winforms - how to keep certain files when upgrading using installshield LE?

Question

I am developing a Winforms app using C# and VS 2010. This app will use a SQLite database that will be deployed with the initial installation of the app.

When I have new releases of the app, how do I tell Installshield not to touch this file?

If the user uninstalls the app, it is ok to remove this file, but when they are upgrading from 1.0 to 1.1 etc, I can't overwrite this file.

Answer 1

This is usually done through backup and restore custom actions and it's not supported by InstallShield LE. Basically, a custom action creates a backup before the old version is uninstalled and another custom action restores it after install.

Another solution is to move RemoveExistingProducts action towards the installation end. This approach has many limitations and is also not supported by InstallShield LE.

Basically, you can try using the InstallShield LE custom action support to somehow configure backup and restore custom actions. But most likely you will need to use a different setup authoring tools which offers more control over installer actions.