InstallShield 2012 Spring Express Edition User Guide

Chapter 16: Building, Testing, and Distributing Installations
Configuring and Building Releases
Task To build a release:
1. In the View List under Prepare for Release, click Releases.
2. In the Builds explorer, click the type of media that you want to build.
3. Edit the build settings.
4. Right-click the selected media type and then click Build.
You can also build a release at the command line using IsCmdBld.exe.
InstallShield places the built installation package into a release location based on your project location.
If the build failed and generated an error, the previous installation package, if any, is restored to the
\DiskImages\Disk1 folder.
Tip: Ensure that Windows Explorer is not pointing to the Disk1 folder or a subfolder when you build your release. If it is
pointing to the Disk1 folder, the build process will continue indefinitely. If Explorer is accessing a subfolder, you will
generate an error.
If you are creating non-compressed builds, additional folders named after specific operating systems may be included with
the installation. This handles cases when files destined for a specific operating system have the same name as those
targeted for another operating system.
Creating a Setup Launcher
InstallShield lets you specify whether you want your installation to include a Setup.exe setup launcher. A
Setup.exe setup launcher is required in the following cases:
• You want to automatically update or install the Windows Installer engine on a target system, when
necessary.
• Your project includes InstallShield prerequisites.
• Your project includes the .NET Framework.
• Your project includes billboards.
The Setup.exe setup launcher is a bootstrap application that manages the aforementioned scenarios.
The Setup.exe tab for a release in the Releases view is where you specify information such as whether
you want to use a Setup.exe launcher. To learn more, see Setup.exe Tab.
Windows Installer and Setup.exe
If it is possible that Windows Installer is not present on a target system, or if your installation depends
on certain functionality that is available in only a certain version of Windows Installer, InstallShield
gives you the option of including with your installation a redistributable that installs Windows Installer.
If you select this option, InstallShield creates a Setup.exe launcher that checks for the presence of
Windows Installer on the target system. If Windows Installer is not installed, or a more recent version
needs to be installed, Setup.exe launches the Windows Installer installation and then launches your
installation package.
290 ISE-1900-UG00 InstallShield 2012 Spring Express Edition User Guide