Creating Installer Files (with Inno Setup)

There are many reasons why you might want to create your own custom ‘setup’ installer package.  One may be that you are accustomed to putting a remote support app of your own on a client’s desktop; maybe you like to drop a few desktop shortcuts to your website, etc.  In this very short guide, we use exactly this scenario as an example to show you how you can create your own custom installer package.

Inno Setup and the Script Template

Download the latest Inno Setup package from jrsoftware.org, you don’t need the Quickstart kit, just the plain installer.  Install it on your system and accept all program defaults during installation.

I’ve created a template for your first time usage, generically named ‘setup.iss’ which you can view or download from our server (be sure to rename it first, to remove the .txt file extension!)

You can modify this template to suit your needs.  Once downloaded and named properly with the ‘.iss‘ file extension, simply double click it to launch Inno script editor.

Generate a unique GUID

At the beginning of the script, simply delete everything after the AppId={ bit (yes, leave the first “{” there) and then select Tools > Generate GUID

Important:  You want a new and unique GUID for each different app that you create an installer for (but not for future versions of the same app!)

The GUID is referenced by future versions of the installer for your program or modification, and also by Windows itself.  Having the same GUID for two different programs can cause all kinds of install/uninstall/upgrade (and even in some rare cases runtime issues) for those particular programs!

I would also recommend generating a new GUID if using the template obtained from our download server, since there’s a good chance others have used it also!

Don’t worry about actually generating two GUIDs that are the same in different cases, this is astronomically unlikely.

Prep the files to install

You will want to place the executables and other files that you wish to install in the same directory as the setup.iss file. Otherwise, you will need to specify a full path to them in the setup script.

Modify and Compile the .iss Script

Change the executable name in the script to that of your actual remote support app; add any other files you need in the same manner. Also be sure to change all instances of the website mentioned as well!

Once modified to your needs, click the Build menu and Compile. Voila! You now have a custom installer for your remote support app!

That’s it!!

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