MSI

Since: v1.24 (pro)

GoReleaser Pro

The msi feature is available only in GoReleaser Pro feature.

GoReleaser can create MSI installers for windows binaries using msitools.

The msi section specifies how the installers should be created:

# .goreleaser.yaml
msi:
  - # ID of the resulting installer.
    #
    # Default: the project name
    id: foo

    # Filename of the installer (without the extension).
    #
    # Default: '{{.ProjectName}}_{{.MsiArch}}'
    # Templates: allowed
    name: "myproject-{{.MsiArch}}"

    # The WXS file used to create the installers.
    # The file contents go through the templating engine, so you can do things
    # like `{{.Version}}` inside of it.
    #
    # Templates: allowed
    # Required.
    wxs: ./windows/app.wsx

    # IDs of the archives to use.
    # Empty means all IDs.
    ids:
      - foo
      - bar

    # GOAMD64 to specify which amd64 version to use if there are multiple
    # versions from the build section.
    #
    # Default: v1
    goamd64: v1

    # More files that will be available in the context in which the installer
    # will be built.
    extra_files:
      - logo.ico

    # Whether to remove the archives from the artifact list.
    # If left as false, your end release will have both the zip and the msi
    # files.
    replace: true

    # Set the modified timestamp on the output installer, typically
    # you would do this to ensure a build was reproducible.
    # Pass an empty string to skip modifying the output.
    #
    # Templates: allowed.
    mod_timestamp: "{{ .CommitTimestamp }}"

On Windows, it'll try to use the candle and light binaries from the Wix Toolkit instead.

Here's an example wsx file that you can build upon:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='windows-1252'?>
<Wix xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi'>
    <Product
        Name='{{.ProjectName}} {{.Version}}'
        Id='ABCDDCBA-86C7-4D14-AEC0-86413A69ABDE'
        UpgradeCode='ABCDDCBA-7349-453F-94F6-BCB5110BA8FD'
        Language='1033'
        Codepage='1252'
        Version='{{.Version}}'
        Manufacturer='My Company'>

        <Package
            Id='*'
            Keywords='Installer'
            Description="{{.ProjectName}} installer"
            Comments=''
            Manufacturer='My Company'
            InstallerVersion='200'
            Languages='1033'
            Compressed='yes'
            SummaryCodepage='1252'
        />

        <Media
            Id='1'
            Cabinet='Sample.cab'
            EmbedCab='yes'
            DiskPrompt="CD-ROM #1"
        />

        <Property
            Id='DiskPrompt'
            Value="{{.ProjectName}} {{.Version}} Installation [1]"
        />

        <Directory Id='TARGETDIR' Name='SourceDir'>
            <Directory Id='ProgramFiles{{ if eq .Arch "amd64" }}64{{ end }}Folder' Name='PFiles'>
                <Directory Id='{{.ProjectName}}' Name='{{.ProjectName}}'>
                    <Component
                        Id='MainExecutable'
                        Guid='ABCDDCBA-83F1-4F22-985B-FDB3C8ABD474'
                    >
                        <File
                            Id='{{.Binary}}.exe'
                            Name='{{.Binary}}.exe'
                            DiskId='1'
                            Source='{{.Binary}}.exe'
                            KeyPath='yes'
                        />
                    </Component>
                </Directory>
            </Directory>
        </Directory>

        <Feature Id='Complete' Level='1'>
            <ComponentRef Id='MainExecutable' />
        </Feature>
    </Product>
</Wix>

Limitations

1. Some options available in the Wix Toolset won't work with msitools, run a snapshot build and verify the generated installers.
2. Only amd64 and 386 are supported.

Tip

Learn more about the name template engine.