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Inno Setup Dependency Installer

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7 Aug 2023CPOL2 min read 1.7M   24.9K   427   392
Download and install any dependency such as .NET, Visual C++ or SQL Server during your application's installation!
In this article, you will see installation, usage, integration, details, and dependencies of Inno Setup Dependency Installer.

Inno Setup Dependency Installer

Introduction

Inno Setup Dependency Installer can download and install any dependency such as .NET, Visual C++ or SQL Server during your application's installation. In addition, it is easy to add your own dependencies as well.

Installation and Usage

  1. Download and install Inno Setup 6.2+.
  2. Download the script from here or from the Github repository.
  3. Open the extracted ExampleSetup.iss file.
  4. Comment out dependency function calls inside InitializeSetup function to disable installing them:
    • Pascal
      Dependency_AddVC2013;   // installed in example setup
      //Dependency_AddVC2013; // commented out and not installed in example setup
  5. Modify other sections like [Setup] [Files] [Icons] as necessary.
  6. Build the setup using Inno Setup compiler.

Integration

You can also just include CodeDependencies.iss file into your setup and call the desired Dependency_Add functions (some may need defining their exe file path before the include):

Pascal
#define public Dependency_Path_NetCoreCheck "dependencies\"

#include "CodeDependencies.iss"

[Setup]
; ...

[Code]
function InitializeSetup: Boolean;
begin
  // add the dependencies you need
  Dependency_AddDotNet70;
  // ...

  Result := True;
end;

Details

You have two ways to distribute the dependency installers. By default, most dependencies will be downloaded from the official website. Another way is to pack the dependency into a single executable setup like so:

  • Include the dependency setup file by defining the source:

    Pascal
    Source: "dxwebsetup.exe"; Flags: dontcopy noencryption
  • Call ExtractTemporaryFile() before the corresponding Dependency_Add function:

    Pascal
    ExtractTemporaryFile('dxwebsetup.exe');

The dependencies are installed based on the system architecture. If you want to install 32-bit dependencies on a 64-bit system, you can force 32-bit mode like so:

Pascal
Dependency_ForceX86 := True;  // force 32-bit install of next dependencies
Dependency_AddVC2013;
Dependency_ForceX86 := False; // disable forced 32-bit install again

If you only deploy 32-bit binaries and dependencies, you can also instead just not define ArchitecturesInstallIn64BitMode in [Setup].

Dependencies

  • .NET
    • .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
    • .NET Framework 4.0
    • .NET Framework 4.5.2
    • .NET Framework 4.6.2
    • .NET Framework 4.7.2
    • .NET Framework 4.8.1
    • .NET Core 3.1 (Runtime, ASP.NET, Desktop)
    • .NET 5.0 (Runtime, ASP.NET, Desktop)
    • .NET 6.0 (Runtime, ASP.NET, Desktop)
    • .NET 7.0 (Runtime, ASP.NET, Desktop)
  • C++
    • Visual C++ 2005 Service Pack 1 Redistributable
    • Visual C++ 2008 Service Pack 1 Redistributable
    • Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Redistributable
    • Visual C++ 2012 Update 4 Redistributable
    • Visual C++ 2013 Update 5 Redistributable
    • Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable
  • SQL
    • SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 2 Express
    • SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 4 Express
    • SQL Server 2014 Service Pack 3 Express
    • SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 3 Express
    • SQL Server 2017 Express
    • SQL Server 2019 Express
    • SQL Server 2022 Express
  • Access
    • Access Database Engine 2010
    • Access Database Engine 2016
  • DirectX End-User Runtime
  • WebView2 Runtime

Credits

Thanks to the community for sharing many fixes and improvements. To contribute, please create a pull request.

This article was originally posted at https://github.com/DomGries/InnoDependencyInstaller

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


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Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionVC++ 2015 Pin
raspopov26-Jul-15 20:56
raspopov26-Jul-15 20:56 
AnswerRe: VC++ 2015 Pin
daveaton9-Aug-15 5:09
daveaton9-Aug-15 5:09 
GeneralWow... Thanks Pin
Sammy21023-Jul-15 12:33
Sammy21023-Jul-15 12:33 
QuestionAdd Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office runtime dependency? Pin
Toxaris8-Apr-15 3:01
Toxaris8-Apr-15 3:01 
AnswerRe: Add Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office runtime dependency? Pin
Vincent DUVERNET (Nolmë Informatique)29-Jan-16 21:41
Vincent DUVERNET (Nolmë Informatique)29-Jan-16 21:41 
QuestionHelp with Sample Script With .net 45 and VC2012 Pin
Member 1054216523-Mar-15 11:05
Member 1054216523-Mar-15 11:05 
AnswerRe: Help with Sample Script With .net 45 and VC2012 Pin
Member 1054216524-Mar-15 6:59
Member 1054216524-Mar-15 6:59 
QuestionDependencies with multiple files Pin
nmg19619-Feb-15 7:58
nmg19619-Feb-15 7:58 
How can I handle the situation where my dependent installers have multiple files rather than a single installer? My system needs to install some hardware drivers, but the driver files have their own dependent ini files which must be in the same folder.

Thanks!
Nick
QuestionCant get dotnetfx40 to work Pin
Member 1146151918-Feb-15 4:47
Member 1146151918-Feb-15 4:47 
AnswerRe: Cant get dotnetfx40 to work Pin
daveaton9-Aug-15 6:25
daveaton9-Aug-15 6:25 
SuggestionNormalise include files / Code syntax expected Pin
Yves Goergen7-Feb-15 23:40
Yves Goergen7-Feb-15 23:40 
BugWrong version comparison Pin
Yves Goergen7-Feb-15 11:42
Yves Goergen7-Feb-15 11:42 
QuestionGreat Work Pin
Just Russell30-Jan-15 21:57
professionalJust Russell30-Jan-15 21:57 
QuestionVery powerful ! Any solution to install VSTO ? Pin
smoinard30-Jan-15 8:58
professionalsmoinard30-Jan-15 8:58 
AnswerRe: Very powerful ! Any solution to install VSTO ? Pin
Member 1135231931-Jan-15 2:51
Member 1135231931-Jan-15 2:51 
GeneralRe: Very powerful ! Any solution to install VSTO ? Pin
smoinard1-Feb-15 19:50
professionalsmoinard1-Feb-15 19:50 
QuestionPowerShell 2 and SQL Native Client 11? Pin
d_train201427-Dec-14 22:05
professionald_train201427-Dec-14 22:05 
QuestionVisual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2013 Pin
daveaton21-Dec-14 10:10
daveaton21-Dec-14 10:10 
AnswerMessage Closed Pin
13-Jan-15 11:06
DomGries13-Jan-15 11:06 
GeneralRe: Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2013 Pin
daveaton30-Jan-15 6:33
daveaton30-Jan-15 6:33 
QuestionHow can i Install IE 10 or 11 using InnoSetup Installer ? Pin
kalpesh280419-Nov-14 19:09
kalpesh280419-Nov-14 19:09 
QuestionWhy .Net 4.5 has no support for localization? Pin
Mario Vernari7-Oct-14 5:52
Mario Vernari7-Oct-14 5:52 
SuggestionSupport for SQL Server 2014 LocalDB Pin
Mysteryx9325-Sep-14 12:04
Mysteryx9325-Sep-14 12:04 
GeneralRe: Support for SQL Server 2014 LocalDB Pin
Petr Šikola12-Jun-15 0:19
Petr Šikola12-Jun-15 0:19 
GeneralWIC exe being ignored Pin
FreeDragon8029-Jul-14 4:50
FreeDragon8029-Jul-14 4:50 

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