How to register a VSTO add-in from the Wix # MSI installer

Question

I created several Office add-ins (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook). I also wrote one Wix # based MSI installer to install these add-ons. I managed to do everything right, but now I am puzzled by how to register add-ons.

This can be done interactively by double-clicking the accompanying VSTO file in Windows Explorer, and it will be registered. Digging using RegEdit shows that rundll32.exe "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTO\vstoee.dll",InstallVstoSolution %1 is called rundll32.exe "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTO\vstoee.dll",InstallVstoSolution %1 .

Another method I found is to use the VSTOInstaller.exe utility found in %CommonProgramFiles%\Microsoft Shared , supplying it with the correct command line.

Does anyone have experience using Wix or Wix # and VSTO add-ons? Do I have to write a custom action to accomplish this, or is there something specific Wix that needs to be performed?

Answer 1

It depends on which versions of Office you are targeting. I looked at the VSTOInstaller call, but found that it was registered only for the current user. Below is a blog article in which I wrote other blogs with sitelinks that helped me understand all this. Basically, I was able to recycle what the vsto configuration file did, and do almost everything in pure MSI / WiX using some custom actions to register certificates and generate random numbers for Office 2010.

VSTO lessons learned http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2008/04/vsto-lessons-learned.html

Edit: This article was a couple of years old, and Office 2007 now “technically” supports HKLM AddIn registration, as did Office 2010. In addition, VSTOR’s battery life has changed, and there are some new bitrate problems that may arise for content. An updated article is available:

Bitness Boxing In Office 2010