Exe vs MSI file

[BobCrothers]

Hi Advanced Installer Gurus,

We have been creating a .exe file used for installation. We now need a .msi file to be used for remote patches.

What is the relationship between the .exe file and an .msi file? Does the install exe file contain an .msi file? What else does the exe file contain?

I went to the Builds page and checked “Include CAB file into the MSI database”. Is this the best way to create an .msi file? After the Include CAB file into the MSI database check, the build created a very small .exe, .ini file and a .msi file. Both the .msi and the exe file install the product. I tried renaming the .ini file and neither the .msi nor .exe file complained. Which file is using the .ini file?

Thanks
Bob

[Cosmin]

Hi Bob,

We have been creating a .exe file used for installation. We now need a .msi file to be used for remote patches.

If the EXE includes the installation files, you can extract the MSI by using the /extract command line parameter.

What is the relationship between the .exe file and an .msi file? Does the install exe file contain an .msi file? What else does the exe file contain?

In Advanced Installer you can use an EXE bootstrapper for the MSI installation package. The installation will still be handled by the MSI, the EXE simply adding some extra functionalities. In the Bootstrapper tab of the "Builds" page there are two options which determine the relation betweent the EXE and the MSI:
- the "Leave install files outside" option will make Advanced Installer generate an EXE package with the installation files placed next to it
- the "Include install files in EXE" option will make Advanced Installer generate a single EXE file which contains all the installation files

The installation files are:
- the INI configuration file used by the bootstrapper
- the MSI or the application files, depending on the options used in the Configuration tab.

If your package has prerequisites, they may also be included in the EXE or placed next to it.

Which file is using the .ini file?

The INI is used by the EXE bootrapper to determine what it needs to do when the installation is launched through it.

Regards,
Cosmin