WiX: Handling an alert during installation - wix

I want to create a WiX package for a task scheduler. I am able to create the task while I install the package and during the uninstall from control panel am able to remove it successfully. But, when I try to install the upgraded version It gives an alert saying:
WARNING: Are you sure you want to remove the task "taskNew" (Y/N)?
Here am using the below Major upgrade statement for upgrading the msi, where the previous version will be first un installed and then the updated version will be installed.
I want this package to be installed in nightly build as per Continuous deployment. As there should not be any manual intervention, I want this to be Y for all the times. Can anyone please help on this
The commands am using for installing task scheduler:
<CustomAction Id="CreateScheduleTask"
Return="check"
Execute="deferred"
Impersonate="no"
Directory="INSTALLFOLDER"
ExeCommand="" [SystemFolder]SCHTASKS.EXE" /CREATE /TN "taskNew" /TR "[INSTALLFOLDER]installerAbc.exe" /SC DAILY /ST 12:30" />
Command used for un-installing task :
<CustomAction Id="RemoveScheduleTask"
Return="ignore"
Execute="deferred"
Directory="INSTALLFOLDER"
Impersonate="no"
ExeCommand=""[SystemFolder]SCHTASKS.EXE" /DELETE /TN "taskNew"" />

I have resolved it by updating the command itself.. By adding /f flag as below makes it to delete the task forcefully.
ExeCommand = ""[SystemFolder]SCHTASKS.EXE" /DELETE /TN "taskNew&quot /f;"

Related

WiX Toolset - issues running cmd in Custom Action

I'm trying to add a custom action that will delete files from the installation folder using the following code:
<CustomAction Id="InstallService" Return="check" Impersonate="no" Execute="deferred" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER" ExeCommand='cmd.exe /C del /s /q "[INSTALLFOLDER]"'/>
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="InstallService" Before ="InstallFiles">NOT Installed AND NOT REMOVE</Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
This works on some computers but fails on others showing a message
A program required for install to complete could not be run.
And in the installation logs I see
Error 1721. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package vendor
Any idea why this might happen or how to make it work?

WIX CustomAction terminates with error 1721 or 1722

I'm trying to create a MSI installer for my application which is a customized elasticsearch. I need to run elasticsearch-service.bat install command from cmd in the middle of installation. But whatever I do it will not execute successfully.
<CustomAction Id="InstallService" Directory="elasticsearch" Execute="deferred" Impersonate="no" ExeCommand='[SystemFolder] cmd.exe /c "bin\elasticsearch-service.bat install"' Return="check" />
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="InstallService" After="InstallFiles" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>
1721 and 1722 errors are vague and do not contain any additional information. What is the reason for these error? I was suspicious that these errors are due to lack of admin privileges. But I add InstallPrivileges=elevated and InstallScope=perMachine to package element and still getting the same error.
I agree with Stein, that you should use the built-in facilities of MSI/WiX to install the service, namely the <ServiceInstall> and <ServiceConfig> elements.
That being said, these are the errors of your current solution:
Space between [SystemFolder] and cmd.exe.
Executable path is not quoted.
Relative path to .bat file. Very fragile.
Possible solution:
<CustomAction Id="InstallService" Directory="elasticsearch" Execute="deferred" Impersonate="no" ExeCommand='"[elasticsearch]bin\elasticsearch-service.bat" install' Return="check" />
You can call a batch file directly, without passing it to cmd.exe.

WiX Toolset - CustomAction for uninstall running after RemoveFiles

On install I add a configuration key to a DB using a command line tool. On uninstall, I'm now trying to remove that configuration key. On an upgrade, I need to remove then add the configuration key back.
Here's my CustomAction "redacted" code:
<CustomAction Id="Unset_AppName_Version_Cmd"
Property="Unset_AppName_Version"
Execute="immediate"
Value=""[SystemFolder]cmd.exe" /C ""[SOMEDIR]SomeClTool" "uninstall:appname""" />
<CustomAction Id="Unset_AppName_Version"
BinaryKey="WixCA"
DllEntry="CAQuietExec"
Execute="immediate"
Return="check"
Impersonate="yes" />
Note: I've tried several values for execute, including oncePerProcess, firstSequence, and immediate.
Here's my InstallExecuteSequence "redacted" code:
<Custom Action="Unset_AppName_Version_Cmd" Sequence="1215">
(!AppName = 3 AND (&AppName = 3 OR &AppName = 2))
</Custom>
<Custom Action="Unset_AppName_Version" Sequence="1216">
(!AppName = 3 AND (&AppName = 3 OR &AppName = 2))
</Custom>
Note: Again, I tried to move around the sequence used. In the above example before InstallValidate, but also before RemoveFiles, RemoveODBC, etc.
Nothing has worked for me. In all instances, the
Executing op: ActionStart(Name=Unset_AppName_Version,,)
line is being run after RemoveFiles, so my custom action fails with:
CAQuietExec: The system cannot find the path specified.
CAQuietExec: Error 0x80070001: Command line returned an error.
CAQuietExec: Error 0x80070001: CAQuietExec Failed
After this, my installation gets rolled back.
Also, is this condition correct for run on uninstall or reinstall?
(!AppName = 3 AND (&AppName = 3 OR &AppName = 2))
Thanks
Update 7/31/2015
While I still do not have a working solution, I have made enough changes that it makes sense to post my current code.
Here's my updated CustomAction "redacted" code:
<CustomAction Id="Unset_AppName_Version_Cmd"
Property="QtExecCmdLine"
Value=""[SystemFolder]cmd.exe" /C ""[SOMEDIR]SomeClTool" "uninstall:appname"""
Execute="immediate" />
<CustomAction Id="Unset_AppName_Version"
BinaryKey="WixCA"
DllEntry="CAQuietExec"
Execute="immediate"
Return="ignore" />
Note: These changes were made based on Kiran's much appreciated suggestions and to mimic some taskkill commands that are working for me.
Example of working code:
<CustomAction Id="TaskKill_erl_exe_Cmd"
Property="QtExecCmdLine"
Value='"[SystemFolder]taskkill.exe" /F /IM erl.exe /T'
Execute="immediate" />
<CustomAction Id="TaskKill_erl_exe"
BinaryKey="WixCA"
DllEntry="CAQuietExec"
Execute="immediate"
Return="ignore"/>
Thanks
Couple of things here.
-You are trying to execute the custom action in immediate mode using the Wix provided inbuilt Quiet Execution Custom Action.
http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/customactions/qtexec.html
If you want to make use of CAQuietExec in immediate mode, the documentation clearly suggests that you have to set the WixQuietExecCmdLine property.
I dont see that being done in your case.
In your case, i see that you are setting a property named Unset_AppName_Version in the immediate mode. This just wont work.
-If you are trying to use CAQuietExec in deferred mode, your authoring of the custom actions in the pasted code snippet will work, as that would lead to populating the value of the inbuilt special property "CustomActionData"
-If the command line tool that you are trying to launch is installed by the msi package, then the custom action with Id="Unset_AppName_Version" has to be sequenced after "InstallFiles" standard action for the case of Install/Upgrade/Re-install.
For the case of uninstall, i am assuming you will have a seperate custom action which invokes this command line tool with a different set of parameters and it should be sequenced before "RemoveFiles" standard action.
-Finally, yes your condition is correct and will invoke the action on re-install or uninstall of the feature.
-Also when you run your msi package, if you want to confirm if the command line tool was indeed launched, you can have a utility named "ProcessMonitor" running. ProcessMonitor is from the Sysinternals suite. Keep the tool running by setting the appropriate filters.
If your tool is ever launched, ProcessMonitor will indicate the same to you.
Hope this helps.
This ended up working for me:
<CustomAction Id="Unset_AppName_Version_Cmd"
Property="QtExecCmdLine"
Value=""[SystemFolder]cmd.exe" /C ""[SOMEDIR]SomeClTool" "uninstall:appname"""
Execute="immediate" />
<CustomAction Id="Unset_AppName_Version"
BinaryKey="WixCA"
DllEntry="CAQuietExec"
Execute="immediate"
Return="ignore" />
And in the InstallExecuteSequence:
<Custom Action="Unset_AppName_Version_Cmd" Sequence="1215">
(!AppName = 3 AND (&AppName = 3 OR &AppName = 2))
</Custom>
<Custom Action="Unset_AppName_Version" Sequence="1216">
(!AppName = 3 AND (&AppName = 3 OR &AppName = 2))
</Custom>
The issue seems to be that something got messed up in my VM with all the rollbacks.
The main problem that I had was that I initially tried to name the property in the "Unset_AppName_Version_Cmd" CustomAction.
Thanks again to Kiran for all his help.

How to schedule a task and run at system start in wix?

I am trying to schedule a task through wix custom action.After installing the installer the installer is adding the task in the scheduler tasks.But the task is not running at the scheduled time.Please give any solution.
What should I need to give in Directory attribute.
The code that I am using is :
<Fragment>
<CustomAction Id="CreateScheduledTask"
Return="check"
Impersonate="no"
Execute="deferred"
Directory="TARGETDIR"
ExeCommand=""[SystemFolder]SCHTASKS.EXE" /CREATE /SC ONSTART /TN "LaunchMyApp " /TR "[INSTALLDIR]AppDesktopFiles\AppLaunch.exe" /RU "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" /RP /F" >
</CustomAction>
<CustomAction
Id="RemoveScheduledTask"
Return="ignore"
Directory="ProgramFilesFolder"
ExeCommand= ""[SystemFolder]SCHTASKS.EXE" /DELETE /TN LaunchMyApp /F" >
</CustomAction>
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="CreateScheduledTask" After="InstallFiles">NOT Installed</Custom>
<Custom Action="RemoveScheduledTask" Before="RemoveFiles">Installed</Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
</Fragment>
If the task is created ok and you see it in the list, it doesn't seem like it's a WiX issue. The task should run at reboot. Can you isolate the specific problem to:
The task doesn't start at all.
The task starts but it doesn't launch your app.
Anyway, I don't believe your app will launch given that specification because there is no desktop folder when the system starts because nobody has logged on, and the system account is an internal account that does not have a desktop folder.

Is it possible to have a batch file as a binary element type in Wix?

Here's my wix
<Binary Id="B.RenameFiles" SourceFile="RenameFiles.bat"/>
<CustomAction Id="CA.RenameFiles" BinaryKey="B.RenameFiles"
ExeCommand="RenameFiles.bat" Execute="immediate" Return='ignore'/>
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="CA.RenameFiles" Before="InstallValidate"></Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
This doesn't work and spits out an error in the msi log "A program required for this install to complete could not be run". I'm not really sure if this is possible or if binary is only for use with exe's and dll's etc.
The way i'm doing it at the moment is to install the bat file and then run it from there but it would be neater if I could use it as a binary instead and not install it on the local machine.
Thanks
Neil
BAT files cannot be launched directly by Windows Installer custom actions. You need a custom action which uses ShellExecute to launch your BAT.
So you can't use a BAT as a Binary custom action.
Agree with Cosmin, you cannot execute BAT from binary, however you can launch it (almost) at any time during installation with help of "CMD.exe /C " custom action, and even have it run hidden (without cmd.exe window), i.e. for deffered CA one can use:
<CustomAction Id="Set_CA_HiddenBAT" Property="CA_HiddenBAT" Value=""cmd.exe" /c "[DirectoryWhereBatFileInstalled]Your.bat"" />
<CustomAction Id="CA_HiddenBAT" BinaryKey="WixCA" DllEntry="CAQuietExec" Execute="deferred" Return="ignore" Impersonate="yes" />
Or if you want it visible:
<CustomAction Id="CA_LaunchBAT" Directory="DirectoryWhereToExecute" ExeCommand="CMD.exe /c "[DirectoryWhereBatFileInstalled]Your.bat"" Return="ignore" />
Note: Remember to run CA_HiddenBAT / CA_LaunchBAT after InstallFiles action and have added WixUtilExtension to your .wixproj:
<LinkerAdditionalOptions>-ext WixUtilExtension</LinkerAdditionalOptions>
<CompilerAdditionalOptions>-ext WixUtilExtension</CompilerAdditionalOptions>
There's also a way to launch BAT before InstallFile action, but this is tricky, let me know if you need this.