WPF Application Publishing Guide

When publishing WPF applications, ask the user about deployment and installer preferences.

Ask User: Deployment Method

Which deployment method do you need?

• Framework-Dependent - Small size (~1MB), requires .NET runtime

• Self-Contained - Includes runtime (150-200MB), no dependencies

• Single-File - One executable (50-80MB compressed)

Ask User: Installer Technology

Which installer/update technology do you prefer?

• Velopack (Recommended) - Modern, fast updates, delta updates

• MSIX - Windows Store, enterprise deployment

• NSIS - Traditional installer, full control

• Inno Setup - Simple, widely used

• None - Portable/xcopy deployment

Quick Reference

Deployment Methods

Method Size Startup Requirements

Framework-Dependent ~1MB Fast .NET runtime

Self-Contained 150-200MB Fast None

Single-File 150-200MB Medium None

Single-File + Compressed 50-80MB Slower None

Installer Technologies

Technology Auto-Update Delta Updates Store Complexity

Velopack ✅ ✅ ❌ Low

MSIX ✅ ✅ ✅ Medium

NSIS Manual ❌ ❌ High

Inno Setup Manual ❌ ❌ Medium

WPF Limitations

⚠️ PublishTrimmed: Not supported (reflection-heavy) ⚠️ PublishAot: Not supported (WPF incompatible)

Basic Commands

Framework-Dependent

dotnet publish -c Release

Self-Contained

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true

Single-File (WPF)

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true
-p:PublishSingleFile=true
-p:IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract=true

Additional Resources

• WPF Single-File: See WPF-SINGLE-FILE.md

• Size Optimization: See SIZE-OPTIMIZATION.md

• Installer Options: See INSTALLERS.md