[wix-users] Migration form InstallShield 10.5 to Wix 3.11

[Christopher Painter]

The best thing to do is write down the functionality of the InstallShield product and just start over.  Such as.


Project Type (InstallScript, Basic MSI or InstallScript MSI project type)

Product Name

Upgrade Code

Major or Minor Upgrade?

INSTALLDIR

Feature Tree

Directory structure / files

Shortcuts

COM

Registry

Services

IIS

Environment

Bootstrapper prereqs?  .NET, C++, SQL

Custom actions (.rul files  either get rewritten to not be needed or converted to c++/c# custom actions.  .rul files could also be custom UI depending on the project type.)

Custom UI work

et al


>From there create a new WiX project that is cleaner then the original and follows all relevant best practices.   Dark will create so much noise that it typically won't be useful.  There are exceptions of course as you may be able to grab snippets here and there and massage them into your new project.


It's a bit of a learning curve if you are new to WiX.  I have 20 years of experience with InstallShield, 15 years with Windows Installer and 10 years with WiX.   I offer micro consulting services if you would like some help over the bridge to a steady state that you can then build and maintain yourself from there.


Regards,

Chris Painter

President and Managing Member

ISWIX, LLC

www.iswix.com<http://www.iswix.com>

ISWIX LLC<http://www.iswix.com/>
www.iswix.com
ISWIX LLC provides world class consulting at highly competitive rates for small and mid size companies in the areas of: Build and Release Engineering




________________________________
From: wix-users <wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org> on behalf of james william <jameswilliam.b at gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2017 1:28 AM
To: WiX Toolset Users Mailing List
Subject: [wix-users] Migration form InstallShield 10.5 to Wix 3.11

Hi,

I have a installer in InstallShield 10.5 and i want to migrate it to Wix
3.11.
Is there a possibility of converting InstallShield installer to Wix, i came
across Dark.exe which decompiles msi but the InstallSheild consists of
other files like setup.exe and some cabinet files so I don't know if its
the right way to do it.
Also there are some .ism files, is there a possibility of converting .ism
files to .wxs files, if so how to do it?
There are also some .rul files, i don't know what they are equivalent in
Wix.

Thanks,
James

____________________________________________________________________
WiX Toolset Users Mailing List provided by FireGiant http://www.firegiant.com/
WiX Support | WiX Experts and Resources from FireGiant<http://www.firegiant.com/>
www.firegiant.com
WiX Support | Installation, Development, Deployment | WiX Experts and Resources from FireGiant