WixToolset.Dtf.WindowsInstaller not found

[yuvnith]

I’m currently working on an upgrade scenario using setups created with WiX v5, and I'm encountering the following exception during the upgrade process:

To address this, I attempted to reference the WixToolset.Dtf.WindowsInstaller package in the Bundle project, intending to include it as a payload. However, since the WiX Bundle project is not compatible with standard NuGet package installation (as it's not a traditional .NET project), I'm unable to directly install the package.

Given this limitation, it seems that the only viable options to include the required DLL (WixToolset.Dtf.WindowsInstaller) are:

1. Add the NuGet package to a separate .csproj project (e.g., NuGetCollector.csproj), and then copy the DLL as a payload into the bundle.
2. Include the DLL as a default payload through the bootstrapper.

Can anyone please confirm if one of these is the recommended approach, or if there is a better way to include WixToolset.Dtf.WindowsInstaller in a WiX v5 Bundle project?

[robmen]

Why do you need DTF in a Bundle?

[yuvnith]

Thanks for the response! I wasn’t entirely sure whether Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller.dll needed to be referenced directly from the Bundle project or if it could be included from the Bootstrapper Application.

Based on your input, it makes sense now — since I'm only using DTF within the Bootstrapper (BA) and not in the bundle itself, I'll go ahead and add the NuGet package reference to the Bootstrapper project and include the DLL as a payload from there.