Install node.js on a Windows Azure Cloud Service (II)

Last time I showed you how to modify a node.js Windows installer so that you could install it on an Azure Cloud Service as part of a startup task.

As it happens, I just found out another way to perform this task without modifying the installer itself: just create a Windows installer transform file. The process is quite similar, and only Orca is needed:

  • Open the installer in Orca.
  • Click the Transform > New Transform menu.
  • Do your modifications.
  • Click the Transform > Generate Transform… menu to create the transform file.

As you will see, all your modifications are recorded, and appear in green in Orca: InstallExecuteSequence

To use this transform file, use the TRANSFORMS property. For instance: msiexec.exe /qn /i node-v0.10.3-x64.msi TRANSFORMS="node-v0.10.3-x64-azure.mst".