Thursday, November 18, 2010

Packaging DirectX 9.0c as an MSI

As promised (or threatened, or whatever), here's my secret recipe for packaging Microsoft DirectX 9.0c June 2010 collection into a single, well-behaved, chewing with closed mouth, sits-up-straight, says "yes ma'am!" MSI package so it can be wrapped up with Autodesk products and pushed through SCCM without imploding and causing mass casualties in far-flung lands.  Ok, it's not that secret.  I did figure it out on my own, but no sooner had I patted myself on the back than I discovered others had already crossed the minefield with all their limbs intact.  So, for what it's worth…

  1. Download DirectX 9.0c Redistributable
  2. Extract files from download (example: to C:\DX9)
  3. Open Wise Package Studio (WPS)
  4. Create a new Project for “Repackage for Windows Installer” (leave “Vendor Package” empty)
  5. Click “Edit Package”
  6. Select “Files (under Feature Details)
  7. Select the Source (extraction) folder, then select \Windows\Temp in the lower panel, and click “Add Contents” (adds the “DX9” folder under “\Windows\Temp”)
  8. Select the “MSI Script” tab and select the tab “Execute Deferred”
  9. Click on the “InstallFinalize” action (near the bottom)
  10. Double-click the action “Execute Program from Installed Files”
    1. Enter a Custom Action Name: “RunSetup”
    2. Executable File (click browse, select DXSETUP.exe)
    3. Command Line Arguments: /SILENT
    4. Select the “Properties” tab, set Processing to “Synchronous, Ignore exit code”
    5. Click OK

11.   Press [F7] to compile and provide a name (ie. “DirectX90c_June2010.msi”)

3 comments:

skatterbrainz said...

Tip: If after you create the new Project you can't directly "Edit Package", just run a bogus snapshot capture with no changes. Then review the capture results to verify nothing was actually captured. Once that's done you can edit the package and manually stuff the files in and modify the custom action script.

Anonymous said...

Hi Skatterbrainz,

i don´t have WPS, but i need the MSI to deploy Acad2012. Can you help me with it and send me the directX msi file or can you upload it?

Greetz BaSe

skatterbrainz said...

Unfortunately, I cannot do that. There are various legal ramifications to that which I don't want to step into. If you have AutoCAD 2012, you should be able to scrape up a few bucks to purchase InstallShield or something similar (don't buy Wise anymore)