Using WiX to create an IIS virtual directory

Question

I'd ask this on the WiX mailing list, but it seems to be down.

I have an application which is both a desktop app and a web app which runs locally. I've created a couple of basic WiX installers, but haven't yet used the IIS extension to create a virtual directory under IIS. I haven't been able to find a simple example of how to do this. All I need to do is create the virtual directory, set its port, and point it at a real directory which I'm creating with the rest of the installer.

A bonus would be enabling IIS on the machine if it's not already enabled, but I'm guessing that's not possible, and isn't a dealbreaker for me anyway.

If it matters, this installer will only be run on Vista machines.

Solution 1

Since the article mentioned by David seems lost, here is an example. This also creates an application in the virtual directory.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"
     xmlns:iis="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/IIsExtension">
    <Product Id="6f2b2358-YOUR-GUID-HERE-aa394e0a73a2" Name="WixProject" Language="1033" Version="1.0.0.0" Manufacturer="WixProject" UpgradeCode="225aa7b2-YOUR-GUID-HERE-110ef084dd72">
        <Package InstallerVersion="200" Compressed="yes" />

        <Media Id="1" Cabinet="media1.cab" EmbedCab="yes" />

        <!-- Reference existing site at port 8080 -->
        <iis:WebSite Id="My.Site" Description="My Site">
            <iis:WebAddress Id="My.Web.Address" Port="8080"/>
        </iis:WebSite>

        <Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
            <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
                <Directory Id="INSTALLLOCATION" Name="WixProject">
                    <Component Id="IIS.Component" Guid="{6FAD9EC7-YOUR-GUID-HERE-C8AF5F6F707F}" KeyPath="yes">
                        <iis:WebVirtualDir Id="My.VirtualDir" Alias="foo" Directory="INSTALLLOCATION" WebSite="My.Site">
                            <iis:WebApplication Id="My.Application1" Name="Web Application 1"/> 
                        </iis:WebVirtualDir>
                    </Component>

                </Directory>
            </Directory>
        </Directory>

        <Feature Id="ProductFeature" Title="WixProject" Level="1">
            <ComponentRef Id="IIS.Component" />
        </Feature>
    </Product>
</Wix>

Solution 2

Use iis:WebVirtualDir and iis:WebApplication from http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/IIsExtension namespace.

I had a similar question earlier and I found the following article quite useful: Wix 3.0 Creating IIS Virtual Directory

Solution 3

Digging in the Google cache (which I think is now been purged by Google) I think the following is the code to the missing blog entry David Pokluda included in his answer. I had to do some reformatting to get this into SO, sorry if it's ugly.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--
IMPORTANT
1. need to add the schema iis.xsd to the property window
2. add the following iis namespace
3. add the Visual Studio reference WixIIsExtenion
-->
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"
xmlns:iis="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/IIsExtension">
  <Product Id="7b523f47-YOUR-GUID-HERE-fea6be516471" 
           Name="Vince Wix 3 Web Service" 
           Language="1033" 
           Version="1.0.0.0" 
           Manufacturer="Vince LLC" 
           UpgradeCode="0a8c10df-YOUR-GUID-HERE-50b9ecdb0a41">
    <Package InstallerVersion="200" Compressed="yes" />

    <Media Id="1" Cabinet="WebAppWixProject.cab" EmbedCab="yes" />

    <Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
      <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
        <Directory Id="WebApplicationFolder" Name="MyWebApp">
          <Component Id="ProductComponent" Guid="80b0ee2a-YOUR-GUID-HERE-33a23eb0588e">
            <File Id="Default.aspx" Name="Default.aspx" Source="..\MyWebApp\Default.aspx" DiskId="1" />
            <File Id="Default.aspx.cs" Name="Default.aspx.cs" Source="..\MyWebApp\Default.aspx.cs" DiskId="1"/>
            <iis:WebVirtualDir Id="MyWebApp" Alias="MyWebApp" Directory="WebApplicationFolder" WebSite="DefaultWebSite">
              <iis:WebApplication Id="TestWebApplication" Name="Test" />
            </iis:WebVirtualDir>
          </Component>
        </Directory>
      </Directory>
    </Directory>

    <!--
    IMPORTANT
    Add a virtual directory to an existing web site
    If put it inside the Component, a new Web Site will be created and uninstall will remove it
    -->
    <iis:WebSite Id='DefaultWebSite' Description='Default Web Site' Directory='WebApplicationFolder'>
      <iis:WebAddress Id="AllUnassigned" Port="80" />
    </iis:WebSite>

    <Feature Id="ProductFeature" Title="Vince Wix 3 Web Service" Level="1">
      <ComponentRef Id="ProductComponent" />
    </Feature>
  </Product>
</Wix>

<!--
IMPORTANT
To get rid of light.exe location error, do the following on the Linker Tab:
Set culture to: en-US
Supress Schema Validation in the Advanced Button
-->

Solution 4

I'm not familiar with WiX, but both IIS 6 and 7 can be managed using WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) objects. I've used both PowerShell and C# to create websites, virtual directories, permissions etc on IIS. You should be able to get your hands on these objects from most scripting environments.

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Comments

[Nordin]

the link to the blog is no longer valid. Could you provide new live link. Thanks.

[Aardvark]

Checkout my answer, I think this is the code of the blog article.