Turning .NET executable into native executable

Question

Is there any approach to convert an application developed in .NET into a native executable (sources are included)?

Installing the whole framework (up to .NET Framework 3.5 SP1) takes a lot of time - not always the computers are updated from the internet. Is it possible to call NGen in order to produce independent executables?

Thanks

Answer 1

There is a commercial product that claims to do that here:

http://www.xenocode.com/Obfuscator/

"Deploy .NET applications securely, with no .NET Framework install"

No idea what the drawbacks to this would be though

Answer 2

ThinApp (formerly Thinstall) from vmware. Used to be very expensive, though.

http://www.vmware.com/products/thinapp/

Answer 3

Why not Ngen.exe? http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/6t9t5wcf(v=vs.80).aspx

It converts .Net Programs into Native Programs also and you already have it if you have the .Net Framework

Answer 4

NGen compiles the exes to native exes, so they do not need to be JIT compiled as they are run. They are still dependant on the framework though.

There are a few commercial companies that do provide products for compiling .net assemblies into standalone exes. Xenocode and vmware's Thinapp. Neither are cheap though.

Answer 5

Some Obfuscators do this, you would have to do it beforehand though (before you ship it to your users). An example is remotesoft's Salamander.