This feature requires Windows Installer 4.5 and it
will have no effect on systems which have Windows Installer 4.0 or
earlier.
By adding multiple chained packages to your project, they will all be installed when your main package runs. The install process is seen as a single installation which can succeed if all packages are installed successfully or fail if at least one package encounters a problem.
If the user aborts one of the chained installations or a problem is encountered, all installations are rolled back. This way, if something goes wrong, everything done by the installation is cleaned and the system is restored to its previous state.
With this feature you can distribute multiple products through a single chained installation, including the MSI prerequisites of your package.
Adding new chained packages
Use the toolbar button, the “Add Chained
Package” tree/list context menu item or press the
Insert key while the focus is on the
“Packages” panel in order to add a new chained
package.
Removing chained packages
Use the
toolbar button, the “Delete” tree/list context menu item,
or press the Delete key in order to remove a
chained package.
Chained package properties
The properties of a chained package can be set through the Options pane of the "Chained Packages" page.
Specify what builds will contain the chained package
Use the “Builds” context menu item. This option will be available only if more that one build is defined. The Specify Builds Dialog will appear allowing you to select the builds.
Topics
- Chained Package Properties
In this page you can specify the chained packages' properties.