Installing a SQL Server instance with a bootstrapper

Unless you're sure that an instance of SQL Server is already installed on the end user's computer, you'll probably want to install it yourself. A bootstrapper can check for the existence of SQL Server and install it only if it isn't there, saving you the guesswork. In this recipe, we will create a bootstrapper that will install SQL Server 2014 Express. This is a free database offered by Microsoft.

How to do it...

Add PackageGroup for SQL Server 2014 Express to a bootstrapper project, as shown in the following steps:

1. Create a new bootstrapper project and call it SqlServerBootstrapper.
2. Add the UtilExtension namespace to the project by right-clicking on the References node in Solution Explorer and selecting OK after navigating to Add Reference... | Browse | WixUtilExtension.dll | Add.
3. Add NetFxExtension to the project by right-clicking on the References node in Solution Explorer and selecting OK after navigating to Add Reference...