Install Windows service failing with InstallUtil command

Question

I'm trying to install a Windows service which I've built in Visual Studio. I'm publishing the service to a local folder and when I'm trying to do the setup I'm getting this error:

Then, I'm navigating to the VS2013 console, and I'm trying to run the InstallUtil command but this is the error I'm getting:

The app doesn't have any dependencies and its local solution. There are no DLLs included and this is the content of the output folders:

The application is built in vs2013, using .net framework 4.5. What am I missing?

Answer 1

If you are creating a ClickOnce app, the build process creates a .application file which is a "manifest" of the files needed to install the application. double-clicking the .application file will install the application, including any .exe files.

But, you cannot deploy a Windows Service with ClickOnce. ClickOnce deployments executed in a much lower set of privileges than a classical install (Windows Installer). If you need to deploy a Windows Service you're going to have to use Windows Installer technology with the Windows Installer framework of your choice (e.g. WiX). See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms973805.aspx for more details on what ClickOnce suports