MSI package

[cybot_tm]

Hi,

please provide an MSI package if possible - would make live much more easier as FileZilla already does ... ;-)

[Tim Kosse]

Is it possible to build MSI packages under Linux?

[cybot_tm]

i do not know

[eyebex]

What's the gain of MSI anyways? It's bloated (MSI installers are always larger than their Nullsoft Installer / Inno Setup / whatever counterparts) and my experiences with it are very bad (MSI packages refuse to uninstall if other MSI packages were installed in between, installing MSI updates over already existing MSI installations does not work reliably etc.). Microsoft has released a whole bunch of tools (MsiZap etc.) to fix those issues, which is just a proof for me that MSI is broken. Really, the only reason I can think of where MSI eases your life is when you need to deploy software on a whole lot of Windows PC in a domain in a single blow.

[cybot_tm]

@eyebex: yes, and exactly this is the reason - not only 'on a whole lot' but also for just a couple of pc's it makes life much easier if you do not have to manually re-install every piece of software with every new/upgraded/reinstalled machine - or deploy manually every update to every machine ...

[eyebex]

In that case, this project already provides an MSI for FileZilla Client 2:

​http://msi-repository.sourceforge.net/

[cybot_tm]

i know this project - but there only packages with outdated software versions ... or did i missed something?

[eyebex]

No, I also only did find the somewhat outdated version. But as they already have an MSI installer (and possibly read-made scripts to create it), it would probably make more sense to post this feature request to their project instead of this one.

BTW: It would have been nice if you said what you need the MSI for (domain deployment) in the first place, and also that you already know about the "MSI Repository" project and why their solution is not usable for you. Giving a decent reason why a feature is helpful really encourages developers to look into it ;-)

[bsaksida]

quote:
Is it possible to build MSI packages under Linux?

Do you now what MSI package is:
Microsoft Software Installer... This is for windows

For linux are possible packages:
.pkg .package .rpm .deb .run

[eyebex]

We all know very well what MSI is. But the question is whether there are Linux tools to create MSI packages. The author of FileZilla works *only* under Linux, which is why he would need such tools if he should build MSI packages.

[bsaksida]

As i said. MSI package is only Windows not linux. And there isn't any tools to create MSI instalation under limux.

A Linux selfinstalation package can be found here:
​http://autopackage.org/

But if you are looking to work with windows, There is a program Installaware:
​http://www.installaware.com/landing/msi-creator.htm

[eyebex]

I think you're still missing the point. We just want to *create* MSI packages under Linux (i.e. "cross-compile", if you like), not install / execute them under Linux. There are reports that WiX (​http://wix.sourceforge.net/) can run under Mono / Linux with some tweaks. I'll post here when I have more information on that.

[bsaksida]

Then Another Question... Is it possible to build source code under linux for Windows Platform?

[bsaksida]

Then Another Question... Is it possible to build source code under linux for Windows Platform?

[Tim Kosse]

Yes.

[eyebex]

Of course that's possible, it's called "cross-compilation". codesquid is using a cross-compiler to create the FZ3 Windows executables under Linux, see <​http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1594#1594>. But that's a little off-topic now.

[eyebex]

Here's what Rob Mensching from Microsoft says regarding WiX under Linux:

"Sorry, I was going to blog this but to get you a quick answer... the WiX toolset depends heavily on a number of Windows APIs. To move the WiX toolset to a different operating system, you'd have to implement all of those Windows APIs.

Put another way the WiX toolset is very much *not* cross platform (because it depends so much on Windows technologies). However, you can run it on the .NET Framework or on Mono on Windows (which is obviously no help for your scenario below)."

So the last chance would probably be Wine ...

[datapharmer]

Ok, I know this ticket is old but here is a working solution for building an msi under linux: ​https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools As I'm sure many folks stuck administrating windows can attest having an msi available would be the bees knees.