<p>I have a product which has been traditionally shipped as an MSI file.  It is deployed through some sort of SMS push to thousands of desktops by our various clients.  The software we use to create these installers is getting long in the tooth and we are looking to replace it.  We have already standardized on InstallAnywhere for most of our products as we support many operating systems.  Unfortunately InstallAnywhere cannot produce MSI files.  </p>

<p>I am wondering if it is required that SMS use MSI files or if it can handle other installer types (.exe).  If not, are there any open source programmes for creating MSI files?  </p>

If you want to create
```
MSI
```
files, try
WiX: Windows Installer XML (WiX) toolset
.
It's an addon to Visual Studio 2005 and 2008, is open-source, and Microsoft developed.  You can use XML to specify and create MSI files.  There is a
wealth
of
resources
available on it, and
```
WiX 3.0
```
is, although in beta, is very complete.
Also, note that you don't have to start from scratch, you can decompile an existing MSI using the WiX
```
Dark
```
utility, modify the XML in any way you like, and then recompile it into an MSI.