Using zip files to package files instead MSI

Question

We built a WiX installer that download msi files from the internet, leveraging all the technology available in WiX. The system can download up to 2 gig of msi files, depending on the user selection and permissions.

Now our system is cross-platform, and msi files only work on Windows. We would like to convert our msi to zip files (easy for us), so at least our users would be able to download the zip files individually from our web site, and use them on Mac or Linux. Those zip files would be also used by our WiX bootstrapper.

Now the question is: In, WiX, a Chain element can only contain one of the following elements: ExePackage, MsiPackage, MspPackage, MsuPackage. Is there some way to include a zip package, and have it downloaded and unzipped at the install location?

Answer 1

Burn doesn't support that directly but you could write a small .exe that does and put it into your bundle Chain with ExePackage and a Payload for the .zip itself. Burn would download both then run the .exe with whatever arguments you supply.