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Tutorial: Using WiX Burn v4 with .NET

Intro

With this tutorial, you can learn how to build custom installation bundles using WiX. It includes two working solutions, one targeting .NET 4.6.2 and another for .NET 8.0

This is for an advanced audience and assumes you have experience with both .NET and WiX and are familiar with the XML syntax WiX uses.

TL;DR: I've Built Bundles in WiX 3

Whether you're considering a conversion, or you plan to start fresh with v4, you may not be interested in a walkthrough of a solution that looks nothing like yours. I suggest reviewing these topics to see if they can give you the quick help you need.

• .NET Framework Specific
  • .NET Framework Solution Overview
  • Bundle Source
  • WiX Config File
• .NET Core Specific
  • .NET Core Solution Overview
  • Bundle Source
  • WiX Config File
• Bootstrapper App Factory
• WiX 4 now requires a valid window handle be passed to the IEngine.Apply method. So, if your BA is running silently, just create a window and don't show it.
• Some BootstrapperApplication event names and some of the event args have changed. Some new events were added. Depending on the complexity of your WiX 3 BA, your mileage may vary successfully wrangling with these changes.

How to Use This Tutorial

Included are both .NET Framework and .NET Core solutions. This tutorial is intended to be referenced flexibly, so how you use it is up to you.

• There's a section covering concepts that could be useful to look through before diving into the code, but can always be referenced when you feel you need it. If you feel it would be helpful to have someone walk through the code with you, this is the place to start.
• The important source files each have a dedicated markdown file that can be referenced for more information. These files are named similarly to the source file they explain. All markdown files are formatted for GitHub, but should be generic enough for most markdown readers.

How to Build the Example

There is no build script. Open either Framework\Framework.sln or Core\Core.sln in Visual Studio and build.

Windows Sandbox

Both solutions contain a Windows Sandbox config file that you can use for testing.