Question

Can a NSIS script download .NET and DirectX from microsoft, then install it?

I don’t want to include the installers in my installer because they are huge.

Answer 1

Here’s an example for .Net :

Function GetDotnet ;// looks for local copy before downloading, returns path in $0
    Pop $0
    ${If} ${FileExists} "$InitDir\dotnetfx35.exe"
        StrCpy $0 "$InitDir\dotnetfx35.exe"
    ${ElseIf} ${FileExists} "$InitDir\dotnetfx35setup.exe"
        StrCpy $0 "$InitDir\dotnetfx35setup.exe"
    ${Else}         
        Call DownloadDotnet
        StrCpy $0 $0
    ${EndIf}
    Push $0
FunctionEnd

Function DownloadDotnet ;// downloads .Net, returns download path in $0
    NSISDL::download "${DotnetDownloadUrl}" "${TempDir}\dotnetfx35setup.exe"
    Pop $0  
    ${If} $0 == "cancel"
        Quit    
    ${EndIf} 
    StrCpy $0 "${TempDir}\dotnetfx35setup.exe"
    Push $0
FunctionEnd 

Function InstallDotnet ;// kicks off the .Net installer
    Pop $0
    Push $1 
    ExecWait '"$0" /norestart' $1       
FunctionEnd