Visual Studio WIX MSI Fix
Budget: $250 – $750 USD
My vb.net 4.8 solution is already building cleanly in Visual Studio 2022 and currently ships via Click-Once. I need the same project to ship through a WIX/Heatwave-generated MSI ver 6 without ever prompting the user with UAC (so a true per-user install).
Here is the flow I want automated and reliable:
• Build the application.
• Bump the publish version automatically. I have a PowerShell sample that works now, but the logic will probably need a rewrite plus solid error handling.
• Run Heatwave to create the MSI with that new version embedded.
• On the publish server, archive the previous release in its own version-named subfolder. Another sample script exists for this step and will also need the same treatment—cleaner logic and better error handling.
• Copy the freshly built MSI and its version JSON file to the publish share.
You will have full access to the solution, the existing WIX setup, and both PowerShell scripts. Use whichever tools you prefer—Visual Studio 2022, WIX Toolset, Heat, Heatwave, PowerShell Core, etc.—as long as the final installer:
1. Installs per-user with no UAC prompt.
2. Reflects the auto-incremented version in its ProductCode and file name.
3. Leaves the publish share with a neatly archived previous build and a clean drop of the new MSI + JSON.
4. Does all the above work when you click build in Visual Studio on the installer Project
Once I can select build in VS2022 of the installer project and then double-click the resulting MSI on a standard Windows account and watch it finish without elevating, the job is done.
You will be provided a work PC with VS2022 installed and you can access via Chrome Remote Desktop.
Here is the flow I want automated and reliable:
• Build the application.
• Bump the publish version automatically. I have a PowerShell sample that works now, but the logic will probably need a rewrite plus solid error handling.
• Run Heatwave to create the MSI with that new version embedded.
• On the publish server, archive the previous release in its own version-named subfolder. Another sample script exists for this step and will also need the same treatment—cleaner logic and better error handling.
• Copy the freshly built MSI and its version JSON file to the publish share.
You will have full access to the solution, the existing WIX setup, and both PowerShell scripts. Use whichever tools you prefer—Visual Studio 2022, WIX Toolset, Heat, Heatwave, PowerShell Core, etc.—as long as the final installer:
1. Installs per-user with no UAC prompt.
2. Reflects the auto-incremented version in its ProductCode and file name.
3. Leaves the publish share with a neatly archived previous build and a clean drop of the new MSI + JSON.
4. Does all the above work when you click build in Visual Studio on the installer Project
Once I can select build in VS2022 of the installer project and then double-click the resulting MSI on a standard Windows account and watch it finish without elevating, the job is done.
You will be provided a work PC with VS2022 installed and you can access via Chrome Remote Desktop.