Wix add external dll in the installation folder

Question

I'm new with Wix, and I'm trying to build a windows service install package with Wix 3.10 in Visual Studio 2012, but I am unable to add dll external references.

i have my project which is the Windwos Service I want to install with references. And ParodosService.Setup which is my installer project. :

here is my .wxs file from ParodosService.Setup project:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- The name of the product -->
<?define Name = "Vision Service" ?>
<!-- The manufacturer, for setup package publisher and folder info -->
<?define Manufacturer = "MyCompany" ?>
<!-- The version number of this setup package-->
<?define Version = "1.0.1" ?>
<!-- UpgradeCode must be unique and not changed once the first version of the program is installed. -->
<?define UpgradeCode = "{1240E0CD-B3D2-44A7-B064-11B3C0709D69}" ?>

<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
  <Product Id="*" Name="$(var.Name)" Manufacturer="$(var.Manufacturer)" UpgradeCode="$(var.UpgradeCode)" Version="$(var.Version)" Language="1033">
    <!-- Create a folder inside Talk Sharp called Test Service -->
    <Package InstallerVersion="300" Compressed="yes"/>
    <!-- Create a folder inside Talk Sharp called Test Service -->
    <Media Id="1" Cabinet="ParodosService.cab" EmbedCab="yes" />
    <!-- Allow upgrades and prevent downgrades -->
    <MajorUpgrade DowngradeErrorMessage="A later version of [ProductName] is already installed. Setup will now exit." />
    <!-- Define the directory structure -->
    <Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
      <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
        <!-- Create a folder inside program files called Talk Sharp -->
        <Directory Id="ROOTDIRECTORY" Name="$(var.Manufacturer)">
          <!-- Create a folder inside Talk Sharp called Test Service -->
          <Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Name="$(var.Name)" />
        </Directory>
      </Directory>
    </Directory>

    <ComponentGroup Id="DllsComponent" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER" Source="C:\Users\Pasquale\Documents\Visual Studio 2012\Projects\ParodosService\ParodosService\bin\Release">      
      <Component Id="EntityFramework.dll">
        <File Name="EntityFramework.dll" />
      </Component>
      <Component Id="EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll">
        <File Name="EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll" />
      </Component>          
      <Component Id="ParodosService.exe.config">
        <File Name="ParodosService.exe.config" />
      </Component>
    </ComponentGroup>
    <!-- The files inside this DirectoryRef are linked to the Test Service directory via INSTALLFOLDER -->
    <DirectoryRef Id="INSTALLFOLDER">
      <!-- Create a single component which is the ParodosService.exe file -->
      <Component Id="$(var.ParodosService.TargetFileName)">
        <!-- Copies the ParodosService.exe file using the project reference preprocessor variables -->
        <File Id="$(var.ParodosService.TargetFileName)" Source="$(var.ParodosService.TargetPath)" KeyPath="yes" />
        <!-- Remove all files from the INSTALLFOLDER on uninstall -->
        <RemoveFile Id="ALLFILES" Name="*.*" On="both" />
        <!-- Tell WiX to install the Service -->
        <ServiceInstall Id="ServiceInstaller" 
                        Type="ownProcess" 
                        Name="ParodosService" 
                        DisplayName="$(var.Name)" 
                        Description="A Test Service that logs dummy text on an interval to a text file." 
                        Start="auto" 
                        ErrorControl="normal" />
        <!-- Tell WiX to start the Service -->
        <ServiceControl Id="StartService" Start="install" Stop="both" remove="uninstall" Name="ParodosService" Wait="yes" />
      </Component>
    </DirectoryRef>
    <!-- Tell WiX to install the files -->
    <Feature Id="MainApplication" Title="Main Application" Level="1">
      <ComponentRef Id="$(var.ParodosService.TargetFileName)" />
    </Feature>
  </Product>
</Wix>

I manually added three Component in the ComponentGroup specifying the three files i need in the instalation folder of my windows service. This kind of manual modification, returns me one error for each added file:

ICE21: Component: 'EntityFramework.dll' does not belong to any Feature.

As i'm new with WIX, i had trouble to do this with heat.exe too, and i tought that this was the easier way, but both ways give me errors...

Answer 1

The error message tells you that your component is orphan, it has to belong to a feature.

I think, if you change your feature definition like this, it should work :

<Feature Id="MainApplication" Title="Main Application" Level="1">
      <ComponentRef Id="$(var.ParodosService.TargetFileName)" />
      <ComponentGroupRef Id="DllsComponent"/>
</Feature>