AppDeploy.com, an online resource for desktop management, is offering a free tool to create Windows Installer (MSI) set-up packages.

AppDeploy Repackager, currently in beta, is a snapshot tool that results in a sharable project file that can be used to generate an MSI set-up with the click of a button, according to the firm.

This creates installation information that can be used by other IT professionals in the AppDeploy community to build a Windows Installer MSI package for deploying applications in an enterprise environment.

"AppDeploy has already proven itself a valuable resource thanks largely to the many contributors that regularly share tips and answer questions to the most challenging of software deployment issues," said Bob Kelly, AppDeploy.com founder and senior product manager at Kace, which acquired AppDeploy.com in 2007.

AppDeploy Repackager project files can be shared because they include pointers to source files and registry values, which are collected from the target system at the time an MSI is compiled, rather than the actual files and registry values.

A project file does not therefore contain licence serial numbers or other information that may identify the user or organisation that created them, according to AppDeploy.