ClickOnce Deployment for Unmanaged Code (C++, VB6, etc)

ClickOnce is a great deployment model for many Windows applications built with the .NET Framework. Too bad it isn’t supported for C++, VB 6, or other technologies. Or is it…

Surprisingly, you can deploy your unmanaged apps with ClickOnce. You just need a tiny .NET app to get it started.

Here’s how it works:

Take your existing C++ project.
Add to the solution a .NET console application.
Change the project settings on the console application to “Windows Application”.

Write the following code for your Main method of your .NET launcher application:

static void Main(string[] args) {  try { Process.Start( "TheRealApp.exe" ); } catch ( Exception x ) {  string msg = "Error launch application:\n\n" + x;  string cap = "Error Launching Application"; MessageBox.Show( msg, cap, MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error ); } }

Set the build path of your C++ app to be in the main folder for your .NET application.
Add the C++ app and its libraries (if any) as existing items in the .NET app.
Change the build action to “Always Copy” as shown here:
Then you publish your .NET application and when it runs, TADA!, the C++ app is deployed, versioned, and kept up to date as well.