WIX: Creating 2 installers that share components

Question

I currently have a WIX installer that contains all the features of my product. It is a client server system, so there's a fair few features that make up the server side, and the client.

I would like to introduce a separate smaller installer that only contains the client to make it easier to deploy (it's a fair bit smaller for instance).

What I've done so far is create a wixlib with all the components defined for the client, and I reference that in the main installer and the smaller installer.

Is this the correct way of doing something like this, or should I be using merge modules? I would like it to behave correctly for instance if you try and accidently downgrade the client using the smaller installer, when a later client was installed using the larger installer.

I hope that makes sense, thanks in advance.

Christopher Painter · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-18 14:22:41Z

2

If you mark the components as shared and don't break the component rules, you should be ok. Merge modules achieve the same thing encapsulation goals as fragments and libraries but are supported in other MSI authoring tools such as InstallShield. Frags and libs are a WiX only thing.

Another approach would be to not share components but make the client installer and server installer their own installers. You could then use Burn to chain them together (or not) as appropriate.

answered Mar 18, 2013 at 14:22

Christopher Painter

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