WiX

This article is about a software installation tool. For the website builder tool, see Wix.com. For other uses, see Wix.
WiX Toolset
Original author(s)Rob Mensching, Microsoft
Developer(s).NET Foundation
Initial release5 April 2004; 20 years ago (2004-04-05)[1]
Stable release
5.0.0 / 5 April 2024; 6 months ago (2024-04-05)
Repositorygithub.com/wixtoolset
Written inC++, C#
Operating systemWindows
TypeSoftware development tools
LicenseMicrosoft Reciprocal License
Websitewixtoolset.org

Windows Installer XML Toolset (WiX, pronounced "wicks") is a free software toolset that builds Windows Installer packages from XML. It consists of a command-line environment that developers may integrate into their build processes to build MSI and MSM packages. WiX was the first Microsoft project to be released under an open-source license, the Common Public License.[2][3] It was also the first Microsoft project to be hosted on an external website.[2]

After its release in 2004, Microsoft has used WiX to package Office 2007, SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005/2008, and other products.[4][3]

WiX includes Votive, a Visual Studio add-in that allows creating and building WiX setup projects using the Visual Studio IDE. Votive supports syntax highlighting and IntelliSense for .wxs source files and adds a WiX setup project type .wixproj to Visual Studio.[5]

  1. ^ Mensching, Rob (5 April 2004). "Windows Installer XML (WiX) toolset has released as Open Source on SourceForge.net". RobMensching.com /Blog. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  2. ^ a b Lawson, Stephen (6 April 2004). "Microsoft goes open source with WiX tool". Computerworld. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b Bisson, Simon (2021-12-01). "Using WiX to build Windows installers". InfoWorld. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  4. ^ Robbins, John (18 October 2007). "WiX: Hints for New Users (Part 1 of 3)". Wintellect. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  5. ^ Ramirez, Nick (2010-10-18). WiX: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML : Create a Hassle-free Installer for Your Windows Software Using WiX. Packt Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84951-373-9.