Which Installer Applications Are Out There?

[em2ab]

We're using WISE Installer Studio from Altiris now for work and it seems to have some bugs in it as far as trying to do things like XML file updates during installs. I'm wondering if there are any other alternatives people recommend in order to create a .msi or .exe file from an application. It has to allow for installs/uninstall and also update if necessary.

[davidm_86]

Do you mind if I ask what kind of bugs it has? We're just researching Altiris right now for our office to see if we want it. (about 360 machines.)

I don't know what other applications there are though... I've never had to do this yet.

Good luck!

[em2ab]

I've been all over the Altiris forums (EdT is a god) and it's a known bug that the Wise Installer doesn't update .xml files properly when using Merge Modules. This isn't a problem for me, however I'm beginning to suspect that the issue is carrying over to my environment in some aspects. I have 2 Web.config files in IIS that I want updated via Dynamic Content Editing. f I choose to update one, everything is fine. If I choose to update more than one, only the final one gets updated and I've been researching fixes for a week now, nothing works. Altiris hasn't released anything about this and it's possible (though unlikely) that it's an issue with my code but there are minor bugs.

Another thing I don't like about it is the use of its own Altiris files that do stuff.......you have no idea what it's doing, just stuff. When trying to update these Web.config files, I run a WiseModifyReplaceXML.dll (or something close to that name) and it does its thing. What's it doing? I have no idea but as I posted above it's not doing it properly.

So it's pretty likely you won't run into any problems when using it and the graphical interface is pretty top notch, it'll likely work perfect for you. I just seem to have found its one weakness. And for that reason need to look elsewhere. And in doing so, I'm slowly coming to the realization that nothing else is as user friendly as Altiris (now Symantec).

[BigBadVlad]

Installshield Adminstudio has been my packager of choice usually, then there's the SMS Installer and I have used Orca to edit and change MSI's as well.

Installshield's full Adminstudio package may be worth checking out though. Appdeploy.com and myitforum.com are two sites I use for help on stuff.