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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-15T15:43:56+00:00

When I create a Windows Installer package (say using WiX) and I install the

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When I create a Windows Installer package (say using WiX) and I install the application App.exe as well as the App.exe.config should the config file have its own component or should it be a companion file to the application executable?

<Component Id="C.App.exe">
  <File Source="App.exe"/>
</Component>
<Component Id="C.App.exe.config">
  <File Source="App.exe.config"/>
</Component>

versus

<Component Id="C.App.exe" Guid="PUT-GUID-HERE">
  <File Id="F.App.exe" Source="App.exe"/>
  <File Source="App.exe.config" CompanionFile="F.App.exe"/>
</Component>

If I install different App.exe.config files depending on some external property (say run-time environment like test or release) does that affect what choice I should make?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    The answer is it depends. Rob’s article mentioned by Yan is a good read, here is another:

    Defining Installer Components
    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368269(VS.85).aspx

    The trick is to understand how costing and repairs are based on keyfiles, how the default versioning rules work, how you plan on servicing your application in the future and making your decision based on that.

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