Recently, while attempting to build a custom release of the Node.js Windows Installer, I encountered a handful of problems and so wanted to detail them here in the case that it might assist another poor soul in saving an hour or two…
First things first – install WIX from here.
Next, if when you attempt to “vcbuild.bat Release msi” or some similar such command and are greeted with the super awesome error message indicating “error CNDL0103: The system cannot find the file > ‘……npm.wxs'” then the build process is unable to locate Heat, which comes with WIX.
For me, the resolution was as simple as ensuring that the Heat.exe (C:Program Files (x86)Windows Installer XML v3.5bin) path was in my Path environmental variable. Once the duck was in the row, I was able to kick off “vcbuild.bat Release msi” without issue to create my working custom Node.js installer…
Hope this helps!
Edit: Here is the Discussion Thread on this and my Pull Request to update the installer to include the trailing backslash.