Deployment options of arcgis desktop add-in

Question

I made an addin for arcmap and want to deploy it using setup file. By double clicking the setup file anyone can install it in his machine and through installation it will check all dependencies and license issues. After the installation, the addin can be accessed from arcmap. I used visual studio setup file to do the first portion of the setup, but I couldn't access the addin from arcmap. Is there any other procedure or any special step to do this?

Answer 1

The Esri ArcGIS Add-In Installation Utility is the installer for the AddIn.

A user would typically double-click the *.esriAddIn file which would call ESRIRegAddIn.exe. Alternatively, you could specify AddIn folders.

Check out this blog: http://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2010/05/05/add-ins-for-arcgis-desktop-10/

I think you could still do your dependency checks in your setup file. But your setup file should call the ESRIRegAddIn.exe (there is a /s silent option) with the path your AddIn in order to install the AddIn itself.

Answer 2

The whole point of add-ins is there is no installer. I think you will have to convert your add-in to a traditional COM component.