How do you use WiX to deploy VSTO 3.0 addins?

Question

I want to deploy a VSTO 3 Application Level Word 2007 addin that I've written with Visual Studio 2008. I see that WiX has an extension named WixOfficeExtension that looks like it might have this functionality, but I can't find any documentation for it, and I can't discern it's purpose from the source code.

Has anyone attempted this before, and were you able to pull it off successfully?

Answer 1

This is the code I ended up using. I basically ported the examples from MSDN to use WiX.

Note: This specific solution is only for a Word 2007 addin, but the case for Excel is very similar. Simply modify the registry/component checks and keys/values according to the aforementioned MSDN Article.

Inclusion List Custom Action

In order to run addins with full trust, it must be added to the Inclusion List for the current user. The only way to do this reliably is with a custom action. This is a port of the custom action in the article to the new Deployment Tools Foundation included with WiX.

To use it, create a new DTF project called VSTOCustomAction and add CustomAction.cs.

CustomAction.cs

using System;
using System.Security;
using System.Security.Permissions;
using Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Office.Runtime.Security;

namespace VSTOCustomActions
{
    public class CustomActions
    {
        private static string GetPublicKey(Session session)
        {
            return session["VSTOCustomAction_PublicKey"];
        }
        private static string GetManifestLocation(Session session)
        {
            return session["VSTOCustomAction_ManifestLocation"];
        }
        private static void ErrorMessage(string message, Session session)
        {
            using (Record r = new Record(message))
            {
                session.Message(InstallMessage.Error, r);
            }
        }

        [CustomAction]
        public static ActionResult AddToInclusionList(Session session)
        {
            try
            {
                SecurityPermission permission =
                    new SecurityPermission(PermissionState.Unrestricted);
                permission.Demand();
            }
            catch (SecurityException)
            {
                ErrorMessage("You have insufficient privileges to " +
                    "register a trust relationship. Start Excel " +
                    "and confirm the trust dialog to run the addin.", session);
                return ActionResult.Failure;
            }

            Uri deploymentManifestLocation = null;
            if (Uri.TryCreate(GetManifestLocation(session),
                UriKind.RelativeOrAbsolute, out deploymentManifestLocation) == false)
            {
                ErrorMessage("The location of the deployment manifest is missing or invalid.", session);
                return ActionResult.Failure;
            }

            AddInSecurityEntry entry = new AddInSecurityEntry(deploymentManifestLocation, GetPublicKey(session));
            UserInclusionList.Add(entry);

            session.CustomActionData.Add("VSTOCustomAction_ManifestLocation", deploymentManifestLocation.ToString());

            return ActionResult.Success;

        }

        [CustomAction]
        public static ActionResult RemoveFromInclusionList(Session session)
        {
            string uriString = session.CustomActionData["VSTOCustomAction_ManifestLocation"];
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(uriString))
            {
                Uri deploymentManifestLocation = new Uri(uriString);
                UserInclusionList.Remove(deploymentManifestLocation);
            }
            return ActionResult.Success;
        }

    }
}

Wix Fragment

We obviously need the actual WiX file to install the addin. Reference it from your main .wcs file with

<FeatureRef Id="MyAddinComponent"/>

Addin.wcs

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
    <Fragment Id="Word2007Fragment">

      <!-- Include the VSTO Custom action  -->
      <Binary Id="VSTOCustomAction" SourceFile="path\to\VSTOCustomAction.dll"/>
      <CustomAction Id="AddToInclusionList" BinaryKey="VSTOCustomAction" DllEntry="AddToInclusionList" Execute="immediate"/>
      <CustomAction Id="RemoveFromInclusionList" BinaryKey="VSTOCustomAction" DllEntry="RemoveFromInclusionList" Execute="immediate"/>

      <!-- Set the parameters read by the Custom action -->
      <!-- 
        The public key that you used to sign your dll, looks something like <RSAKeyValue><Modulus>...</Modulus><Exponent>...</Exponent></RSAKeyValue>
        Take note: There should be no whitespace in the key!
      -->
      <Property Id="VSTOCustomAction_PublicKey"><![CDATA[Paste you public key here]]></Property>
      <CustomAction Id="PropertyAssign_ManifestLocation" Property="VSTOCustomAction_ManifestLocation" Value="[INSTALLDIR]MyAddin.MyAddin.vsto" />

      <!-- Properties to check prerequisites -->
      <Property Id="VSTORUNTIME">
        <RegistrySearch Id="RegistrySearchVsto"
                        Root="HKLM"
                        Key="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\vsto runtime Setup\v9.0.30729"
                        Name="SP"
                        Type="raw"/>
      </Property>
      <Property Id="HASWORDPIA">
        <ComponentSearch Id="ComponentSearchWordPIA"
                         Guid="{816D4DFD-FF7B-4C16-8943-EEB07DF989CB}"/>
      </Property>
      <Property Id="HASSHAREDPIA">
        <ComponentSearch Id="ComponentSearchSharedPIA"
                         Guid="{FAB10E66-B22C-4274-8647-7CA1BA5EF30F}"/>
      </Property>


      <!-- Feature and component to include the necessary files -->
      <Feature Id="MyAddinComponent" Title ="Word 2007 Addin" Level="1" AllowAdvertise="no">
        <ComponentRef Id="MyAddinComponent"/>
        <Condition Level="0"><![CDATA[NOT ((VSTORUNTIME="#1") AND HASSHAREDPIA AND HASWORDPIA)]]></Condition>
      </Feature>

      <DirectoryRef Id="INSTALLDIR">
          <Component Id="MyAddinComponent" Guid="your component guid here">
              <File Name="MyAddin.dll" Source="path\to\MyAddin.dll" />
              <File Name="MyAddin.dll.manifest" Source="path\to\MyAddin.dll.manifest" />
              <File Name="MyAddin.vsto" Source="path\to\MyAddin.vsto" />
              <RegistryKey Root="HKCU"
                  Key="Software\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\MyAddin"
                  Action="createAndRemoveOnUninstall">
                <RegistryValue Type="string" Name="FriendlyName" Value="MyAddin Word 2007 Addin" />
                <RegistryValue Type="string" Name="Description" Value="MyAddin Word 2007 Addin" />
                <RegistryValue Type="string" Name="Manifest" Value="[INSTALLDIR]MyAddin.vsto|vstolocal" KeyPath="yes"/>
                <RegistryValue Type="integer" Name="LoadBehavior" Value="3"/>
              </RegistryKey>
          </Component>
      </DirectoryRef>

      <!-- Modify the install sequence to call our custom action -->
      <InstallExecuteSequence>
        <Custom Action="AddToInclusionList" After="InstallFinalize"><![CDATA[(&MyAddinComponent = 3) AND NOT (!MyAddinComponent = 3)]]></Custom>
        <Custom Action="PropertyAssign_ManifestLocation" Before="AddToInclusionList"><![CDATA[(&MyAddinComponent = 3) AND NOT (!MyAddinComponent = 3)]]></Custom>
        <Custom Action="RemoveFromInclusionList" After="InstallFinalize"><![CDATA[(&MyAddinComponent = 2) AND NOT (!MyAddinComponent = 2)]]></Custom>
      </InstallExecuteSequence>
    </Fragment>
</Wix>

Hope that this saves some time for someone out there.