Can I force the installer project to use the .config file from the built solution instead of the original one?

Question

I am using the solution to this question in order to apply configuration changes to App.config in a Winforms project. I also have an installer project for the proj

Answer 1

The question is old, but the following could still help many folks out there.

I would simply use Wix WiFile.exe to replace the concerned file in the msi this way (for the sake of this example, we call your msi yourPackage.msi):

Step 1. From command prompt run: WiFile.exe "yourPackage.msi" /x "app.exe.config." The above will extract the "wrong" app.exe.config file from the msi and place it the same directory as your msi;

Step 2. Place the new (prod) config file (must have the same name as the extracted file: app.exe.config) in same location as your msi; This means that you are overwritting the app.exe.config that has just been extracted in step 1 above, with your new (production config file);

Step 3. From command prompt run: WiFile.exe "yourPackage.msi" /u "app.exe.config."

THAT'S ALL!

The above can be done in a few seconds. You could automate the task if you wanted, for instance, by running it as batch or else.

After running step 3 above, your msi will contain the new config file, which will now be installed at your clients' when they run the setup.