Why is my console app running via setup.exe?

Question

What am I doing wrong? I have a simple console app in VS08. When I hit Publish, it creates a setup.exe in the target folder. When you run setup.exe, it goes through the motions of installing, but it also runs the app, which is undesirable to say the least. Is there a setting I'm missing or something?

Answer 1

You're creating a ClickOnce installer. You don't need that. Just choose "Project" and then "Build ____" from the menu. That will create a *.exe file in your project folder under /bin/Debug/ or /bin/Release/. If there are no dependencies outside of the .Net framework (like extra assemblies (dlls) or an app.config file), and the framework is already installed on the machines that will use the app, then you can just distribute the exe file by itself.

Answer 2

Is this a ClickOnce setup? Maybe you want to create a separate project of type "Setup and Deployment" to create an MSI installer instead which does not start your application?

From your question it is actually not clear what you are trying to do. Do you wnat to install the application on a target system or do you simply want to copy it to some folder and then execute it?