I have an MSI installer package that enforces the user to choose from a list of possible components to install, like "Version 2018" / "Version 2019" / "Version 2020". The chosen components will install themselves in a folder inside "ProgramData" that is usually writeable by every Administrator account on the system. However, in a recent customer support, this folder was created by the SYSTEM account. Probably the customer's IT installed the environment with SYSTEM privileges.
When the installer tries to put files into this folder it obviously fails. The problem is that the installer notices the missing permission, but still succeeds.
Is there any way to enforce MSI installer to abort / throw an error when a user-chosen component (or any other essential component) could not be installed?
What you want should be the default behavior of WiX / MSI as noted below. It's hard to say what's going on without a logfile.
Take a look at the WiX File#Vital attribute: https://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/xsd/wix/file.html
If a file is vital, then installation cannot proceed unless the file
is successfully installed. The user will have no option to ignore an
error installing this file. If an error occurs, they can merely retry
to install the file or abort the installation. The default is "yes,"
unless the -sfdvital switch (candle.exe) or SuppressFileDefaultVital
property (.wixproj) is used.
It sets the underlying msidbFileAttributesVital bitmask in the Windows Installer File table as documented at:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/msi/file-table
The file is vital for the accurate operation of the component to which
it belongs. If the installation of a file with the
msidbFileAttributesVital attribute fails, the installation stops and
is rolled back. In this case, the Installer displays a dialog box
without an Ignore button. If this attribute is not set, and the
installation of the file fails, the Installer displays a dialog box
with an Ignore button. In this case, the user can choose to ignore the
failure to install the file and continue.
Related
We have 2 installer sources in WiX to create installer for a single product with same Product Version, GUID and Package GUID also.
Those 2 installer projects will yield different outputs, one output being just a single MSI file (File1.msi) and other project output is a CD-ROM structure having different MSI file name (File2.msi).
So now issue arises when we installed the product using single MSI file, upon that if we invoke MSI from the other CD-ROM output, we end up getting below mentioned error.
I tried keeping same MSI filename for both kind of installer output, then this above error dialog was resolved but repair functionality isn't working.
If some files were deleted in the product's destination folder, it says source file not found error pointing to CD-ROM installer source folder.
Please help where I'm going wrong. I want to support Repair installation without this errors.
The dialog is expected. You can't change the name of the MSI except during major upgrades.
After that, if you rebuilt to create the different layouts, each MSI probably has a unique PackageCode and that makes them unique packages. That is most likely why repair isn't working. A verbose log file should tell all.
Updated: Compile your main MSI, then run administrative image on it and put the extracted files and MSI on the CD? Put the compressed
version on there as well - just in case they prefer that kind of
release (happens).
I am not sure what will happen when you run both setups this way, but
I think the MSI flagged as an administrative image extract might be
detected by the engine. I am not sure. Should work. Built-in approach for MSI, and you are not fighting wind-mills.
User Accounts: Are you creating any NT User Accounts? Did you set the FailIfExists attribute to yes? Please check here:
User Element (Util Extension). What is the setting for UpdateIfExists? (if any).
Other Issues: There might be other issues as well as Rob mentions. You can not use the same package code for both release types because a package code by definition identifies a unique file. All kinds of X-Files-like problems occur if you try to "hack" this. Not a fight you want to take on.
Administrative Installation: Why would you want to distribute different setups on CDs these days? Corporations that use your setup will run an administrative installation on your setup extracting all files - which is a much better concept. It is essentially a glorified file-extraction, and it is a built in Windows Installer concept intended to make a network installation point for software - among other things. It essentially extracts all files and translates the Media table to use external source files.
List of Links:
What is the purpose of administrative installation initiated using msiexec /a?
Extract MSI from EXE
I would like my MSI to self-delete after the installation process is complete. How can I achieve this? Anyway to do it in WIX only? Do you have to create a custom action?
For those wondering, this installer is generated on the fly and bundled to a specific configuration. After the installation is complete, the MSI file has no use anymore (the user must download a new installer with a fresh configuration to reinstall).
This isn't going to be useful, mainly because the MSI file is needed after the install is complete. Rule 31:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windows_installer_team/archive/2006/05/24/605835.aspx
Any kind of repair (automatic or user repair) will require the original MSI file. You're better off deleting it at uninstall time.
In general, the way I've done this type of thing is to get an executable into the user's temp location (don't install it there, copy it there with a custom action) and arrange for it to run and delete the MSI file. Just rely on eventual cleanup of the temp directory to delete the exe. However, it won't be transparent if it requires elevation to do the delete, and popups of unfamiliar programs asking for elevation may get denied.
When I repair using the msi, a registry entry is properly re-created. When using the exe generated by Burn, the entry is not-recreated, unless the exe associated with the reg entry also requires compare.
I wonder if, when burn invokes msi, if it is overriding the default /fm behavior of msiexec.
That switch means "repair all required computer-specific registry entries "
Is there any way I can confirm, deny, or modify that behavior?
When planning a "Repair" operation in Burn the REINSTALLMODE is "cmuse". For a "Modify" operation the REINSTALLMODE is "cmuso". So "m" is present in both cases.
The Burn log file should say, "Planning action: Action" and that will tell you which it is doing. If you are executing a Repair operation and there is not newer version of the executable on the machine than what your MSI expects, Burn's REINSTALLMODE should work. If you are doing a "Repair", look in the generated MSI log file for the same Burn execution and see what the Component states are for the Components that are not repaired. That should help you track back to see why the Component was not fixed.
From the provided log file:
Command Line: ARPSYSTEMCOMPONENT=1 MSIFASTINSTALL=7 REINSTALLMODE=cmuse
REBOOT=ReallySuppress IGNOREDEPENDENCIES=ALL CURRENTDIRECTORY=C:\temp
CLIENTUILEVEL=3 MSICLIENTUSESEXTERNALUI=1
The lack of REINSTALL=ALL shows that EnableFeatureSelection='yes'. Either remove that attribute (or change it to the default 'no') or your BA needs to handle the OnPlanMsiFeature() callback
I have a MSI package, which installs a Driver, however the Uninstall of the driver require a Reboot. for which I had scheduled a Standard Custom Actions (scheduleReboot) after InstallFinilize, which works fine.
Now I would like to Schedule reboot only if I am replacing the "driver" file. is there any way of determining "Installed file version" and the "to be installed file version" and based on compassion, if there is a change, schedule reboot.
In some cases the Windows Installer can determine whether a system restart is necessary. For example, the ScheduleReboot action can be used to force the installer to prompt for a restart after installing drivers that require a restart. If the installer attempts to replace files that are in use, it automatically prompts the user to restart even if ScheduleReboot has not been used. The ForceReboot action must always be used with a conditional statement such that the installer triggers a restart only when necessary. For example, a restart may only be required if a particular file is replaced or a particular component is installed.
Each product installation is unique and a custom action may be required to determine whether a restart is needed. There are tables in the Windows installer database which you and use for Searching for Existing Applications, Files, Registry Entries or .ini File Entries and to set a property.
Note: When Replacing Existing Files, Windows Installer determines whether the component's key file is already installed before attempting to install the files of any component. If the installer finds a file with the same name as the component's key file installed in the target location, it compares the version, date, and language of the two key files and uses file versioning rules to determine whether to install the component provided by the package. If the installer determines it needs to replace the component base upon the key file, then it uses the file versioning rules on each installed file to determine whether to replace the file.
So I have a Wix 3.0 project that installs an IIS7 Native Code Module. When uninstalling I would like to be able to shut down the IIS7 application pools before deleting the file so that a reboot is not necessary.
I am using the appcmd utility to shut down the app pools in a CustomAction element, but when I attempt to do an uninstall I get this error before the customaction is ever invoked:
The setup must update files or
services that cannot be updated while
the system is running. If you choose
to continue, a reboot will be required
to complete the setup.
I have the "After='InstallInitialize'" property set on the CustomAction, because the documentation says that any deferred/not-impersonated custom action must come between InstallInitialize and InstallFinalize.
So is there some way to have a custom action execute before this check for files in use is made? Or disable this check for a given file, or make the check happen later in the sequence?
Yes, you can specify the order for actions to occur by modifying the Sequence column in the InstallExecuteSequence table within the MSI file.
Get the ORCA tool to examine the MSI file to see what I mean, and use a Javascript script to modify the MSI as appropriate.