How to deploy an Office VSTO add-in using Visual Studio 2017

deployment vsto clickonce add-in visual-studio-2017
John Doe picture John Doe · Mar 30, 2017 · Viewed 8k times · Source

I've created an Outlook add-in, debugged and works fine. I want to be able to package it up for distribution. This is for a very limited audience 5-10 people. What are the steps to doing so?

I tried Build | Publish which appears to work (using options of local filename and CDROM install location), but creates a massive 1.5MB setup.exe file and when it is executed, takes forever (it appears trying to contact some remote server and times out and pops an error, although the add-in appears to be registered).

Looking online, I found references to creating a SetupProject or using InstallShield Limited addition, but none of those appear to apply to Visual Studio 2017.

I'd be happy if I could just provide my DLL and a .reg file -- this is for a small set of 5-10 power users.

What is the simplest way to deploy this add-in?

Answer

Nikolay picture Nikolay · Mar 30, 2017

The easiest way is Build | Publish. Just disable any online activities if you don't want it. You can do that in Project -> Settings -> Publish. Check your "Updates" settings for example.

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