From 5d3a54041f821a688310f780fcd54b9190796825 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Abdur-Rahman <abbadshaf05@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2025 06:54:02 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Update Windows Installer page to include setup-only
 dependency example (#3357)

---
 .../docs/distribute/windows-installer.mdx     | 67 ++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 65 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/content/docs/distribute/windows-installer.mdx b/src/content/docs/distribute/windows-installer.mdx
index 9f8b37236..2a1b98a54 100644
--- a/src/content/docs/distribute/windows-installer.mdx
+++ b/src/content/docs/distribute/windows-installer.mdx
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ Supported hooks are:
 - `NSIS_HOOK_PREUNINSTALL`: Runs before removing any files, registry keys and shortcuts.
 - `NSIS_HOOK_POSTUNINSTALL`: Runs after files, registry keys and shortcuts have been removed.
 
-For example, create a `hooks.nsi` file in the `src-tauri/windows` folder and define the hooks you need:
+For example, create a `hooks.nsh` file in the `src-tauri/windows` folder and define the hooks you need:
 
 ```nsh
 !macro NSIS_HOOK_PREINSTALL
@@ -554,13 +554,74 @@ Then you must configure Tauri to use that hook file:
   "bundle": {
     "windows": {
       "nsis": {
-        "installerHooks": "./windows/hooks.nsi"
+        "installerHooks": "./windows/hooks.nsh"
       }
     }
   }
 }
 ```
 
+#### Installing Dependencies with Hooks
+
+You can use installer hooks to automatically install system dependencies that your application requires. This is particularly useful for runtime dependencies like Visual C++ Redistributables, DirectX, OpenSSL or other system libraries that may not be present on all Windows systems.
+
+**MSI Installer Example (Visual C++ Redistributable):**
+
+```nsh
+!macro NSIS_HOOK_POSTINSTALL
+  ; Check if Visual C++ 2019 Redistributable is installed (via Windows Registry)
+  ReadRegDWord $0 HKLM "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\VC\Runtimes\x64" "Installed"
+
+  ${If} $0 == 1
+    DetailPrint "Visual C++ Redistributable already installed"
+    Goto vcredist_done
+  ${EndIf}
+
+  ; Install from bundled MSI if not installed
+  ${If} ${FileExists} "$INSTDIR\resources\vc_redist.x64.msi"
+    DetailPrint "Installing Visual C++ Redistributable..."
+    ; Copy to TEMP folder and then execute installer
+    CopyFiles "$INSTDIR\resources\vc_redist.x64.msi" "$TEMP\vc_redist.x64.msi"
+    ExecWait 'msiexec /i "$TEMP\vc_redist.x64.msi" /passive /norestart' $0
+
+    ; Check wether installation process exited successfully (code 0) or not
+    ${If} $0 == 0
+      DetailPrint "Visual C++ Redistributable installed successfully"
+    ${Else}
+      MessageBox MB_ICONEXCLAMATION "Visual C++ installation failed. Some features may not work."
+    ${EndIf}
+
+    ; Clean up setup files from TEMP and your installed app
+    Delete "$TEMP\vc_redist.x64.msi"
+    Delete "$INSTDIR\resources\vc_redist.x64.msi"
+  ${EndIf}
+
+  vcredist_done:
+!macroend
+```
+
+**Key considerations:**
+
+- A good practice is to always check if the dependency is already installed using registry keys or file existence or via Windows [where] command.
+- Use `/passive`, `/quiet`, or `/silent` flags to avoid interrupting the installation flow. Check out [msiexec] options for `.msi` files, or the setup manual for app-specific flags
+- Include `/norestart` to prevent automatic system reboots during installation for setups that restarts user devices
+- Clean up temporary files and bundled installers to avoid bloating the application
+- Consider that dependencies might be shared with other applications when uninstalling
+- Provide meaningful error messages if installation fails
+
+Ensure to bundle the dependency installers in your `src-tauri/resources` folder and add to `tauri.conf.json` so they get bundled, and can be accessed during installation from `$INSTDIR\resources\`:
+
+```json title="tauri.conf.json"
+{
+  "bundle": {
+    "resources": [
+      "resources/my-dependency.exe",
+      "resources/another-one.msi
+    ]
+  }
+}
+```
+
 ### Install Modes
 
 By default the installer will install your application for the current user only.
@@ -651,3 +712,5 @@ to verify the current Webview2 version and run the Webview2 bootstrapper if it d
 [NSIS configuration]: /reference/config/#nsisconfig
 [installMode]: /reference/config/#installmode
 [NSISInstallerMode]: /reference/config/#nsisinstallermode
+[where]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/where
+[msiexec]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/msiexec