I have created a msi which allows user to view license, select installation folder, and features to install. That all works well.
Now I need to create a bootstrapper that will check if framework 4.5 is installed, install it if not, and then install msi.
I can do this using WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.RtfLargeLicense, where I would install framework, and then execute msi with its own UI.
But what if I do not want to show two apps (msi over exe), but only one window?
Since my msi contains feature, standard bootstrapper does not provide interface where I can set features from msi, so I need to create a custom UI.
The problem is I do not quite understand how WixManagedBootstrapperApplicationHost works? I created a dll with new UI, and place it in Payload. When running the setup, when framework needs to be installed, WixManagedBootstrapperApplicationHost always invokes its own window which says:
Microsoft .NET Framework required for MyApp Setup. Click the "Accept and Install" button to accept the Microsoft .NET Framework license terms.
And after it completes installation of .NET Framework, then it invokes the UI that I Created in dll. Why would anyone want this kind of functionality, where my bootstrapper app contains totally different UI than the framework installation UI? Isn't the idea of bootstrapper with custom UI is to provide completely custom UI?
So, how can I provide my custom UI for that framework installation part?
I assume your own UI is C# and WPF? If your installing it on a machine without .Net then it's going to need to install .Net before it can show the WPF UI. I could be wrong but I'm sure that's unavoidable.
If you want to replace / modify the .Net install screen then this thread looks like it has the answer:
Wix Burn: Basic UI handling if No Net Framework is there
However if your saying the .Net install dialog is showing up over your UI at some point in installation then you need to set the Install command to "/q" which means quiet (no UI).
Related
If you add ActionData to the Subscribe event in Edit Control on Wix,
the line is written and erased. I want the ActionData log to continue to be written as a scroll.
Burn: WiX Burn allows you to write your own GUI to run your installer. You should be able to implement whatever you want in terms of GUI if you go down that path. However: installers run quicker and quicker as IO becomes better, are you sure this is time well spent? I'd say just use logging and be done with it? See my comments above for your question.
Burn Bootstrapper Appliation: There are not that many samples I know about for Custom WiX Burn Bootstrapper applications. Here are two:
Write your own WiX Burn setup GUI application (advanced)
https://github.com/rstropek/Samples/tree/master/WiXSamples/CustomBurnUI
Documentation: For documentation go online, or better yet open WiX.chm and locate section "Building Installation Package Bundles".
Here are two past answers that I would suggest you at least skim:
Ways to customize your WiX GUI (do read this one for overall understanding of MSI GUI)
Custom GUI - WiX Burn, Installshield Suite Project, Advanced Installer - their options
The Implementation of a custom GUI for an MSI depends on the core MSI API function MsiSetExternalUI function. It allows what Burn is doing - making a custom GUI. Throwing in an SDK sample too:
MSI SDK Sample: Some details on the MsiSetExternalUI function (serverfault answer). Concrete code sample to handle Windows Installer messages: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/Msi/handling-progress-messages-using-msisetexternalui. This is MSI API calls direct - nothing to do with Burn as such, Burn makes use of these calls.
Links: Link overload - as usual - but here is an example of a custom Burn theme - as opposed to a custom bootstrapper application. This changes the look of the standard Burn bundle.
https://github.com/frederiksen/Classic-WiX-Burn-Theme
SQL Server named instance with Visual Studio 2017 Installer project (just for inclusion)
Native Windows Installer UI doesn't support this. You would need to create a custom UI handler to display it the way you want.
I am working with WIX 3.6, it has some great features to create managed bootstrapper application. I have managed to create a WPF ui for that. But, I dont want to create and handle all the events for the installer, our requirement is only to get an initial parameter like language selection from the user and proceed to the MSI. MSI already handles upgrade / uninstall and install checks.
Bootstrapper.Engine.Plan(LaunchAction.Install);
Is it possible to just launch the MSI without specifying the install / uninstall action codes?
Thanks!
Unfortunately, not today. The interface provided today is very powerful and you can control just about everything. That also means that you need to control a lot to get the core scenarios working. As we progress in the WiX toolset, we'll build up additional abstraction layers so that a custom BA is easier to write. The Burn functionality is still rather new and just needs time to have more code contributed.
If you want to look on the bright side, be glad that you'll be able to accomplish just about any required UI task because the interface provided is so expressive. :)
I have already made a MSI installer with WiX using a custom WPF UI with the EmbeddedUI element. It is similar to the sample found in src/DTF/Samples/EmbeddedUI.
I would now like to have a bootstrapper that checks if .NET 4 is installed and install it if it's not, and then launch my MSI.
It looks like Burn would override my WPF EmbeddedUI in order to chain the .NET 4 and MSI installations into a single installation with a single progress bar. I know that I could have a managed application to change the UI of Burn then pass parameters to my MSI but the problem is that I would like my UI to be in WPF which relies on .NET, and if the whole bootstrapper relies on .NET then the user couldn't even open the bootstrapper if he doesn't have it installed in the first place.
What I would like is the bootstrapper to install .NET if needed with a simple UI like Wixstdba, and then launch my MSI as it is, with its own WPF EmbeddedUI, without chaining it with the .NET installation. I don't mind that both installations would have their own progress bar, I would just like to be able to use my WPF EmbeddedUI for the installation of the main application.
Would that be possible. How? Thanks!
If you want your WiX bootstrapper to display the UI of your installer, set the DisplayInternalUI attrible of the MsiPackage to true. That solution does have the downside of displaying two UIs during install though.
You can also create a managed bootstrapper application using WPF and .NET. Burn provides a way to basically bootstrap itself and install .NET before displaying your custom UI.
I am trying to silently install the .NET 4 Framework with my app through NSIS.
I cant for the life of me work out how to make the .NET installer report where its up to back to my installer and update the progress bar on NSIS to reflect this.
Is there an easy way to do this?
Edit: Just to clarify I want to do this as when the .NET installer runs silently it looks like my installer has frozen as the progress bar does not move until .NET is installed.
This is not supported by any setup tool. Third-party installer progress cannot be captured and integrated into a main installer.
Instead, the third-party installation (.NET Framework) can run with basic progress. This way it shows it's own progress bar which is more accurate than what you could capture in a main installer.
I have been using InstallShield LE in Visual Studio 2010, but it is heavily limited and sometimes buggy. I looked at paid InstallShield versions, but these also have too many limitations for that price tag.
So I decided to switch to WiX. I have had some experience with it some years ago. It was pretty easy to build a simple installer using SharpDevelop with WiX tools.
Now I am trying to collect solutions and tools for WiX. Basically, I need to get the following functionality (requested by my client):
when I launch the installer, it should check a text file on the server and see if a newer version is available. If it's the case, then the installer should be able to download the updated installer package and launch it (are there any downloader utilities in WiX?)
solving dependencies. Major dependency of my app is .NET 4 (which itself depends on Windows Installer 3). The installer should offer the user to download and install them automatically
logging the installation process, also collecting the log file of the dependencies' installation process. I don't want the user to hunt various .log files in case .NET4 or WindowsInstaller3 installation fails. All the information should be collected in one place and if something fails, I should show the user a custom popup dialog with an option to save the complete install log file and send it to me
installer should be able to detect if there is a newer version of my app already installed, and show a meaningful customized error message before it exits
installer should be able to detect if there is an older version of my app already installed. and offer the user to exit installation or uninstall the previous version and install the new version. BTW, there are no minor component upgrades planned, I prefer to reinstall everything fresh (I guess, this is a major upgrade in the terms of WindowsInstaller). Installshield LE failed on me for this, it just showed an error box with the message about another product, but did not offer to uninstall it
in case of an upgrade, installer should be able to detect if some of application components are in use (running application processes) and show a custom error message and not just some cryptic "Installation failed"
I have read that it may be a bit painful to manage upgrades even if I keep my UpgradeCode intact, because this code is stored in the Windows Registry in a compressed way and also if the user renames the downloaded file, it might get detected as a completely new product by WindowsInstaller ... or maybe this is only the case with WindowsInstaller .msi files and WiX has some trick to avoid this issue?
About update downloading - I need this functionality also in my application itself. I am not sure how to implement it efficiently, so I can reuse the same update downloader code/utility in both WiX installer and in my app.
Is it possible to satisfy all these requirements using currently existing WiX tools, or maybe I'll need to code some components from scratch?
WiX is definitely the way to go in my opinion.
when I launch the installer, it should check a text file on the server and see if a newer version is available. If it's the case,
then the installer should be able to download the updated installer
package and launch it (are there any downloader utilities in WiX?)
In my opinion, this type of functionality is best handled by the application. However you can implement such functionality in a custom bootstrapper. The latest development of WiX includes a bootstrapper engine Burn that allows you to write your own custom bootstrapper on top of it.
solving dependencies. Major dependency of my app is .NET 4 (which itself depends on Windows Installer 3). The installer should offer
the user to download and install them automatically
You can use the standard WiX bootstrapper to install .NET as a prereq. Or if you create your own custom managed bootstrapper application, you can install .NET a prereq to your bootstrapper as in this example
logging the installation process, also collecting the log file of the dependencies' installation process. I don't want the user to
hunt various .log files in case .NET4 or WindowsInstaller3
installation fails. All the information should be collected in one
place and if something fails, I should show the user a custom popup
dialog with an option to save the complete install log file and send
it to me
Using the two bootstrapping methods above, when you launch your msi you can specify parameters for logging. In my own custom managed bootstrapper I created a button to open the log files created during installation.
installer should be able to detect if there is a newer version of my app already installed, and show a meaningful customized error
message before it exits
You can do this using launch conditions
installer should be able to detect if there is an older version of my app already installed. and offer the user to exit installation or
uninstall the previous version and install the new version. BTW,
there are no minor component upgrades planned, I prefer to reinstall
everything fresh (I guess, this is a major upgrade in the terms of
WindowsInstaller). Installshield LE failed on me for this, it just
showed an error box with the message about another product, but did
not offer to uninstall it
In my experience this major upgrades are the least complicated
approach.
in case of an upgrade, installer should be able to detect if some of
application components are in use (running application processes) and
show a custom error message and not just some cryptic "Installation
failed"
I think WiX/Windows Installer are generally good at handling these
scenarios and automatically notifying the user that
files/applications need shutdown without you having to author
anything extra in your installer.
All that said, you may want to look into creating your own custom managed bootstrapper using WiX and Burn. That is not trivial however. The best place to go is to download the source code to the WiX Weekly Releases and checkout the project src\Setup\WixBA. It is the custom BA that they wrote to install WiX. There isn't much documentation out there yet because WiX 3.6 is not released (although it is pretty stable). However you don't have to create your own BA to make a solid WiX installer that can handle upgrades and logging.