How to add a custom SSIS component to Visual Studio Tool Box

This article discusses how to add a Custom SSIS Component to the SSIS Tool Box in Visual Studio, so you can use it in your Control or Data Flows. Custom components are often distributed as DLL files, so some manual installation is usually required.

1. Add the DLL to your system

The SSIS BIDS toolbox locates components in a number of folders found at :

• SQL Server 2008 32 bit – C:Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server100DTSPipelineComponents
• SQL Server 2005 32 bit – C:Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server90DTSPipelineComponents
• SQL Server 2008 64 bit – C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft SQL Server100DTSPipelineComponents
• SQL Server 2005 64 bit – C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft SQL Server90DTSPipelineComponents

If you have used a different install path for SQL Server then you can find the install path by looking at the registry key HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftMSDTSSetupDtsPath.

Copy the distributed DLL to the appropriate folder.

2. Copy the DLL to the Global Assembly Cache (GAC)

First try the easy way. Find your system assembly folder, usually C:\Windows\Assembly. Copy and Paste the DLL to this location. This is reported to work on some systems, but I have never been able to make it work on Vista or above.

If your operating system is Vista or above, you need to use gacutil.exe to install the DLL into the GAC. GACUTIL is part of the .Net SDK not the .Net Redistributable. Therefore you may not have it, but being a developer, it is likely that it exists on your PC somewhere. First search C: to see if you can find a version. If not you will need to install the .NET SDK. If you find it, copy the gacutil.exe into the same directory as your DLL for simplicity sake. Make sure its a 32bit version. Create a Batch file similar to the one below. Execute the batch file as Administrator (right click ‘run as’). That should install the DLL into the GAC.

gacutil -i componentName.dll
PAUSE 'Any key to finish'

3. Add to the Visual Studio Tool Box

• Close Visual Studio, re open, and open an SSIS Project then an SSIS package.
• Open the Toolbox Window, right click anywhere in the Toolbox, right click and select Choose Items.
• Click the SSIS Data Flow Items tab or the SSIS Control Flow Items Tab (which ever is relevant).
• The new component should appear in the list. Tick the new component, and click OK.
• The new Component should now appear in the Toolbox Window.

I’ve seen reports that, on occasion, it is necessary to restart the Integration Services service to refresh a cache of components.