CODEWITHSUNDEEP
wixvisual-studio-2017vsix
KarloX
KarloX

Reputation: 987

Working sample for installing a VSIX extension for VS2017 using WixToolset?

I'm trying to install a VSIX Extension into Visual Studio 2017 from a Setup created with the WIX Toolset.

I found this page:

http://wixtoolset.org/development/wips/5433-add-support-to-detect-and-install-vsix-packages-into-vs15/

But its not fully clear whether the "proposals" on that page were really implemented. I did a number of experiments, with no success.

Have the features posposed on the above page been implemented in WiX v3.11.1?

There seems to be some support for VS2017 in WIX v3.11.1, but when I use the VSExtension:VsixPackage element in my Product.wxs file, it seems that the latest VSIXInstaller.exe (of my VS2017 community) isn't found and my Setup Fails.

Can someone provide a working example for this?

Thanks!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 300

Answers (2)

Oliver Old
Oliver Old

Reputation: 25

Installing extensions in Visual Studio versions newer than 2015 is not supported by WiX, despite it being able to detect VS 2017 and VS 2019 instances … which is kind of odd to be honest.

There is still the option of using the detected installations to launch the installer, though that might break unexpectedly.

You can try this:

Add WiX VSExtension (obviously):

<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi" xmlns:VSExtension="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/VSExtension">

Define and set a property containing the VSIX Installer location (done here for Visual Studio 2019):

<Property Id="Vs16VsixInstaller" Value="0" />
<SetProperty Action="SetVs16VsixInstaller" Id="Vs16VsixInstaller" Value="[VS2019_IDE_DIR]VSIXInstaller.exe" Sequence="both" After="AppSearch" />

Define a component containing the extension:

<Component Id="MyVSExtension" Directory="VisualStudioExtensionsFolder" Guid="PUT-GUID-HERE">
    <RegistryValue KeyPath="yes" Root="HKMU" Key="Software\[Manufacturer]\[ProductName]" Name="MyVSExtensionInstalled" Type="string" Value="" />
    <VSExtension:VsixPackage File="MyVSExtension.vsix" PackageId="PUT-PACKAGE-ID-HERE" VsixInstallerPathProperty="Vs16VsixInstaller" />
</Component>

This worked in my case and I don't think there is a much better way of doing this while also keeping the solution simple.

Upvotes: 1

Christopher Painter
Christopher Painter

Reputation: 55620

I can only tell you my strategy for IsWiX:

https://github.com/iswix-llc/iswix

iswix/Source/Application/IsWiXNewAddIn/ iswix/Source/Installer/IsWiXNewAddInMM/ iswix/Source/Installer/IsWiX/Code/Product.wxs

I'm able to install to VS2013-2017 this way.

What is IsWiX?

https://github.com/iswix-llc/iswix-tutorials

PS- 60 min complimentary dev to dev screenshares are available.

Upvotes: 1

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