Making a Windows installer package

Mixxx uses the NullSoft Install System for building Windows self-extracting installers. This page contains information on making such packages.

First, we assume you've built & run Mixxx successfully from the instructions on the Compiling on Windows page.

When built with MSVC, Mixxx requires that certain MSVC DLL files be present in order to run. Many people have these already installed on their systems, but many do not (or have different versions,) so we must include them with our packages.

To do that, you need to copy DLL files (and their manifests) mentioned in the winXX_build\mixxx.exe.manifest file into the applicable directory manually before making the installer package.

The needed files are likely:

• msvcp??.dll
• msvcr??.dll
• *Microsoft.VC??.CRT*.manifest

Where ?? is the version number of the Visual Studio version used to build Mixxx, one of its dependencies, or both. 2005 (v8.0) is 80, 2008 (v9.0) is 90.

These files can usually be found in the \VC\redist\xxx\Microsoft.VC??.CRT\ directory (where xxx is the machine type: x86, x64/AMD64, or IA64) under your installation of Visual C++. If you've installed the redistributable package (see below) on your build system, they can also be found in %SYSTEMROOT%\WinSxS. You'll want to make sure you grab the exact version(s) specified in the mixxx.exe.manifest, since that directory holds many versions.

If you can't find the DLLs in those places, you'll need to either install the vcredist[_x64] package or extract it using MSIX and grab the files from the Microsoft_VCxx_CRT_xxx.msm (CAB) file, which can be extracted from the MSI file packed inside the vcredist.exe file. (Use 7-Zip to open the EXE as an archive.) There's a different one for each architecture and compiler combination, as shown below:

In any case, once you've located the needed DLL files, if you're doing a 32-bit build, copy the x86 DLL files and their manifest(s) (usually found in a nearby “Manifests” folder) into mixxx-winlib. If a 64-bit build, copy the x64/AMD64 DLL files and their manifest(s) into mixxx-win64lib. Rename the manifest files so they just say the name of the assembly, e.g. amd64_Microsoft.VC80.CRT_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_8.0.50727.762_x-ww_9d1c6ce0.manifest becomes just Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest

Just run scons makerelease msvcdebug=0 and you should be good to go. (If packaging for x64, Mixxx will be rebuilt to avoid architecture-specific instructions.)

If someone feels like making this automatic, they will need to have the NSI script and/or SConscript:

1. Check the Mixxx.exe.manifest file and note which versions of which DLLs are needed
2. Try to find the needed files in the \VC\redist\ tree for the machine type
3. Failing that, include the applicable .msm file from the redistributable packages and install it on the end-users machine.

Now, doesn't this make you long for a MinGW build? :)