Deploying wsp from MSI installer

Question

I would like to deploy a SharePoint 2010 solution package (wsp) using MSI (or some other user friendly form of installer).

I know I can create a custom action and deploy everything using the SharePoint object model, but I don't think that's the way to go.

What would be the way to do this?

Answer 1

There is an upcoming project on it, read about it here: http://sharepointinstaller.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=SpecificationV2&referringTitle=Home

Currently, the best way would be to use MSI with CustomAction. But instead of object model, use powershell script to deploy the WSP. It will much cleaner than code.

http://www.dotnetmafia.com/blogs/dotnettipoftheday/archive/2009/12/02/adding-and-deploying-solutions-with-powershell-in-sharepoint-2010.aspx