Creating MSI for Windows application with online update

Question

I've got an application which is available online as a ClickOnce Application Deployment file. When downloading the application it is supplied as a setup.exe (as far as I am aware the ClickOnce app is just embedded inside the executable).

The ClickOnce app will run an installation of it's own (adding Start menu items and an uninstall entry in the Control Panel) - I assume that's the normal behaviour for a ClickOnce application with Offline mode selected.

I need to supply this as an MSI file instead, but I'm not sure if that is possible when:

• The application should still update from the update URL specified in the ClickOnce app.
• The installation should be able to be installed unattended.
• The application is not signed.

Is this possible (even without the signing)? If yes, how? I am using VS2012

Answer 1

It seems trying to get a ClickOnce into an MSI is kind of hackish and not really supported. I opted to create an MSI of my own instead with functionality to check (via a web service) if there is a new version available and download and install this version if true.