Loading
search-img
Title
InstallShield MSI Creation on Dev PC Works But on Build Server Fails to Include Certain Dependent DLLs in MSI

Summary

This article is about including dependent files to avoid missing dependencies after build.

Synopsis

This article is about including dependent files to avoid missing dependencies after build. A file often relies on functions in other files to perform a task. However, you may not be aware of all these other files?known as dependencies?when you include your application?s files in your installation project.

Discussion

When you have a requirement to include files (including dependent files for the files) in your project the best practice as setup author is to explicitly include the files needed for your release to work.

Under some circumstances your build process may include a difference (different files) from one build machine compared to another build machine. For example computer A builds setup 1 with n-number of files and computer B builds setup with a different number of files. This discrepancy is determined after build when examining the built MSI database.

When you are relying on file dependencies to include files in the InstallShield project it is possible the missing file(s) are not registered on the build client. When dependencies are marked for inclusion based on being a dependency within an InstallShield project the file(s) are expected to be written to memory. As a result the build process includes the file(s) in the build as you expect. If the file does not exist (physically) or is prohibited from being read into memory during build you may get less than expected results.

During the handling of dependencies if the main assembly has a dependency and the file is not there to be consumed at build there is no error thrown. Therefore it is important to include the files needed in your project explicitly.

Additional Information

InstallShield offers Static Scanning and Dynamic Scanning wizards to assist you in identifying and working with these files. You can access these scanners in the Dependency Scanners view.

However, the reason for this article is to inform you can explicitly include your file dependencies and avoid relying on the Dependency Scanners.

Related Documents

?Dependency Scanners

Related KB Articles

Determining Your Application's File Dependencies

What are Dependencies?

Was this helpful?
Support Hub
Product
InstallShield
Visibility
Guest
URL Name
installshield-msi-creation-on-dev-pc-works-but-on-build-server-fails-to-include-certain-dependent-dlls-in-msi

Related Articles

Create a case with Support
0/255
Upload Attachment
File Upload
Maximum file size allowed is 3 MB.
File type not supported.
Supported file types:
Documents (.txt, .doc, .docx, .pdf), Images (.jpg, .png), Comma Separated Files (.csv) Speadsheets (.xlsx, .xls)

Are you sure you want to cancel the case creation?

Are you sure you want to close this case

Get Hotline support
Products Region Phone Numbers
FlexNet Operations
FlexNet Embedded
FlexNet Publisher
FlexNet Connect
FlexNet Code Insight
InstallAnywhere
InstallShield 		North America  * +1 630-332-2513 (toll)
+1 877-279-2853 (toll-free in North America)
Europe  * +44 1925 944367 (toll)
+44 800 047 8642 (toll-free in Europe)
Japan  * +81 3-4540-5335 (select option 2)
Australia  * +61 3 9895 2177
+61 1800 560 603 (toll-free in Australia)
Usage Intelligence (formerly Revulytics)
Compliance Intelligence 		Please use the Case Portal to submit your support ticket or reach out to your Revenera contact.
Book an Appointment
File Upload
Maximum file size allowed is 3 MB.
File type not supported.
Supported file types:
Documents (.txt, .doc, .docx, .pdf), Images (.jpg, .png), Comma Separated Files (.csv) Speadsheets (.xlsx, .xls)
+1.800.374.4353
CONTACT US REVENERA.COM FLEXERA.com
© 2026 Flexera Software. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy policy Terms and conditions Flexera Community Contact Us
Loading
InstallShield MSI Creation on Dev PC Works But on Build Server Fails to Include Certain Dependent DLLs in MSI