Windows Installer

For deploying complicated installations, the Windows Installer is a great approach. For those situations where you want to get an application up and running in a short time with minimal user interaction, the Windows Installer can be overkill. This is where ClickOnce can be a better option.

Just as with ClickOnce, Visual Studio directly supports deployment of applications using the Windows Installer technology. The approach is different (as are the underlying technologies); Windows Installer deployments are created with the use of a separate project template/project type. So our first step is to add a deployment project to our existing ContosoCSR solution.

Right-click the solution, select Add, ...

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