I am creating a Bundle installer, using WiX standard bootstrapper in order to install .NET Framework 4.5 (if not yet installed) and my application in the user's computer. The bundle installer also allows the user to set the installation path for the application, and uses WiX standard bootstrapper's UI only (no other installers' interfaces are shown to the user).
Right now I'm struggling to allow the user to launch my application at the end of the installation.
Closest related anwers I could find use a variable named LaunchTarget, which causes WiX standard bootstrapper to display a "Launch" button in the end of the installation.
Given solutions and why I wasn't able to use them follow:
Answer "A" suggests setting the LaunchTarget variable to the exact folder inside "Program Files" folder where the application should be installed. This doesn't work for me, because I want to allow the user to specify the target installation folder (application can be installed outside of the "Program Files" folder).
Answer "B" suggests setting the LaunchTarget variable by using the InstallFolder variable to determine where the user configured the standard bootstrapper to install the software to. This seemed perfect for my case, but after setting the LaunchTarget value simply to "[InstallFolder]" I verified that pressing the "Launch" button in the standard bootstrapper's UI actually opens the folder where the installer is running, and not the folder where the user chose to install the software, as I expected. (is that a bug?)
Question is: how can I correctly set the LaunchTarget variable to the right path, considering that the user can modify the installation folder through WiX standard bootstrapper's UI?
The code for the Bunde follows.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"
xmlns:bal="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/BalExtension">
<Bundle Name="My Game Trainer" Manufacturer="MY_MANUFACTURER_ID_HERE" UpgradeCode="MY_GUID_HERE" Version="!(bind.packageVersion.TrainerMsiPackage)" DisableModify="yes">
<Variable Name="LaunchTarget" Value="[InstallFolder]" />
<BootstrapperApplicationRef Id="WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.RtfLargeLicense">
<bal:WixStandardBootstrapperApplication ShowVersion="yes" LicenseFile="PATH_TO_MY_LICENSE.rtf" />
</BootstrapperApplicationRef>
<Chain>
<PackageGroupRef Id="NetFx45Web"/>
<MsiPackage Id="TrainerMsiPackage" SourceFile="$(var.SetupMSI.TargetPath)" DisplayInternalUI="no">
<MsiProperty Name="TRAINER_INSTALL_DIR" Value="[InstallFolder]"/>
</MsiPackage>
</Chain>
</Bundle>
</Wix>
Using WiX Toolset v3.11.1 (+Visual Studio 2017 Extension).
Related
I built a simple installer in Wix which will place a couple of data files in a specific folder in a preexisting product installation so that the user doesn't need to know anything about the product's installation in order to update their data files. The product stores its installation path in an environment variable (ENVVAR) which I'm using here to calculate the path of its NewData subfolder.
When I double-click the .msi or run it from the command line (msiexec /i filename.msi) it works perfectly and the files show up in C:\ProductPath\NewData. However, if it's installed with elevated privileges (msiexec /a filename.msi) the files go to the root of D:\ (which isn't even the same drive the product is installed on.)
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"
xmlns:util="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/UtilExtension"
xmlns:netfx="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/NetFxExtension">
<?include InstallVariables.wxi ?>
<Product Id="*"
Name="Product Name"
Manufacturer="My Company"
Version="$(var.Version)"
UpgradeCode="guidgoeshere"
Language="1033">
<Package Description="Description $(var.Version)" Comments="Install package for my product."
InstallerVersion="300" Compressed="yes" InstallScope="perMachine"/>
<Media Id="1" Cabinet="Cabname.cab" EmbedCab="yes" CompressionLevel="high"/>
<SetDirectory Id="PATHMAP" Value="[%ENVVAR]\NewData" Sequence="first" />
<!-- Describe the folder layout here. -->
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="PATHMAP" FileSource="..\New Files">
<Component Id="File1" Guid="guidgoeshere">
<RemoveFile Id="Remove_File1File" Name="$(var.File1Pattern)" On="both" />
<File Id="File1File" Name="$(var.File1)" Vital="yes" KeyPath="yes" />
</Component>
<Component Id="File2" Guid="guidgoeshere">
<RemoveFile Id="Remove_File2File" Name="$(var.File2Pattern)" On="both" />
<File Id="File2File" Name="$(var.File2)" Vital="yes" KeyPath="yes" />
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
<Feature Id="FeatureId" Title="New Files for a Feature" Level="1" >
<ComponentRef Id="File1"/>
<ComponentRef Id="File2"/>
</Feature>
</Product>
</Wix>
Note that the file removal in the components is intentional; if there is an existing version of either file (which may have a slightly different file name -- not my choice) I want to remove and replace it. The patterns used to do so are in the include file and are working properly.
The command line: msiexec.exe /a filename.msi will not trigger installation with elevated privileges, but rather an administrative installation. Follow the link for a description - it is important that you do for a complete description. Essentially an administrative installation is just an extraction of embedded files in the MSI to make a network installation image from where people can run a regular installation of the MSI (better explained in the linked answer above) - administrative installations don't install anything at all - it is a mere extraction.
You should be able to control the output directory of the administrative installation by providing a TARGETDIR like this: msiexec.exe /a filename.msi TARGETDIR=C:\MyOutputFolder\. Your MSI is probably lacking a basic GUI to show the administrative installation's dialog sequence - which makes the extraction happen without any parameters specified (hence you output to the largest drive on the box by default). You might want to consider linking a standard dialog set such as <UIRef Id="WixUI_Mondo" /> for your MSI. You can see a step-by-step description of how to do this here: WiX installer msi not installing the Winform app created with Visual Studio 2017. This will give your setup basic, standard GUI for both regular installation and administrative installation. Very useful I think - you should also set your own license agreement - I have updated the linked answer to include that.
I think this is the end of the answer for you. Installing with /a isn't installation with elevated rights - essentially - it is just an extraction of files. But do link in that default GUI to make your MSI more standard and better overall.
A couple of comments on the environment variable approach. I have never stored anything like that in environment variables. I usually just write to my own location in HKLM and read back from there either via a custom action or using MSI's built in search feature (preferably the latter - it is much better to rely on built-in MSI features. I am a little sloppy with read-only custom actions at times, but very much against read-write custom actions. You can see why here: Why is it a good idea to limit the use of custom actions in my WiX / MSI setups? - a digression I guess). WiX can easily define these searches and set the search result to your property: Define Searches Using Variables.
Maybe a quick link to "The WiX toolset's "Remember Property" pattern" by Rob Mensching (WiX creator). This is quite old now, there may be a new, smarter way to do this that I am not aware of yet.
If I were you, I would rather download these updated files from the network rather than deploy them like this into a "data folder" using Windows Installer. Deployment of user data files has always been problematic with MSI with its complex file overwrite rules and "quirks". Though perhaps not entirely related to your use case, here is a description of other approaches you can use to deploy data files for your application - perhaps in a more reliable fashion: Create folder and file on Current user profile, from Admin Profile. Maybe have a quick skim at least.
There are two types of environment variables: user environment variables (set for each user) and system environment variables (set for everyone).
By default, a child process inherits the environment variables of its parent process. Programs started by the command processor inherit the command processor's environment variables.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms682653(v=vs.85).aspx
Probably, you can check machine users and if product is installed for all users point to system environment variable in Local Machine.
I'm tring to generate EXE file from MSI in Wix installer, I added a new project (Bootstrapper) but I can specifying the path of my MSI file
<Bundle Name="Bootstrapper" Version="1.0.0.0" Manufacturer="" UpgradeCode="e45fdbb6-192c-46f7-b4db-d04af69edada">
<BootstrapperApplicationRef Id="WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.RtfLicense" />
<Chain>
<!-- TODO: Define the list of chained packages. -->
<MsiPackage SourceFile="WixSetup.msi" />
</Chain>
</Bundle>
Can you help ?
Thanks in advance
Abdulsalam
Add a reference of your msi's wixproj to your bootstrapper application.
You can now reference the msi file like this
<MsiPackage SourceFile="$(var.WixProjName.TargetPath)" />
This will automatically point to the debug location or release location depending on your build mode.
You can see a list of well-defined vars passed to candle.exe in the output when building. You'll see a bunch of defines like "-dWixProjName.Property=Value" and then you can use those values in your bundle xml like so $(var.WixProjName.Property) which will get replaced by the Value before compiling.
You can see a list of the defined properties when you reference another project here: http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/votive/votive_project_references.html
Moving to WiX 3.6, I'm trying to make use of burn features to ease potential download/install of required pieces, such as a specific VC++ runtime.
I started small with just some "test.wxs", see below, which is OK for candle.exe:
$ candle test.wxs
Windows Installer Xml Compiler version 3.6.3303.0
Copyright (C) Outercurve Foundation. All rights reserved.
test.wxs
But light.exe chokes on it:
$ light test.wixobj -ext WixBalExtension
Windows Installer Xml Linker version 3.6.3303.0
Copyright (C) Outercurve Foundation. All rights reserved.
light.exe : error LGHT0103 : The system cannot find the file '' with type ''.
Could someone help with this (rather cryptic) error message?
It seems related to RemotePayload, since a modified version with local file works correctly. However, I'd like to save on package size and leave the downloading on the target machine if so needed.
Full content of "test.wxs" was:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
<Bundle Version="1.0.0.0"
UpgradeCode="e349236d-6638-48c5-8d8b-db47682b9aeb">
<BootstrapperApplicationRef Id="WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.RtfLicense" />
<Chain>
<!-- C++ Runtime -->
<ExePackage Name="vcredist_x64.exe"
DownloadUrl="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=2092" >
<RemotePayload CertificatePublicKey="F321408E7C51F8544B98E517D76A8334052E26E8"
CertificateThumbprint="D57FAC60F1A8D34877AEB350E83F46F6EFC9E5F1"
Description="Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Setup"
Hash="13674C43652B941DAFD2049989AFCE63CB7C517B"
ProductName="Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable"
Size="4961800"
Version="9.0.30729.17" />
</ExePackage>
</Chain>
</Bundle>
</Wix>
Partial answer to my own question:
The error message disappears if I add the attribute Compressed="no" to the ExePackage element.
Documentation about "Compressed" attribute says: "Whether the package payload should be embedded in a container or left as an external payload" and its value can be "yes", "no", or "default".
Using "yes" or "default" triggers the error message. Using "no" doesn't.
I had the same trouble with another package (the .NET framework) and Wix 3.7. I used the Wix source code to find the appropriate package names and registry keys to test, and then pasted the relevant bits into my installer. Then, I intentionally set 'Compressed="yes"' because I wanted to embed the file in my installer instead of having it downloaded.
There was a report similar to yours posted in this mailing list thread:
Benjamin Mayrargue: If an ExePackage has a DownloadUrl and Compressed is set to yes, light failed with error LGHT0103: The system cannot find the file '' with type ''.
Markus Wehrle: Ok, I see. If you want to have the ExePackage compressed into your bootstrapper.exe (compressed="yes") you need to specify it using "Source" attribute. Cause it will be compressed into your boostrapper during compile time, you must not declare a DownloadUrl. If you specifiy compressed="no" your ExePackage gets downloaded from the DownloadUrl during the installation of your boostrapper.
Rob Mensching: More specifically, you cannot use RemotePayload element and Compressed='yes' on the ExePackage element together. That doesn't make sense and the bug here is that the compiler didn't give you an error message here saying that.
So yes, you've correctly identified the same fix to the problem.
The Compressed attribute, by the way, specifies 'Whether the package payload should be embedded in a container or left as an external payload.' That external payload can either be a RemotePayload or another file on the disk, but the typical setup is a single bootloader with all the resources embedded into it.
Using yes for the Compression attribute will allow your application and the VC++ runtime to be installed even if the user has a slow or nonexistent Internet connection. Remove the DownloadUrl and RemotePayload from your installer, and replace them with just Compressed="yes" like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
<Bundle Version="1.0.0.0"
UpgradeCode="e349236d-6638-48c5-8d8b-db47682b9aeb">
<BootstrapperApplicationRef Id="WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.RtfLicense" />
<Chain>
<!-- C++ Runtime -->
<ExePackage Name="vcredist_x64.exe"
Compressed="yes">
</ExePackage>
</Chain>
</Bundle>
</Wix>
Then download the vcredist_x64.exe file (yourself, once) and place it adjacent to your test.wxs file. Adjust 'Name' if you want it in a different location. Note that this will increase the size of your resulting bootstrapper by about the size of vcredist_x64.exe, so it's not a good idea if your users will be downloading your installer.
In my case the error was thrown because the filename/directory path was over 255 characters. The file exist yet the compiler is stating that the file doesn't exist.
I have a project that I am creating an installer for. I have the msi created that will do the install but I also need to install some pre-reqs (.NET 4.0 and VSTO client tools or whatever they are called)
From what I can tell I need to use a bootstrapper and while it seems to work I really don't want the default dialogs that make me approve the license. I would like to skip that completely. (If I could hide the bootstrapper that would be fine but just having an "Install" button without the EULA would be ok).
Here is the xml I am currently using.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<WixVariable Id="WixStdbaLogo" Value="logo.png" />
<BootstrapperApplicationRef Id="WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.RtfLicense">
</BootstrapperApplicationRef>
<Chain>
<!-- TODO: Define the list of chained packages. -->
<PackageGroupRef Id="NetFx40Web"/>
<MsiPackage SourceFile="TestRibbonLocationInstaller.msi" DisplayInternalUI="yes" />
</Chain>
</Bundle>
So from what I can tell I need to basically create a custom bootstrap application for this that I then reference as the bootstrapperapplication. By doing this I will be able to better control the UI (Basically hide it).
Is this thought process correct?
I'm using an rtflicence standard bootstrapper to install dotnet before my poject msi in a chain.
I noticed that there's an 'options' button which displays an install location dialog and allows the user to change the default installation directory.
I need to either:
Prevent this options button from being displayed, or
Populate the install location with a default path, and pass this back to the installer should the user change it.
I read that it's possible to pass Burn variables to msipackages from bootstrapper but I haven't found any further details and would appreciate being pointed in the right direction.
Thanks
To go with option 1, you'd have to roll your own BootstrapperApplication and remove the options button from the menu.
Option two is significantly easier to implement. The bootstrapper uses a special Burn variable called InstallFolder to get and set what is in the text block on that view, which you can assign inside the Bundle element.
<Variable Name="InstallFolder" Type="string" Value="[ProgramFilesFolder]"/>
The constant ProgramFilesFolder will set the value of that text block when the program starts, and if the user browses to a different directory, it will be stored in that same variable. To pass it to the MSI, in your chain, you pass the InstallFolder using the MsiProperty tag (INSTALLLOCATION is the name of the property in your WiX project).
<MsiPackage Vital="yes" DisplayName="Your Name" Id="MsiId" SourceFile="path/to/file.msi">
<MsiProperty Name="INSTALLLOCATION" Value="[InstallFolder]" />
</MsiPackage>
I just discovered the SuppressOptionsUI option that addresses your Option 1 without rolling your own BootstrapperApplication:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"
xmlns:bal="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/BalExtension">
<Bundle>
<BootstrapperApplicationRef Id="WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.RtfLicense">
<bal:WixStandardBootstrapperApplication LicenseFile="..\eula.rtf" SuppressOptionsUI="yes"/>
</BootstrapperApplicationRef>
<Chain>
</Chain>
</Bundle>
</Wix>
I think you can try removing the options button by creating a theme. I haven't had to use themes myself but here are two related SO links that may get you pointed in that direction:
WiX bootstrapper theme file?
Theme for my WiX Installer