Q108166: HOWTO: Deploying an MSI Wrapped with an InstallShield Script-Based Setup.exe

Many installation packages have adopted a script-driven MSI for their software packaging. When an InstallScript MSI installation is deployed, the file Setup.exe needs to be deployed with the MSI package. For InstallShield 11.5 and earlier installations, Setup.exe launches a file called ISScript.msi that, in turn, installs the InstallScript engine that is required to run InstallScript code. For InstallShield 12 and later installations, Setup.exe launches a file called ISSetup.dll, which contains the InstallScript engine and executes the InstallScript code. The ISSetup.dll file is stored in the Binary table of the .msi file. This article discusses how to install an InstallScript MSI installation without using Setup.exe.