Guidelines for Adding Packages to an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI Project
InstallShield 2022
Project:This information applies to the following project types:
| • | Advanced UI |
| • | Suite/Advanced UI |
Edition:The Advanced UI project type is available in the InstallShield. The Suite/Advanced UI project type is available in the Premier edition of InstallShield. For information about the differences between these two project types, see Advanced UI Projects vs. Suite/Advanced UI Projects.
File Format Recommendations
The recommended file format for a package in an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI project is one that does not include a bootstrap application or setup launcher (Setup.exe). The following package types are recommended for Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI projects:
| • | .msi package |
| • | .msp patch |
| • | InstallScript package—The package must be an uncompressed InstallScript installation that is built in InstallShield 2012 Spring or later. |
To learn more about use of these types of packages in an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI project, see the following:
| • | Adding an .msi Package, an .msp Patch, or a Transaction to an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI Project |
| • | Adding an InstallScript Package to an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI Project |
Suite/Advanced UI installations also have support for deploying Web Deploy packages (.zip) to IIS Web servers and the cloud. For more details, see Adding a Web Deploy Package to a Suite/Advanced UI Project.
In addition, InstallShield includes support for adding sideloading Windows App packages (.appx) to Suite/Advanced UI projects. Sideloading an app is the process of installing an app without obtaining it through the Windows Store. For more information, see Adding a Sideloading Windows App Package (.appx | .msix) to a Suite/Advanced UI Project. Because Windows App packages are supported in limited scenarios, these packages are typically used in concert with a more common installation format, such as an .msi package.
InstallShield also enables you to add executable packages (.exe) to a Suite/Advanced UI project. Examples include:
| • | Setup launcher executable file that was built in InstallShield for a Windows Installer–based installation |
| • | Setup launcher executable file that was built in InstallShield for a Windows Installer–based patch |
| • | Setup launcher file for an InstallScript installation (This includes InstallScript installations that were built in InstallShield 2012 or earlier, as well as compressed InstallScript installations.) |
| • | Setup launcher executable file that was built in a tool other than InstallShield |
The .msi, .msp, and InstallScript packages are preferred to the setup launcher executable file formats for various reasons:
| • | The wizard interface of the Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI setup launcher can show the incremental progress of the recommended file formats as they are being run on target systems, but not of the executable packages. |
| • | When you add one of the recommended file formats as a package to an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI project, InstallShield automatically adds an appropriate eligibility condition that prevents the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation from allowing an earlier version of a package to install over a later version. If you add an executable package to your Suite/Advanced UI project, you must manually define an eligibility condition that prevents such downgrades. |
| • | If you add one of the recommended file formats as a package to an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI project, you are not required to define for that package a detection condition that evaluates whether the package is already installed on target systems, since the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation blocks this scenario from occurring. If you add an executable package to your Suite/Advanced UI project, you must manually define that sort of detection condition for the package. |
| • | The Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI setup launcher automatically suppresses the user interface of the recommended file formats, in favor of the wizard interface of the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation. If your project includes an executable package, you must manually suppress its user interface and have the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation launch it silently. Otherwise, at run time, the installation shows the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI user interface and the separate user interface of the .exe package, presenting two disparate user interfaces.Adding an .msi Package, an .msp Patch, or a Transaction to an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI Project |
For more information, see Adding an Executable Package (.exe) to a Suite/Advanced UI Project.
Media Type Requirements
An Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation cannot install a package that spans multiple disks (for example, CDs or DVDs). It also cannot install a multiple-disk package from a fixed disk such as a network. Therefore, any package (.msi package, .msp package, InstallScript package, .exe package, Web Deploy package, or Windows App package (.appx) that you include in an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI project must be a single-disk removable media type, a network image media type, or a Web media type.
See Also
Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI Projects
Adding an InstallShield Project (.ism) as a Package in a Suite/Advanced UI Project
Including InstallShield Prerequisites (.prq) in an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI Project
Building Conditional Statements in Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI Projects
Types of Condition Checks in Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI Projects
Guidelines for Defining Conditions in an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI Project