Creating a .wixproj File

In order to build WiX using MSBuild, a .wixproj file must be created. The easiest way to create a new .wixproj for your installer is to WiX in Visual Studio because it automatically generates standard msbuild project files that can be built on the command line by simply typing:

msbuild <projectfile>.wixproj

If you do not have Visual Studio available, a .wixproj file can be created using any text editor. The following is a sample .wixproj file that builds an installer consisting of a single product.wxs file. If you want to copy and paste this example, remember to change the <ProjectGuid> value to match your own.

<Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
        <PropertyGroup>
                <Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
                <Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">x86</Platform>
                <ProductVersion>3.0</ProductVersion>
                <ProjectGuid>{c523055d-a9d0-4318-ae85-ec934d33204b}</ProjectGuid>
                <SchemaVersion>2.0</SchemaVersion>
                <OutputName>WixProject1</OutputName>
                <OutputType>Package</OutputType>
                <WixTargetsPath Condition=" '$(WixTargetsPath)' == '' ">$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\WiX\v3.5\Wix.targets</WixTargetsPath>
        </PropertyGroup>
        <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|x86' ">
                <OutputPath>bin\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
                <IntermediateOutputPath>obj\$(Configuration)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
                <DefineConstants>Debug</DefineConstants>
        </PropertyGroup>
        <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|x86' ">
                <OutputPath>bin\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
                <IntermediateOutputPath>obj\$(Configuration)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
        </PropertyGroup>
        <ItemGroup>
                <Compile Include="Product.wxs" />
        </ItemGroup>
        <Import Project="$(WixTargetsPath)" />
</Project>

Additional .wxs files can be added using additional <Compile> elements within an ItemGroup. Localization files (.wxl) should be added using the <EmbeddedResource> element within an ItemGroup. Include files (.wxi) should be added using the <Content> element within an ItemGroup.