# CPack WIX generator does not create start menu shortcuts

**URL:** https://discourse.cmake.org/t/cpack-wix-generator-does-not-create-start-menu-shortcuts/4656
**Category:** Usage
**Tags:** cpack:wix
**Created:** [December 14, 2021, 12:09pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/cpack-wix-generator-does-not-create-start-menu-shortcuts/4656 "2021-12-14T12:09:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![hsattler](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/59ef9b/32.png) [@hsattler](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/hsattler)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 12:09pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/cpack-wix-generator-does-not-create-start-menu-shortcuts/4656/1 "2021-12-14T12:09:10Z")

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Hi,

I tried for some time now but I simply cannot convince CPack’s WIX generator to add start menu shortcuts.  
According to documenation, all it should need is:

```auto
  set_property ( INSTALL "$<TARGET_FILE_NAME:MyExe>"
    PROPERTY CPACK_START_MENU_SHORTCUTS "My shortcut description"
  )

```

where MyExe is a target created with add\_executable() and installed to “.”  
The default component name is named “default” and is the only component being installed in this specific configuration.  
But the resulting files.wxs only contains:

```auto
        <DirectoryRef Id="INSTALL_ROOT">
            <Component Id="CM_CP_default.MyExe.exe" Guid="*">
                <File Id="CM_FP_default.MyExe.exe" Source="......./_CPack_Packages/win64/WIX/InstallerName/default/MyExe.exe" KeyPath="yes"/>
            </Component>
        </DirectoryRef>

```

Nothing that I tried so far changes this. I am using CMake 3.22.0  
I could try to hack it in with a patch file but that’s not really the point of it.

Anything that I could try?

I also find it very troublesome that wix.log contains no debug output from the CPack WIX generator to track such issues.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![hsattler](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/59ef9b/32.png) [@hsattler](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/hsattler)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/cpack-wix-generator-does-not-create-start-menu-shortcuts/4656/2 "2021-12-14T13:13:43Z")

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Replying to myself:  
The entries will probably not popup in that DirectoryRef but somewhere else. But the whole cpack output directory has no “Shortcut” definition.