WIX - howto use RemoveFolderEx with On="install" / "both"? - wix

I am trying to remove a folder on "install" (and "uninstall"), but the folder is only removed on "uninstall".
Any hints how this can be done?
<Property Id="PACKAGEFOLDER">
<RegistrySearch Root="HKLM" Key="$(var.RegKey)" Type="raw" Id="PKGFOLDER_REGSEARCH" Name="PkgDir" />
</Property>
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
<Directory Id="PACKAGE" Name="$(var.PkgFolder)">
<Component Id="PackagesFiles" Guid="$(var.FilesGUID)">
<RegistryValue Root="HKLM" Key="$(var.RegKey)" Name="PkgDir" Type="string" Value="[PACKAGE]" KeyPath="yes" />
<util:RemoveFolderEx On="both" Property="PACKAGEFOLDER" />
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Directory>
just noticed:
if the RegKey is available in registry before installation starts, it will work:
WixRemoveFoldersEx: Recursing path: C:\Program Files (x86)... for
row: wrf945C37509CA5EEDC2367957D5F072DFF. MSI (s) (94!A8)
[19:17:55:185]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding _UNOPACKAGEFOLDER_0 property.
Its value is 'C:\Program Files (x86)... MSI (s) (94:D4)
[19:17:55:185]: Doing action: CostInitialize
but if the RegKey is not in registry, log says:
WixRemoveFoldersEx: Error 0x80070057: Missing folder property:
APPLICATIONFOLDER for row: wrfA308D08284221970F6338358BFB75917
CustomAction WixRemoveFoldersEx returned actual error code 1603 but
will be translated to success due to continue marking MSI (s) (84:50)
[19:29:08:529]: Doing action: CostInitialize
Is it possible to write the RegKey before the Property "PACKAGEFOLDER" is set?

I assume that you have also files in this folder that should be deleted. If there are no (arbitrary) subdirectories containing files it should be straight forward by using the RemoveFile-table of the Windows Installer. As it will only delete the folder if it is empty, add an additional entry that will delete the files in it, e.g.:
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
<Directory Id="PACKAGE" Name="$(var.PkgFolder)">
<Component Id="PackagesFiles" Guid="$(var.FilesGUID)">
<RegistryValue Root="HKLM" Key="$(var.RegKey)" Name="PkgDir" Type="string" Value="[PACKAGE]" KeyPath="yes" />
<RemoveFile Id="RemovePACKAGEFolderFiles" Directory="PACKAGE" Name="*.*" On="both" />
<RemoveFolder Id="RemovePACKAGEFolder" Directory="PACKAGE" On="both" />
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Directory>
This way you don't have to deal with any property setting. If you have other subdirectories with files you would have to repeat this also for these.
Another way would be to create a deferred custom action in the system context that will delete the folder completely, e.g. in VBScript.

If you add
<SetProperty Id="PACKAGEFOLDER" Value="[PACKAGE]" After="CostFinalize" />, you can get the value of package during install. From this article regarding property-setting.

Related

How to set Wix Property from UI which user can change during installation?

I have Wix Code which simply installs a txt file in the given location
The target location is enclosed in a Property THISONE
<Fragment>
<Property Id="THISONE" Value="C:\MyFolder"/>
<Directory Id='TARGETDIR' Name='SourceDir'>
<Directory Id='APPLICATIONFOLDER' ComponentGuidGenerationSeed="{75266e3e-3781-47e3-ac29-46a2d90548f9}">
<Directory Id='MyFolder' Name='MyFolder'/>
</Directory>
</Directory>
<SetDirectory Id='APPLICATIONFOLDER' Value='[THISONE]' />
</Fragment>
<Fragment>
<Component Id="Component1" Directory="MyFolder" Win64="yes">
<File Id="FirstFile.txt"/>
</Component>
</Fragment>
I want a minimal UI with maybe just a textbox where I can edit the property value so that I can change the target installation file path.
How can I achieve that ?
Thanks in Advance
The WiXUIInstallDir may be what you want, as described in the WiX documentation.
<Directory Id='TARGETDIR' Name='SourceDir'>
<Directory Id='APPLICATIONFOLDER' ComponentGuidGenerationSeed="{75266e3e-3781-47e3-ac29-46a2d90548f9}">
<Directory Id='MyFolder' Name='MyFolder'/>
</Directory>
</Directory>
<Property Id="WIXUI_INSTALLDIR" Value="APPLICATIONFOLDER" />
<UIRef Id="WixUI_InstallDir" />
You must set the value of the property WIXUI_INSTALLDIR to the value of the ID of the directory you want the user to be able to specify the location of, as shown above. This is then passed to the WixUI_InstallDir dialog. Note that the directory ID must all be uppercase.
If you're using Visual Studio, you'll need to add a reference to WixUIExtension to your WiX project. See here for more details.

How do I tell wix to install a file in a directory set in a property?

I want to do the following where XLSTART is defined as:
<CustomAction Id="AssignXLSTART" Return="check" Execute="firstSequence" Directory ='XLSTART' Value='[AppDataFolder]\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART'>
</CustomAction>
And then I have a subsequent CustomAction that calls some C# code that may change this value.
And then in the list of files to install I have:
<Directory Id="XlStartFolderId" Name="[XLSTART]">
<Component Id="ExcelMacro_xla" Guid="26D21093-B617-4fb8-A5E7-016493D46055" DiskId="1">
<File Id="ExcelXLA" Name="AutoTagExcelMacro.xlam" ShortName="XLMacro.xla" Source="$(var.srcFolder)\AutoTagExcelMacro.xlam"/>
</Component>
</Directory>
But the above puts it in the INSTALLDIR[XLSTART]. How do I get it to read this as a property?
You should be able to install to the userprofile directory you refer to like this:
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="LocalAppDataFolder">
<Directory Id="Microsoft" Name="Microsoft">
<Directory Id="Excel" Name="Excel">
<Directory Id="XLSTART" Name="XLSTART">
<Component Id="ExcelAddIn" Feature="MyFeature" Guid="{11111-1111-GUID-HERE-YOURGUIDHERE}">
<File Source="C:\SourceFiles\MyAddin.xla" />
<RemoveFolder Id="Microsoft" On="uninstall" Directory="Microsoft" />
<RemoveFolder Id="Excel" On="uninstall" Directory="Excel" />
<RemoveFolder Id="XLSTART" On="uninstall" Directory="XLSTART" />
<RegistryValue Root="HKCU" Key="Software\MySoftware" Name="installed" Type="integer" Value="1" KeyPath="yes" />
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Directory>
I would suggest you use the per-machine xlstart folder instead - if it still exists. I am not sure it does. The the addin is loaded for every user on the box on every launch. Generally I prefer this. It has been ages since I looked at this, so this could have changed in newer Office versions - in fact I am sure it has, but the details are unclear to me.
System Folder Properties: There are a number of System Folder Properties that can be used in MSI files to specify installation location - LocalAppDataFolder is just one of them: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/msi/property-reference#system-folder-properties
Figured it out. You need to install to the INSTALLDIR and then use CopyFile
<!-- place it in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Root\Office16\XLSTART\ -->
<Component Id="ExcelMacro_xla" Guid="26D21093-B617-4fb8-A5E7-016493D46055" DiskId="1">
<File Id="ExcelXLA" Name="AutoTagExcelMacro.xlam" ShortName="XLMacro.xla" Source="$(var.srcFolder)\AutoTagExcelMacro.xlam">
<CopyFile Id='CopyXlMacro' DestinationProperty='XLPATH' DestinationName='AutoTagExcelMacro.xlam'/>
</File>
</Component>

Wix Installer TARGETDIR INSTALLDIR set to E:\

I am struggling with Wix installer. During the install, the INSTALLDIR is overridden to a custom folder (not in Program Files). When I uninstall, the INSTALLDIR and the TARGETDIR gets set to E:\ no matter what I do.
How do I fix this? Here are the relevant snippets:
<Property Id="ARPINSTALLLOCATION">
<RegistrySearch Id="GetINSTALLDIRFromRegistry" Root="HKLM"
Key="Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\[ProductCode]" Name="InstallLocation" Type="raw" />
</Property>
<SetDirectory Id="TARGETDIR" Value="[ARPINSTALLLOCATION]">Installed</SetDirectory>
<SetProperty Id="ARPINSTALLLOCATION" Value="[INSTALLDIR]" After="CreateFolders" Sequence="execute">NOT Installed</SetProperty>
<Fragment>
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="INSTALLDIR" Name="WinApp">
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Fragment>
Thanks in advance. I am using Wix Tools 3.10.
Update 1
Here are my findings (for now. please correct me as I am still new to Wix)
Contrary to popular belief, the installer does not seem to set the install folders automatically during uninstall.
An important exception to the above rule is when the install folders are "well known" folders like ProgramFilesFolder.
So, If you set your directory structure to this:
<Fragment>
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="INSTALLDIR">
<Directory Id="TEST" Name="WinApp" />
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Fragment>
You must set the INSTALLDIR directory through a property assignment or through a custom action. For example:
<Property Id="INSTALLDIR"><![CDATA[C:\mydir1\mydir1]]></Property>
If you set INSTALLDIR dynamically through a dialog box, you must read it from the registry or from a file (where you stored it during the install).
Update 2
Slightly improved version
<SetProperty Id="ARPINSTALLLOCATION" Value="[INSTALLDIR]" Sequence="execute" After="InstallFiles" />
<Property Id="INSTALLDIR" Secure="yes">
<RegistrySearch Id="Locate_EXISTINGINSTALLDIR" Root="HKLM" Key="Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\[ProductCode]" Name="InstallLocation" Type="directory" />
</Property>
<CustomAction Id="SetTARGETDIR"
Directory="TARGETDIR"
Value="[INSTALLDIR]"
Return="check" />
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<!--this action launches a window to allow the user to choose the folder. don't want
to use standard MSI/Wix dialogs as the functionality is limited
-->
<Custom Action='SelectFolderCustomAction' Before='CreateFolders'>NOT Installed</Custom>
<!--<Custom Action='RegistrationInfoCustomAction' Before='InstallFinalize'>NOT Installed</Custom>-->
<!--<Custom Action='UninstallCustomAction' Before='RemoveFiles'>Installed AND REMOVE = "ALL"</Custom>-->
<Custom Action="SetTARGETDIR" Before="RemoveFiles">Installed AND REMOVE = "ALL"</Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
I dont understand what you are trying to do above. Why are you reading the install location from the registry?
This is what I do for installing to "D:\Program Files" folder.
<Property Id="ROOTDRIVE"><![CDATA[D:\]]></Property>
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="ProgramFiles" Name="Program Files">
Remove the SetDirectory element, it's obsolete. When the product is already installed, Windows Installer automatically sets the directory properties to the pathes of the actual installation directories.
The RegistrySearch for ARPINSTALLLOCATION looks strange too. Normally this property should only be set during first install, which you already do by using the SetProperty element.
So the following should be enough:
<SetProperty Id="ARPINSTALLLOCATION" Value="[INSTALLDIR]" After="CreateFolders" Sequence="execute">NOT Installed</SetProperty>
<Fragment>
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="INSTALLDIR" Name="WinApp"/>
</Directory>
</Fragment>

Why do we get an ICE57 error for non advertised shortcuts in per machine installations?

This question is asking whether one of the ICE57 validators creates a false positive error report.
I am using WIX 3.9 to generate an installer. I want a per machine installation with non advertised shortcuts.
This WXS example installs a text file and a shortcut to open the text file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
<Product Id="*" Name="ShortcutTest" Language="1033"
Version="1.0.0.0" Manufacturer="Widget Co"
UpgradeCode="--YOUR GUID1--">
<Package InstallerVersion="200" Compressed="yes" InstallScope="perMachine" />
<MajorUpgrade DowngradeErrorMessage="A newer version of [ProductName] is already installed." />
<MediaTemplate EmbedCab="yes"/>
<Feature Id="ProductFeature" Title="ShortcutTest" Level="1">
<ComponentRef Id="TextFile" />
<ComponentRef Id="ShortCut" />
</Feature>
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
<Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Name="ShortcutTest">
<Component Id="TextFile" Guid="--YOUR GUID2--">
<File Id="File" Name="TextFile.txt" Source="TextFile.txt" KeyPath="yes"/>
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
<Directory Id="ProgramMenuFolder">
<Directory Id="ApplicationProgramsFolder" Name="Shortcut Test">
<Component Id="ShortCut" Guid="--YOUR GUID3--">
<RegistryValue Root="HKMU" Key="Software\WidgetCo\ReadMeTextFile\TextFile" Name="Installed" Type="string" Value="yes" KeyPath="yes"/>
<Shortcut Id="Shortcut"
Name="Open Text File"
Description="Opens a text file"
Target="[INSTALLFOLDER]TextFile.txt"
WorkingDirectory="INSTALLFOLDER"/>
<RemoveFolder Id="ApplicationProgramsFolder" Directory="ApplicationProgramsFolder" On="uninstall"/>
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Product>
</Wix>
If you build the above example into an MSI package, you get this Internal Consistency Evaluator (ICE) error:
D:\Robert\Documents\Visual Studio 2013\Projects\ShortcutTest\Product.wxs(27,0): error LGHT0204: ICE57: Component 'ShortCut' has both per-user data and a keypath that can be either per-user or per-machine.
ICE57 is implying an inconsistency between per-user and per-machine data. But, the key path of the component is HKMU, which in a per machine installation resolves to HKLM (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE). The location of the shortcut derives from 'ProgramMenuFolder', which in a per-machine installation resolves to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\ (on Windows 8.1). None of the component's resources appear to have any per-user association.
You can build the installer package into an MSI by suppressing ICE57. The resulting MSI package installs without any obvious errors. Multiple users can log on and access the shortcut. Any user can un-install the package and all of the resources in the package are removed.
The answer to Wix create non advertised shortcut for all users / per machine has an interesting workaround, which is to author advertised shortcuts and then turn off advertising. Seems a round about way of creating un-advertised shortcuts.
A common fix for the ICE57 error is to change the <RegistryValue...> root to HKCU (HKEY_CURRENT_USER). However this creates an installer that can leave a user registry key behind when un-installed. For example if user A installs the package, a registry entry is added to user A's registry hive. If user B removes the package, the registry entry is not removed from user A's registry hive.
In this scenario is the ICE57 error a bug in the Internal Consistency Evaluators? Or is there something I have miss-understood?
While researching another problem I found this comment on http://sourceforge.net/p/wix/mailman/message/26687047/ from Rob Mensching:
IIRC, this is a bug in ICE57. The Windows Installer team didn't look at
ALLUSERS property when evaluating these values... that was a long time ago
though so my memory may have decayed a bit.
It looks like a bug in ICE57.
Move your Shortcut to the be a child of File and add the Adversite="yes" attribute. The RegistryValue should do the trick for converting the shortcut from perUser to perMachine.
<Fragment>
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
<Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Name="MyApp" />
</Directory>
<Directory Id="ProgramMenuFolder" Name="Programs">
<Directory Id="ApplicationProgramsFolder" Name="My App Name" />
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Fragment>
<Fragment>
<ComponentGroup Id="ComponentGroup_Core">
<Component Id="Component_App" Guid="INSERT_GUID_HERE" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
<RegistryValue Root="HKCU" Key="Software\[Manufacturer]\[AppName]"
Name="AppInstalled" Type="string" Value="yes" KeyPath="yes"/>
<File Id="MyApp" Name="My Test App.txt">
<Shortcut Id="Shortcut"
Name="Open Text File"
Description="Opens a text file"
Directory="ApplicationProgramsFolder"
WorkingDirectory="INSTALLFOLDER" />
</File>
</Component>
<Component Id="Component_MenuFolder" Guid="INSERT_GUID_HERE"
Directory="ApplicationProgramsFolder">
<RegistryValue Root="HKCU" Key="Software\[Manufacturer]\[AppName]"
Name="MenuFolderInstalled" Type="string" Value="yes"
KeyPath="yes"/>
<RemoveFolder Id="RemoveFolder_App" On="uninstall" />
</Component>
</ComponentGroup>
</Fragment>

WiX RemoveFolderEx 'Missing Folder Property'

I'm trying to use RemoveFolderEx to remove the Roaming/MyApp folder after uninstall, howver, after using the 'msiexec /i /l*v' command and checking the installer logs, I come across this:
MSI (s) (64:40) [10:30:45:254]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL:
C:\Windows\Installer\MSI860E.tmp, Entrypoint: WixRemoveFoldersEx MSI
(s) (64:74) [10:30:45:254]: Generating random cookie. MSI (s) (64:74)
[10:30:45:256]: Created Custom Action Server with PID 52380 (0xCC9C).
MSI (s) (64:8C) [10:30:45:657]: Running as a service. MSI (s) (64:8C)
[10:30:45:704]: Hello, I'm your 32bit Impersonated custom action
server. WixRemoveFoldersEx: Error 0x80070057: Missing folder
property: APPLICATIONFOLDER for row:
wrf4C77709F2CC40D572056B8DB1B2D0A3E CustomAction WixRemoveFoldersEx
returned actual error code 1603 but will be translated to success due
to continue marking Action ended 10:30:45: WixRemoveFoldersEx. Return
value 1.
I just cant seem to get it it to work. I followed this guide to implement it: http://www.hass.de/content/wix-how-use-removefolderex-your-xml-scripts
Here is my Wix code:
<Property Id="APPLICATIONFOLDER">
<RegistrySearch Key="Software\Wah\MyApp" Root="HKCU" Type="raw"
Id="REGSEARCH" Name="Path" />
</Property>
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="AppDataFolder">
<Directory Id="PrivateData" Name="MyApp">
<Component Id="RemovePrivateData" Guid="*">
<RegistryValue Root="HKCU" Key="Software\Wah\MyApp"
Name="Path" Type="string"
Value="[AppDataFolder]" KeyPath="yes"/>
<util:RemoveFolderEx On="uninstall"
Property="APPLICATIONFOLDER"/>
<RemoveFolder Id="AppDataFolder" On="uninstall"/>
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Directory>
After looking at Regedit, the value does get set to the correct path.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I've looked at practically every issue with RemoveFolderEx and it hasn't particularly helped.
EDIT: I've fixed this issue by adding a 'Secure="yes"' attribute to my APPLICATIONFOLDER property, like so:
<Property Id="APPLICATIONFOLDER" Secure="yes">
<RegistrySearch Key="Software\Wah\MyApp" Root="HKCU" Type="raw"
Id="REGSEARCH" Name="Path" />
</Property>