Exe version in MSI installer file name (VS 2010)

Question

Hi,

is it possible to make Visual Studio 2010 installer output file name, containing exe version, something like "setup[MajorExeVersion][MinorExeVersion].msi"?

Thanks!

Answer 1

As far as I know there is no easy way to do so.

In principle you could write a simple application which checks for the version of the exe and renames your MSI as part of a post-built step. However, the name of the MSI is baked into the setup.exe bootstrapper, so you would also have to patch that in case that you need to install any pre-requisites.

Answer 2

Note as well from a Windows Installer standpoint, if the name of the .msi file changes you are required to perform a major upgrade instead of a minor upgrade. (However many setup authors prefer major upgrades anyway.)

Answer 3

There are a great many reasons not to use Visual Studio Deployment Projects. Just download InstallShield 2010 LE instead. It's free / included with your purchase of Visual Studio 2010.