Deploy large and quirky installers as a prerequisites with your Advanced Installer project

[Catalin]

Hello guys,

Got an interesting scenario today from one of our customers that I wanted to share with you in hopes you'll find this useful.

The customer wants to ship with his main installer a prerequisite that is both large and a bit quirky when it comes to its' folder structure.

The prerequisite in question is Matlab Compiler Runtime.

Here are two limitations I have faced today when trying to package that using the predefined "Prerequisites" support:

1. The folder structure is quirky. The MATLAB Runtime installer isn't a single self-contained exe. It ships as a folder with setup.exe sitting next to a bunch of sibling folders it depends on, things like Archives, Bin, Java, extern, resources, and so on. The Prerequisites page only lets you add files that live in the same folder as the main setup file or below it. Since these sibling folders sit at the same level as setup.exe, not underneath it, that restriction gets in the way.

2. Prerequisites that get embedded in your setup go through a CAB, and CABs have a practical 2GB ceiling. This package is around 5GB - I will let you do the math here.

Note: this is not a limitation of Advanced Installer per-se, but rather a limitation of Windows Installer.

Both of those pushed me towards a new approach, as follows:

- use the "File Download" operation to download the ZIP archive into a folder located under %temp%

- use the "Extract Archive" operation to extract the content of the previously downloaded ZIP

- use a "Launch File" custom action to launch the setup.exe

Here's the complete step-by-step:

1. Create a folder to work in

In the Files and Folders page, go to Windows Volume --> Temporary and add a new Regular folder. I named mine Matlab Compiler Runtime DLFolder, but any name works as long as you're consistent with it in the steps below.

2. Add a File Download operation

Inside that folder, add a File Download operation pointing at the MATLAB Runtime zip. Grab the current link straight from the MathWorks download page for whichever release you need, for example:

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https://ssd.mathworks.com/supportfiles/downloads/R2026a/Release/3/deployment_files/installer/complete/win64/MATLAB_Runtime_R2026a_Update_3_win64.zip

Screenshot_159.png (91.63 KiB) Viewed 21278 times

Screenshot_161.png (94.16 KiB) Viewed 21278 times

Note: MathWorks bumps these update numbers periodically without changing the overall page, so double check the link is current before you ship anything, and don't assume the URL you used last month is still the latest.

If you need a different release or want to browse what's available, the main MATLAB Runtime download page lists all the currently supported versions with their direct links, both 32-bit and 64-bit where applicable. That's the place to check before grabbing a link for your own project.

3. Add an Extract Archive operation

Right after the download, add an Extract Archive operation with the Source path pointing at the file you just downloaded:

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[TempFolder]\Matlab Compiler Runtime DLFolder\MATLAB_Runtime_R2026a_Update_3_win64.zip

Screenshot_160.png (18.71 KiB) Viewed 21278 times

Screenshot_162.png (43.45 KiB) Viewed 21278 times

Since the MATLAB Runtime zip has setup.exe sitting at the root of the archive rather than inside its own wrapper folder, Extract Archive drops it directly into your destination folder, right alongside Archives, Bin, Java and the rest.

4. Add a Launch File custom action in the Custom Actions page, configured as follows:

File to launch: [TempFolder]\Matlab Compiler Runtime DLFolder\setup.exe
Working directory: [TempFolder]\Matlab Compiler Runtime DLFolder
Execution time: After the system has been successfully modified (commit)
Execution Stage Condition: Install only


This should be all.

Attached below you can also find a sample project that implements all the steps presented above:

Sample - download and install Matlab Runtime Compiler.aip

(18.84 KiB) Downloaded 553 times

Hope you will find this useful!

Best regards,
Catalin