I can't say I agree with the WiX help topic "How To: Install the Visual C++ Redistributable with your installer". It's generally accepted that shipping 3rd party merge modules creates servicing issues so why is it suddenly acceptable to do it in this case? I suspect the choice to document the use of merge modules was driven by the fact that WiX doesn't yet have a functional bootstrapper. If you read the MSDN topic "Choosing a Deployment Method" ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235316(v=VS.100).aspx ) you'll find three ways documented ( redist, merge module, private assemblies ) and that the use of the redist is first and "recommended".
As much as I love merge modules for other purposes ( see http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2010/09/in-defense-of-merge-modules.html), this is not one of them. The use of a bootstrapper to lay down the x86 and/or x64 c++ redists is a much better solution. Christopher Painter, Author of Deployment Engineering Blog Have a hot tip, know a secret or read a really good thread that deserves attention? E-Mail Me ----- Original Message ---- From: Chris Ridd <chrisr...@mac.com> To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. <wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net> Sent: Tue, November 30, 2010 5:15:14 AM Subject: Re: [WiX-users] VC80 runtime is in pkgs, but not installed On 29 Nov 2010, at 18:52, Wilson, Phil wrote: > This may be an issue with the SxS and policies depending on your OS. Some >people install the redist with the vcredist exe which also installs publisher >policy that redirects everyone up to the newly installed libraries. Some >people >install with the VC merge modules and (somewhat randomly) include (or not) the >corresponding policy merge modules. Having the ATL fix in this picture doesn't >help either. There are also build options like _BIND_TO_CURRENT_VCLIBS_VERSION >(and variations) that will affect what version your code will ask for - if >that's set and you build on a system with the ATL fix you'll need the target >system to have the ATL fix. Look in your manifest - it's probably requesting >4053. > Changing the packages to merge in the "4053" msm file instead of the "753" one we'd checked into our source repos did fix the problem. Is there a good reason to include the policy merge modules (what and where exactly are they)? The wix.chm file suggests there is generally no need to include them. Thanks for the help! Cheers, Chris ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Increase Visibility of Your 3D Game App & Earn a Chance To Win $500! Tap into the largest installed PC base & get more eyes on your game by optimizing for Intel(R) Graphics Technology. Get started today with the Intel(R) Software Partner Program. Five $500 cash prizes are up for grabs. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intelisp-dev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Increase Visibility of Your 3D Game App & Earn a Chance To Win $500! Tap into the largest installed PC base & get more eyes on your game by optimizing for Intel(R) Graphics Technology. Get started today with the Intel(R) Software Partner Program. Five $500 cash prizes are up for grabs. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intelisp-dev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
