Creating a standalone .Net websetup including Oracle components
528081Nov 27 2012 — edited Nov 29 2012Is it possible to create a completely self-contained installer that deploys all the Oracle files along with the application (i.e. the user doesn't need to install instant client, mess around with configuring path environment variables, etc.)? It seems from http://alderprogs.blogspot.com/2009/04/deploying-odpnet-with-oracle-instant.html and http://stackoverflow.com/q/70602/173225 that it should be possible.
What if as part of the installer, I need to test a connection string entered by the user? That seems to be the sticking point for me. Even after installing the instant client (from the x64 xcopy zip file using install.bat), the installer is not able to connect to the database.
And, the application is 64 bit only (we need the 64 bit Crystal Reports runtime), meaning I've got the 64 bit Oracle instant client installed. I suspect that might be the problem since the msiexec installer process is 32 bit.
Any suggestions?