Chaining packages

You briefly saw that we use the Chain element to identify the MSI packages we'd like to install with our bootstrapper. However, MSIs aren't the only thing that can be referenced. The list may also contain patch files (MSPs), executables, and Microsoft updates (MSUs). Before getting to the specifics, let's take a look at the Chain element itself.

The Chain element

The Chain element enumerates the packages that you want to install together. This may include a suite of products that you'd like to install in one go, a single MSI with its prerequisites, or a group of patches, just to name a few possibilities. The packages are installed in the same order as they're listed in the markup. For example, here, Awesome1 is installed before Awesome2:

<Bundle ... >

   <Chain>
      <MsiPackage SourceFile="Awesome1.msi" />
      <MsiPackage SourceFile="Awesome2.msi" />
   </Chain>

You can change that order either by changing which element comes before the other...