Deploying Native Desktop Applications (Visual C++)
Deployment is the process by which you distribute a finished application or component to be installed on other computers. Deployment planning starts when an application is created on a developer's computer. Deployment ends when the application is installed and ready to run on a user's computer.
Visual Studio provides different technologies for deploying Windows applications. These include ClickOnce deployment and Windows Installer deployment.
ClickOnce can be used to deploy C++ applications that target the common language runtime (CLR)—mixed, pure, and verifiable assemblies. Although you can use Windows Installer to deploy a managed application, we recommend that you use ClickOnce because it takes advantage of .NET Framework security features such as manifest signing. ClickOnce does not support deployment of native C++ applications. For more information, see ClickOnce Deployment for Visual C++ Applications.
Windows Installer technology can be used to deploy either native C++ applications or C++ applications that target the CLR.
The articles in this section of the documentation discuss how to ensure that a native Visual C++ application runs on any computer that provides a supported target platform, which files you must include in an installation package, and the recommended ways to redistribute the components that your application depends on.
In This Section
Understanding the Dependencies of a Visual C++ Application
Determining Which DLLs to Redistribute
Redistributing Visual C++ Files
Redistributing Web Client Applications
ClickOnce Deployment for Visual C++ Applications
Running a C++ /clr Application on a Previous Runtime Version
Related Sections
Building C/C++ Isolated Applications and Side-by-side Assemblies
Deploying the .NET Framework and Applications
Troubleshooting C/C++ Isolated Applications and Side-by-side Assemblies