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I have question regarding WiX/MSI packaging, wanted to check feasibility, I have Installer1 bundle with n number of files(probably 100) and have another small installer2 with less no of files(near about 20 files). Now my question is can I package small installer2 into bigger installer1. This is similar approach as most of installers package vcruntime installers in their installers.

Experts do you see any issues in this approach?

You may want to ask question, what type components installer2 has- so it kernel mode drivers and user mode services and some DLLs.

Also you may suggest why we are not bringing one by one component, instead packaging one installer into another installer.

user3664223
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Chained Setups: WiX's Burn module can create setup.exe files with embedded installers that can run in sequence. Installshield also has a feature for this called Suite Projects - see screenshot here.

Hello Burn: Here is a small, hands-on example of a Burn source.

More on Burn: Some more details on WiX / Burn versus other deployment tools.

Links:

Stein Åsmul
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  • Thanks @Stein, cant we create setup.msi? – user3664223 Apr 27 '21 at 12:48
  • MSI setups should not run embedded MSI setups via custom actions for technical reasons. [Explanation from serverfault.com](https://serverfault.com/a/274675/20599). Burn bundles (setup.exe) allow you to run several MSI files in sequence - one after the other rather than concurrently - [as explained here](https://stackoverflow.com/a/48996357/129130). You will get lots of trouble if you try to bend this rule with an MSI file - guaranteed. There used to be a concept of embedded / nested MSI files to run before your own gets installed, but the concept got deprecated as MSI and Windows evolved. – Stein Åsmul Apr 27 '21 at 16:36
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    Robert Dickau - former technical trainer from InstallShield - has a good answer on nested installations in MSI: [“How do I create a nested installation?”](https://www.robertdickau.com/msi_tips.html#nested). He has seen it all before writing that :-). The MSI SDK Documentation: [Concurrent installations](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/msi/concurrent-installations). You can combine two MSI setups into one by merging them, but that takes some effort and testing too though - particularly for upgrade scenarios. – Stein Åsmul Apr 27 '21 at 16:38