How to deploy VSTO add-ins for Outlook?

“What is the best way to deploy VSTO add-ins for Outlook?” This is one of the most common question asked by our customers who are developing add-ins using Visual Studio Tools for Office(VSTO) for Outlook and other Office Applications.  Simple answer is that it’s all depend on you requirements and environment. We can opt for either ClickOnce Deployment or Windows Installer.

We can refer to Choosing a Deployment Strategy and the following table compares the features of ClickOnce deployment with Windows Installer deployment to make informed decision:

Features	ClickOnce	Windows Installer
Automatic update1	Yes	Yes
Post-installation rollback2	Yes	No
Update from Web	Yes	No
Does not affect shared components or other applications	Yes	No
Security permissions granted	Grants only permissions necessary for the application (more safe)	Grants Full Trust by default (less safe)
Security permissions required	Internet or Intranet Zone (Full Trust for CD-ROM installation)	Administrator
Application and deployment manifest signing	Yes	No
Installation-time user interface	Single prompt	Multipart Wizard
Installation of assemblies on demand	Yes	No
Installation of shared files	No	Yes
Installation of drivers	No	Yes (with custom actions)
Installation to Global Assembly Cache	No	Yes
Installation for multiple users	No	Yes
Add application to Start menu	Yes	Yes
Add application to Startup group	No	Yes
Add application to Favorites menu	No	Yes
Register file types	Yes	Yes
Install time registry access3	Limited	Yes
Binary file patching	No	Yes
Application installation location	ClickOnce application cache	Program Files folder
Articles to refer	ClickOnce Deployment ClickOnce Deployment Overview How to: Deploy an Office Solution by Using ClickOnce Video How to: Deploy an Office Solution by Using ClickOnce (2007 System)	Deploying a Visual Studio Tools for the Office System 3.0 Solution for the 2007 Microsoft Office System Using Windows Installer (Part 1 of 2) Deploying a Visual Studio Tools for the Office System 3.0 Solution for the 2007 Microsoft Office System Using Windows Installer (Part 2 of 2) Deploying a VSTO 3.0 solution for the Office 2007 using Windows Installers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

1. With Windows Installer, you must implement programmatic updates in the application code.

2. With ClickOnce, rollback is available in Add or Remove Programs.

3. ClickOnce deployment can access HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM) only with Full Trust permission.

Feel free to put questions related to ClickOnce or Windows Installer deployment for Office Add-ins to me.

Comments

• Anonymous
  June 12, 2010
  Can you provide deployment related to Outlook 2010 managed addin.
• Anonymous
  June 12, 2010
  thanks, now i know how to deal with such stuff