As part of my WIX setup project, I am updating some values in the app config for the service I am installing. One of the attributes is a number, this is the number of the location the service is being installed at.
The location is part of the machine name, for example the machine name might be "location16server". I am trying figure out if I can get a substring or otherwise parse the number out of the machine name so that I may use it to update the .config file. I don't see any ways that are part of WIX, but maybe with a custom action?
Thanks
A custom action would be required. I'd provide caution on this though as you are tightly coupling along a machine name. This might work well in a controlled environment but could cause major headaches down the road. I'd look for some other artifact on the machine to determine location numbers and other configuration data. Perhaps even move it out of the installer and into the application if possible.
Another option is to insert a dialog box that allows the user to enter some optional parameters for the program being installed.
Here are some examples:
http://www.merlinia.com/mdt/WiXTutorial3.msl
http://wix.tramontana.co.hu/tutorial/user-interface/new-link-in-the-chain
Related
In a simple windows form application on VS 2010 I have put a ovalShape using power packs.
The simple Form
Now automatically this action puts the reference of Microsoft.VisualBasic.PowerPacks.Vs in to project properties.
when deploying this in different PC obviously the (a)powerpacks needed to be installed if this application doesn't work, (b) or it can set to "copy local = true" in reference properties so that it should sit to next with the application.
assuming (b) is not an option, since it is a solitary executable, (a) is the only option. in this way if the target machine does not have powerpacks the requirement is to notify it to the user in the first place.
apparently the dll will be deployed in when using the "VisualBasicPowerPacksSetup"
C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.VisualBasic.PowerPacks.Vs\10.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\Microsoft.VisualBasic.PowerPacks.Vs.dll
so the blind approach is just to check if the above file not exist then prompt user to install "VisualBasicPowerPacksSetup". but i feel its more accurate if the application able to actually check in registry level.
in registry "Microsoft.VisualBasic.PowerPacks" records in several location, thus makes a confusion.
how to identify the correct key and what should be correct way of checking this reference in vb ?
You could just try to create an object defined in the dependency and catch the resulting exception.
Handling this you could ask the user to install the package. This is probably not considered good practice but should get the job done.
My program deploys with a configuration option that I've chosen to expose as a feature. This option can be one of two values.
Each configuration changes a set of settings files. They have different input file names (for the sake of example, let's call it option1-config20-lv80.xml), but should be installed to the configuration directory as config20-lv80.xml. Each option has a prefix that should be stripped like that, which also means only one of these options can be selected for install at a time. However, even with conditions preventing the install of one feature when the other is selected, my output is littered with:
LGHT0204: ICE30: The target file 'config20-lv80.xml' is installed in 'path' by to different components... This breaks component reference counting.
How can I give my users the option to choose between these configuration options and get around my ICE30 issues without any negative side effects?
I saw an similar question answered, but I'm not 100% sure how to implement it in wix#, or if there are other ways open to me to achieve my goal without disabling ICE30 validation or creating 2 installers.
A bit rushed, have a look...
Milk & Honey Winnie: In cases like this I prefer to install both files with different names using two different components and then switch between them with an option shown in the application itself. On launch or in the preferences. Makes deployment simpler, it is already complex (section "The Complexity of Deployment"). The linked answer you refer to can work technically, as can more hacky approaches.
Alternatives: I have a long answer here on different ways to install settings files: Create folder and file on Current user profile, from Admin Profile ranging from eliminating the whole file and using internal defaults, to downloading settings files from the network or just relying on clouded web-service settings retrieval from a database. Not 100% match, but maybe give it a skim?
A related issue is when you have a settings file that regular users can't write to. This is a list of approaches for eliminating that condition: System.UnauthorizedAccessException while running .exe under program files.
Is there a way to set a property value to the formatted install date/time?
I'm in the process of creating an MSI installer for an old VB6 application we still depend on (yes, I know, upgrade before it dies).
I'm trying to add a backup folder for the user data files in the install-folder (not my application design, nor my application). Unfortunately every user of this application has their own copy of the data file installed on their system (dedicated machines per user), and the installer has the default file. I would like to create a backup folder so that I can manually (if necessary) go back and retrieve previous versions of the file.
What I'm thinking is
c:\program files (x86)\app*.mdb => c:\program files (x86)\app\backups\201804091125
This will be rushed. Please tell me what is not clear.
Custom Action: In order to implement exactly what you describe, you generally need a custom action. This is always unfortunate since they are very error prone: Why is it a good idea to limit the use of custom actions in my WiX / MSI setups?
Alternative?: If you ask me I would install the database in a component of its own, make the file the key file and set the component to permanent and never overwrite if key path exists.
In the WiX source: for the WiX component element, set these attributes: Permanent="yes" NeverOverwrite="yes"). I am not 100% sure what will happen if you do something stupid such as setting REINSTALLMODE="amus" during installation (force overwrite all files regardless of version). It has been a while since I tested the NeverOverwrite flag. But for normal deployment done the regular way the database file should be left alone and not overwritten.
Custom Action Overview: There are properties called Time and Date that are automatically set in the installer, but the Date property will generally contain characters that are illegal in path names. It is possible to just get the properties and replace the illegal characters. However, the date separation characters are probably different based on regional settings and hence hard to predict. Your code could get messy quickly and testing would be challenging (potentially many locales to test depending on distribution scope - a truly globally capable package is challenging).
I would rather get the date and time some other way - via some programming API call where I can determine what format the data comes back in. You also need to run this custom action elevated in deferred mode to ensure it doesn't fall over with access denied (insufficient user rights for operation). This is always quite a bit of clunk to set up and get working. Maybe try the alternative approach first?
I have long considered adding a custom action to abort the install if REINSTALLMODE="amus" has been specified. I would prefer that and the alternative approach described with "never overwrite" to a custom action doing all this copying.
I have managed to do Continuous deployment for my Web project using TFS Msbuild.
I have goggled for few hours but couldn't find a relative link to achieve Continuous Deployment for windows service.
Possible to do CD for windows service using TFS Build Definitions? i.e for every check in below steps should be performed, I am using TFS2010 with Windows Server 2008 R2
1] Stop Service,
2] Copy respective Project folder from (Source) Build server to (Destination Server)'staging server1' or 'staging server2'
3] Start Services (willing to do this step manually)
Any blog,tutorial references to achieve this? My guess is need to use Power shell scripts but not sure.
Should be ok, you'll need to install an agent on the box you're deploying to. And you'll need to be able to exit the XAML templates (you'll probably want to copy your existing template that does your build and just add the stop/copy/start stuff onto the end of it).
After your CI build, you'll need to edit it (the XAML template) to start and stop the service you can use the "invoke process" activity (you'll probably want to do something like make it generic and pass in the service name as an argument - note you can change the display names etc in the Metadata argument so it appears meaningful in your build definition).
As far as copying stuff across goes, you can do this fairly easily by accessing properties like the drop location.
Should be fairly straight forward - once you get your head round modifying the templates!
Edit:
Sorry for not responding sooner, I'd have to revise my earlier comment, this isn't as straight forward as it seems unless you really know what you want, I have been thinking about this and like skinning cats, there are more than one ways to achieve this... I've rewritten this a few times so I hope the edit's make sense :)
Boils down to the following:
1) Pass into your template the build agent/machine you want to run this on (this can be done as a simple string, or as an AgentReservationSpec - up to you), since it's unlikely to be the machine that you run your actual CI build on. This is done in the Arguments section of the XAML, as noted before, if you want to edit the display name/description you can edit the Metadata Argument. This machine needs a TFS agent installed of course.
2) Run the task on the remote machine, this is done by adding the Agent Scope activity into your template, you will have to use the info from step 1 to get the ReservationSpec (so would be easier if you add the argument as an AgentReservationSpec or you'll need to resolve this in the template)
2.1) Run the stop/uninstall, this is done via dropping in a (two actually) Invoke Process activity, Invoke Process can take arguments and you need to point it to the executable you're executing, so you'll want to use this, one for the NET command (i.e. NET STOP ), and one for InstallUtil.exe.
2.2) Copy the files from your CI to the remote server, you can use the Copy Directory activity for this, it needs a couple of parameters, the main one is the source location, you should be able to drop in a GetBuildDetail activity, give it a name then reference .DropLocation to get this, destination is wherever you like you're installing to.
2.3) Install the new service as step 2.1, you need to use Invoke Process to install the service, then you can use another to start the service up.
I haven't covered everything, but I haven't set this up myself so I'm sure there are a few pitfalls or things I haven't though of. Off the top of my head this makes sense, but maybe someone that knows better can poke a few holes in it :)
I'm installing an Active X control that contains some COM servers. I'm using InstallShield's COM Extract at Build option to generate the registry information. This results in a lot of entries in the Registry and Class tables. (The extracted information is pretty much the same using Wix).
It appears that my COM Sever is correctly being installed except for an additional value called "InprocServer32" in the InprocServer32 key that looks like this:
HKCR\CLSID\{MY-COM-GUID}\InprocServer32
(Default) = C:\Path-to-my\file.ocx
InprocServer32 = 8tYCAGak)9S9&~swl.$?MyFeatureName>*&N$B'fk?As1x2J653?'
The only think I can make out from the extra value is the MyFeatureName which is the internal name of the MSI feature that contains the .ocx file. The key is not listed in the Registry table so it must be generated by the Class table.
The problem I'm having only happens in Windows Server 2008. It seems that the app trying to use the COM server is failing to find the path to the .ocx file from the (Default) value and instead it is finding the InprocServer32 value. This results in the app launching the MSI and then having the MSI being stuck in what seems like an infinte loop.
I'm wondering if this is a known issue in Windows Server 2008 or whether there is a way to prevent that extra value from being generated by msiexec.
I'd read this article and see if it helps you get where you want to be:
RobMen's Recommendation: Do not advertise COM information in MSI
You might want to turn off InstallShield's COM Extract at Build and instead do a One-Time COM Extract on the component in question. Then you can go into the Component Advanced section and manually manipulate the registry / com table information to be how you want it to be.
If you use WiX at all, another workflow / trick is to use Heat to build an MSI or MSM around your COM server. Then use InstallShield to edit the MSI/MSM in direct mode and the Registry view to export the Registry Keys/Values to a .REG file. Then import that .REG file into your Component in your real install project.
I can't help you diagnose what's going on, I'll just mumble a bit about what this all means. This is a counter-measure against DLL Hell. It is supposed to protect your application against some kind of other install program that could overwrite your COM server registry keys. Specifically the (Default) key which gives the location to your server DLL.
From the fake InprocServer32 value, the app can auto-detect that the Default key was overwritten and automatically launch MSI again to repair the damage. Which is what you see happening.
I thoroughly dislike the feature, it is just one more fail point in something that is already hard to troubleshoot when it blows up. And it is a useless feature, it assumes that the other installer doesn't use the exact same counter-measure. Which would have worked 10 years ago.
No idea what you'd do to troubleshoot this particular failure. Other then just punt this cr*p and let the servers just SelfReg themselves. At least you'll have something to work with when that doesn't work.