MSM Merge Modules in Visual Studio 2013

Question

Could someone please let me know where I might find resources for creating MSM files? While I am able to create MSI files using InstallShield, it seems that Visual Studio no longer supports Merge Module Projects, judging by the link below and the screenshot of my version of Visual Studio 2013 - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/z6z02ts5(v=vs.80).aspx

To create a new merge module project:

1. On the File menu, point to Add, then click New Project.
2. In the resulting Add New Project dialog box, in the Project types pane, open the Other Project Types node and select Setup and Deployment Projects.
3. In the Templates pane, choose Merge Module Project.

Answer 1

As discussed in the comments, Setup projects got removed from Visual Studio; a version of InstallShield was provided as their replacement. The standard alternative to InstallShield is WiX. WiX is somewhat arcane at first - it's a pretty thin layer over Windows Installer - but there are quite a few resources and examples out there.

Good resources for getting into WiX are http://wix.tramontana.co.hu/ and http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/. You can download the tooling from http://wixtoolset.org/

Answer 2

For those still looking to use Merge Modules in Visual Studio; there is an official Microsoft extension for Visual Studio 2013 that lets you create Merge Module projects again.

Information on the extension, click here. The page leads to the Visual Studio Gallery where you can download the extension

Update 17 Sept 2015: an extension for VS2015 is also available here.