Publishing a .net app

Steve

Maybe I should have marked this noob but here goes..

I want to publish a VB.net app but only to a select group for beta testing.
What's the best way to do this?

1. What options should I use under [biuld]->[publish]? (preferably to get a single .exe file that will install 3.5 framework automatically if needed)

2. Can you recommend a free file hosting site where I could upload it and not cause a viagra overload in my inbox?

Thanks for any help you can give

NeverSayDie

I've used NullSoft's installer tool to create basic installers - which worked very well, handy little tool, very widely used;
http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page
There's some info out there on adding dependency checking and install support for the Framework - didn't need to do that myself, but plenty of folks deploy .NET apps with it and do that kind of thing.

Alternatively, if you want to handle automatic Framework dependency loading and web-based deployments with update support and whatnot, Microsoft's ClickOnce deployment tech might be worth a look, haven't tried it myself, but sounds impressive;
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/t71a733d%28VS.80%29.aspx

Steve

So is the VS publish tool not worth a sod then? I know the one in VB6 was totally useless but I thought they fixed it for VS2008?

hmmm.

NeverSayDie

Steve wrote: »

So is the VS publish tool not worth a sod then? I know the one in VB6 was totally useless but I thought they fixed it for VS2008?

hmmm.

Don't know anything about that tbh - I'd usually associate "publishing" with a website/web app, and VS does have some tools for that alright.

It does also come with an InstallShield setup you can use to create projects for installers, but the NullSoft option is easier there I think.

Steve

Cool, thanks for that, I'll check out the NullSoft link

NeverSayDie

Yeah, that's probably the best bet for a standalone installer, and you could probably have it install the Framework too. Basic stuff like making registry entires, desktop icons, and handling unistalls (that's important, don't ignore it or you'll p**s folks off) is also pretty OK as I recall.

The ClickOnce stuff would be useful if you want to look at handling updates, web launching, sorting dependencies, downloading stuff only if you need it, more advanced stuff like that.

stevenmu

The installshield stuff is pretty easy too, you more or less just add a setup project to your solution, do a simple bit of configuration and then every time you build your solution it will build a setup exe for you.

The installer will handle dependencies pretty automatically (stuff like .Net framework etc, for more exotic stuff you'll have to add it in the config yourself), and if you increment the version numbers on your project it will handle updates too. This is a fairly good example http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=58021 (it says 2008 but applies to 2005 as well)

Steve

Thanks for the replies

As a first stab, I used the VS2008 built in publisher, zipped it and sent it to a few beta testers.

It seemed to work ok and automatically downloaded the relevant .NET framework without having to include it with the distributable so that's good.

I'll update if I hear of anyone with problems using this method.

Kidchameleon

In visual studio you can click properties on the solution, under the "publish" tab there is an option to include "prequesits". Careful, .NET 3.5 adds over 200 meg to your exe! I personally use megaupload, no spam problems from them...

irlrobins

Another option is to add a "Setup Project" to your solution.

This page gives a tutorial on how to set it up.

Steve

Thanks for the link

That's actually the method I'm currently looking at, I found an article on it here as well but your link (from a brief read) has better info on it.

It seems to tick all the right boxes.

NeverSayDie

Kidchameleon wrote: »

In visual studio you can click properties on the solution, under the "publish" tab there is an option to include "prequesits". Careful, .NET 3.5 adds over 200 meg to your exe! I personally use megaupload, no spam problems from them...

If you're having trouble with that btw, I'd look at targeting the .NET Client Profile - it's a new thing around version 3.5 - a subset of the Framework with most common non-server stuff in it, that cuts the required download size to 20mb or so (assuming the user doesn't have the right version of the Framework already anyway).
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc843122.aspx

stevenmu

With the prerequisites, you can also select for each one if it should be bundled with your installer or if the user should be prompted to download them (keeping your installer small but meaning the client may need a net connection).

IIRC you can do this by right-clicking each prerequisite in the solution explorer and going to it's properties.