So, we finished a few wpf conversions to .net core, and now we have a need to ship one to an external client as an installer. Previously we used ClickOnce, but that has been deprecated in .net core and will not be ported according to MS, with them recommending MSIX. However, as we understood from docs, even though we'll sideload a WPF application it will still run in a sandbox with a virtualized file system. And that is a no go for us, it has obviously been designed with UWP+Marketplace delivery in mind. We need the application on the file system with full access to file system, the "good old way".
We could just ship them as a zip file and have the client unpack, but management deemed that as not-so-professional, so we need a delivery package similar to what msi/clickonce had. Has anyone delivered apps on core outside MSIX?
Well, apparently, we are again faced with "our way or the highway" from MS, so we just used Inno Setup. Until such time we get a proper installation process or MSIX allows unsandboxed setup without unnecessary file system abstraction, this will have to do.