When we install a Windows program, we often have to deal with MSI and EXE files.

As IT Pros, we deal with all sorts of application installers developed by different software vendors. We also need to configure and customize each of those applications to fit our organization's needs.

22 years after its introduction, MSI is still the most widely used method of managing program installation. Microsoft released Windows Installer with Office 2000 to enable the application's administration to follow a set of common guidelines (installing, repairing, uninstalling).

Throughout their entire history, MSI applications have used Microsoft Windows Installer as an installation and configuration tool provided with Windows since version 2.0 for Windows XP and proceeding to version 5.0 for Windows 7, 10, and 11.

We are over the moon to announce the release of the MSI Packaging Essentials Training and Certification Program, our first educational program dedicated to young IT Professionals who want to become experts in application packaging.

In this article, you will get an overview of Windows Installer packages, what application packaging formats are available, and how to create your first MSI package.

For the past 10+ years, I have worked with various projects and types of organizations as an Application Packager. During that time, I have witnessed some "elementary" mistakes that could have been easily avoided by having a clear understanding of the end-to-end application packaging process.

ClickOnce is a Microsoft deployment technology that facilitates deploying Windows applications.

Do you want to transfer CustomActionData to a CustomAction in WiX? We'll show you how in this article.

Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) tool made by Microsoft to build code, and publish applications. It is mainly used to develop different types of software—from computer programs to web services.

In this article, we'll talk about how Windows Installer defines the directory location of an installation, what the INSTALLDIR and TARGETDIR properties are, and what is the difference between them.

The uninstallation of a package is just as crucial as its installation – and we should handle it with extra care.

Command-line switches should be present in every setup installer. When it comes to MSI installers, they support command line switches by default.

Process Monitor is probably one of the most used tools by IT Pros to debug applications and check installations. We mentioned Process Monitor in our MSI Packaging Training free e-book but this time around, we want to explore it further. We will discuss its prerequisites and share how you can get started with it.

Deploying major upgrades for an MSI package created with WiX Toolset is simple. However, there are a few boxes you need to check to make sure you're doing it properly. We'll share them with you in this article!

When you define shortcuts in WiX Toolset, their default installation is non-advertised (Standard Shortcuts).

Software packaging is the process of building an installer that includes all your applications' resources and can be used to distribute them on the end-user devices.

A ProductCode is made up of string GUIDs containing numbers and uppercase letters.

Depending on whether we're installing or updating an application, we need to use different types of files. For instance, we use MSI files when installing Windows applications, but if we want to make a small update, we can use an MSP file.