I'm writing an installer using WiX 3.7. The installer will install an old VB6 program (it's a vendor-proprietary program for which I do not have the source code). As such, this program makes use of some old COM libraries that are not installed with the most recent versions of Windows (e.g. Windows 7 and beyond—not sure about Vista or XP).
Since I recently learned that COM libraries can now be installed privately without global system registration using registry-free COM registration, this is precisely what I intend to do for those COM libraries that are no longer distributed with the Windows OS.
To that end, I've created the required manifest files that will be used to lookup all the COM registration information when the library is loaded and used by the application. I've created MSI components for these libraries. Here's the relevant WiX markup for these two libraries (I've removed my GUIDs for the components so no one copies them for their own installer):
<Component Id="C__MsComm32.ocx" Guid="PUT-YOUR-GUID-HERE" DiskId="1">
<File Id="F__MsComm32.ocx" Vital="yes" KeyPath="yes"
Assembly="win32"
AssemblyApplication="F__MyApp.exe"
AssemblyManifest="F__MsComm32.sxs.manifest"
Name="mscomm32.ocx" Source="[to be filled in]" />
<File Id="F__MsComm32.sxs.manifest" Vital="yes" KeyPath="no"
Name="mscomm32.sxs.manifest" Source="[to be filled in]" />
</Component>
<Component Id="C__threed32.ocx" Guid="PUT-YOUR-GUID-HERE" DiskId="1">
<File Id="F__threed32.ocx" Vital="yes" KeyPath="yes"
Assembly="win32"
AssemblyApplication="F__MyApp.exe"
AssemblyManifest="F__threed32.sxs.manifest"
Name="threed32.ocx" Source="[to be filled in]" />
<File Id="F__threed32.sxs.manifest" Vital="yes" KeyPath="no"
Name="threed32.sxs.manifest" Source="[to be filled in]" />
</Component>
In order for all of this to work, I also need to provide a manifest file for the application exectuable, called MyApp.exe.manifest that tells the OS which assemblies this application depends on. So I also created the requisite manifest file. Now I need to create the component (or components) for deploying the application and its manifest.
According to the VS intellisense for File/#Assembly:
Specifies if this File is a Win32 Assembly or .NET Assembly that needs to be installed into the Global Assembly Cache (GAC). If the value is '.net' or 'win32', this file must also be the key path of the Component.
And then, for File/#AssemblyManifest:
Specifies the File identifier of the manifest file that describes the assembly. The manifest should be in the same Component as the assembly it describes. This attribute may only be specified if the Assembly attribute is set to '.net' or 'win32'.
That's all well and good, and I understand all of that completely. So for my application's File element in WiX, I have this so far:
<File Id="F__MyApp.exe" Vital="yes" KeyPath="yes"
Assembly="win32"
AssemblyManifest="F__MyApp.exe.manifest" />
Now, what I don't understand is the intellisense for the File/#AssemblyApplication attribute:
Specifies the identifier for the application file. This assembly will be isolated to the same directory as the application file. If this attribute is absent, the assembly will be installed to the Global Assembly Cache (GAC).
Obviously, I don't want my application installed into the GAC (and, I think it shouldn't be since I set File/#Assembly to win32). The question is, can the File/#AssemblyApplication attribute value point to its parent element's #Id attribute? For example:
<Component Id="C__MyApp.exe" Guid="PUT-YOUR-GUID-HERE" DiskId="1">
<File Id="F__MyApp.exe" Vital="yes" KeyPath="yes"
Assembly="win32"
AssemblyManifest="F__MyApp.exe.manifest"
AssemblyApplication="F__MyApp.exe" />
<!-- #AssemblyApplication references it's parent element's #Id attribute. -->
<File Id="F__MyApp.exe.manifest" Vital="yes" KeyPath="no"
Name="MyApp.exe.manifest" Source="[to be filled in]" />
</Component>
Is this the correct way to author the Component element for my application which contains an application manifest? Or should I forget about setting the various Assembly* attributes and create two Components, one for the application executable and another for its manifest?
Isolated COM: What you need is an isolated COM component, this is a different concept than Win32 assemblies (WinSxS) and .NET
assemblies (GAC).
Quick Advice:
My 2 Cents: Run this legacy application on a virtual machine instead! Problem solved? (problem removed maybe).
Warning: the below was written in a rush. I will check it again later.
The real expert on this (of old) is Wim Coenen - not sure he lurks this tag anymore:
Generate manifest files for registration-free COM
Side-By-Side: These two types of assembles are win32 files installed side-by-side (WinSxS) or .NET assemblies installed side-by-side (GAC) respectively. So that means old Win32 files (native code) and modern .NET assemblies (managed code - .NET runtime required). Side-by-side obviously means that different versions of the same file (referred to as assembly) can co-exist and you can load the one you require by means of a manifest.
Isolated COM: Isolated COM is something completely different. It is the installation and invocation of COM servers without any registry entanglements - all happening from within the same installation folder. I often refer to this as "registrationless COM" - an odd term perhaps.
What it means is that you can load incompatible COM server versions
from the local installation folder for whatever binary consumes them.
All you need to do is to dump the COM server and its manifest in the
local installation folder. No need for Win32 or .NET assembly
installation. See below for reality check...
This "solves" a huge problem with COM, namely the per-machine or global registration nature of COM servers. In other words there is usually only one version of the COM server installed (though it is technically possible to install different flavors of COM servers it was usually not done - a nightmare of GUIDs and IDs to change).
It also helps to isolate your application from dirty packages, installers, scripts and applications that trigger COM registration conflict in the registry. A very problematic issue ever since COM arrived.
WiX Markup: Just install the COM server and the manifest file in the same folder:
<Component>
<File Source="mscomm32.ocx" />
<File Source="mscomm32.sxs.manifest" />
</Component>
<Component>
<File Source="threed32.ocx" />
<File Source="threed32.sxs.manifest" />
</Component>
Reality Check: My experience is that it is very hard to get isolated COM to work when you don't have access to the source code in question. The reason is that COM is a binary standard / binary reuse. As I understand it you need the exact same version of the files involved for this isolated COM to work properly. All files in correct version. That is not to say that people have not succeeded using the approach, but I have generally suggested that people go virtual instead: rely on virtual machines to run these legacy applications.
I have this old answer with more context: What do I do when launching an application triggers repeating, endless Windows Installer self-repair? (see registration-less COM section).
Related
I have Wix project in which I need a common used dll library to be installed if it's absent.
If this dll exists I should not overwrite it.
So, when I set DefaultVersion="0.0.0.0" this dll is not overwritten if it exists, its ok. But when I delete app, the dll is beeing removed. How do I prevent removing dll in the case when it existed before installation?
I don't want to make it permanent because it should be removed if it didn't exist before installation.
<Component Id="myLib.dll" Permanent="no" Directory="Shared_Dir">
<File Name="myLib.dll" KeyPath="yes"
Source="mySource\myLib.dll"
DefaultVersion="0.0.0.0"
/>
Add reference to WixUtilExtension and xmlns:util="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/UtilExtension" attribute to Wix element in your code.
Define <Property Id="Dll_Installed" Value="false"/> in Product element.
Add child <Condition>NOT Dll_Installed</Condition> to component myLib.dll.
Add that somewhere in your code:
<Fragment>
<util:FileSearch
Id="Dll_Installed"
Variable="Dll_Installed"
Path="[Shared_Dir]myLib.dll"
Result="exists"/>
</Fragment>
DefaultVersion attribute is not necessary.
The feature you are describing is reference counting. The Windows Installer reference counts with Components. Components are identified by their GUID.
So the normal way to address this requirement is to put the File in a Component and make sure the GUID of the Component is stable. The WiX Toolset should do exactly that automatically if if you do not specify the Component/#Guid attribute.
So the default behavior should just work for you.
The only other piece of the puzzle is the Windows Installer will install the latest version of a file. If the file version is the same or less the file will not be installed but will be reference counted.
Based on the details in the question it seems like you should be just fine with:
<Component Directory="Shared_Dir">
<File Source="mySource\myLib.dll" />
</Component>
One might ask why the Windows Installer use Components to reference count files. We'll, it allows you to group other resources, like registry keys, together and control their install as a unit. Much more important if you are installing COM servers than plain old files.
The Wix source code that I feed to the Wix compiler to build an MSI package for my application, contains the following PermissionEx directive, part of a file component which Windows Installer should install with additional (to those that should be inherited by default) permissions:
<PermissionEx Sddl="D:AR(A;;FW;;;BU)" />
As you can surmise, I intend to install the file with inherited permissions ("AR") included in its ACL and on top of that allow members of the Built-in Users group ("BU") to be allowed ("A") to write to the file ("FW").
The code above does not have the desired effect -- the file is installed, but only that single explicit ACE is listed, none of the ACEs that are supposed to be inherited from parent folder.
In contrast, if I subsequently remove all permissions from the file and run cacls file /S:D:AR(A;;FW;;;BU), i.e. specify exactly the same SDDL string, it does work as intended -- the permissions from parent are inherited and form part of the ACL, together with the explicit non-inherited ACE.
I am using Wix 3.11.1.2318 and the Windows Installer version is 5.0.16299.611, all running on Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit. Orca tells me the MsiLockPermissionsEx table embedded in my built MSI file is populated with the intended SDDL record. So why is the file created without inheriting permissions from its containing folder?
I tried to use "AI" in place of "AR", and both strings together, but none of it had any effect either.
Is this some known limitation or a quirk with Windows Installer? I know that people were talking a while back how the old LockPermissions table (the one specified for Windows Installer versions earlier than 5) was inadequate in this specific regard -- inherited permissions, namely -- but they also said Microsoft was out to address this very issue with the new table feature.
Otherwise what am I doing wrong?
Given your knowledge in this field, you probably have already tried this. It would also be much better to eliminate the need for permissioning, but two snippets for you - notice the Append attribute:
Create a WiX project in Visual Studio. Add the Util namespace to the WiX element:
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"
xmlns:util="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/UtilExtension">
In Visual Studio project, right click References and add reference to "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\WiX Toolset v3.11\bin\WixUtilExtension.dll".
Permission Folder:
<Component Feature="ProductFeature" Id="Test.exe" Guid="PUT-GUID-HERE">
<File Source="C:\Test.exe" />
<CreateFolder>
<util:PermissionEx User="Power Users" GenericWrite="yes" />
</CreateFolder>
</Component>
Permission File:
<Component>
<File Source="C:\Test2.exe">
<util:PermissionEx Append="yes" User="Users" GenericWrite="yes" />
</File>
</Component>
Take a look at WiX's custom PermissionEx in the Util extension.
http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/xsd/util/permissionex.html
I'd like to parse merge module files into two different locations. Is it possible?
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="MergeRedirectFolder">
<Component Id="LoggerClient" Guid="*">
<File Id="log4net" Name="log4net.dll" Source="..\..\_Release\log4net.dll" KeyPath='yes' />
<File Id="LoggerLibrary" Name="LoggerLibrary.dll" Source="..\..\_$(var.Configuration)\LoggerLibrary.dll" />
<File Id="app.config" Name="app.config.xml" Source="..\..\_Release\app.config.xml" />
<File Id="msvcr110.dll" Name="msvcr110.dll" Source="c:\windows\sysWoW64\msvcr110.dll" />
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Module>
<Merge Id ="MergeModule.msm" Language ="!(loc.Lang)" SourceFile ="_$(var.Configuration)\MergeModule.msm" DiskId ="1" />
I want the second file to copy to a different folder than the other files.
There is a concept for that, it is called a retargetable merge module. I have avoided used it - the concept doesn't seem right to me. I have not tried to make one with Wix.
I think you could combine a Wix include file (simple sample) with the new auto-generated component guids to deploy such duplicated files reliably by adding an Include statement where appropriate. You must not hard code the guids in this case, but let them be auto generated by the Wix compiler and linker.
Also have a read of WixLibs (Wix library files): http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2008/10/10/what-are-.wixlibs-and-why-would-you-use-them/
Wix documentation; http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/overview/files.html
Merge modules are for installing common runtimes and genuinly shared files. Typically C and C++ runtimes and other, similar libraries that should be available in the latest version for all applications.
Your files look like they are part of your application folder, with the exception of msvcr110.dll which you should remove and allow to be loaded from the system folder.
If the remaining files have no per-machine registration (COM for example or COM Interop), you can duplicate them in several folders without interference, yes, but why not load them from a shared location inside your own application folder structure?
%ProgramFiles%\My Company\My Shared Runtimes
%ProgramFiles%\My Company\My Apps\My App 1\
%ProgramFiles%\My Company\My Apps\My App 2\
These sample folders you "own" and you can deploy things here however you like. Not so for shared, system folders. You could make your own merge module for shared components between your applications into "My Shared Runtimes" and make your applications aware of the shared location "....\MySharedRuntimes\"
It depends on what you mean by different locations. You can build a merge module with 4 files, each in their own component and directory. One could go to the CommonFilesFolder; another to the SystemFolder; another to...you get the idea. So it's potentially easy if you make each file its own component in its own directory. However you've got them all under TARGETDIR, so you're going the wrong direction. You just define the other directory and that other component and file and you might be done, unless there's more to the question than meets the eye.
I would suggest contacting me privately for a few 30-60 minute conversation on MSI, component rules, Merge Modules and file set theory. It's too much to write. In a nutshell I would advise more merge modules.
I am trying to recreate the functionality of a legacy installer using WixSharp. In the legacy Setup Project, some of the third party DLL's were marked "vsdrfCOMSelfReg". I have seen in various places that you can add to the File tag SelfRegCost="0" but it is highly frowned upon.
How can I properly register a COM DLL using WixSharp? Is there a way to just add SelfRegCost field to the File tag for the DLL from WixSharp?
It's true that you can say something like SelfRegCost=1 in the File element, but every install guy will tell you it's evil, as you discovered. The non-evil way is to use heat.exe on the Dll to extract the registration data into a wxs file. If necessary add interface entries for type library data by running heat.exe on a tlb file. Heat is just a WiX tool, I don't see how WiXSharp is involved.
The point is that registration data is static and can be stored in the MSI via WiX and simply written to the system at install time without requiring the Dll to be loaded and called.
After some further source browsing and experimentation, I figured out how to force the evil approach through WixSharp. I also later discovered that this was somewhat covered by the WixSharp Sample "CustomAttributes".
"Evil Way"
File LibToReg = new File("..\Path\To\LibToReg.dll");
LibToReg.AttributesDefinition += "SelfRegCost=1";
Alternatively (based on the CustomAttributes sample):
File LibToReg = new File("..\Path\To\LibToReg.dll")
{
Attributes = new Attributes() { { "SelfRegCost", "1" } }
};
This will generate the following wxs underneath:
<Component Id="Component.LibToReg.dll" Guid="EABD7A49-26DD-4720-AE5A-AA9EEFD8C91A">
<File Id="File.LibToReg.dll" Source="..\Path\To\LibToReg.dll" SelfRegCost="1" />
</Component>
The rest of the generated code looks the same as any other DLL that is installed.
For reference, here is the original wxs source that was generated from the original Setup Project using "VDProj to WiX Converter" from Add-In Express. I believe the SelfRegCost="0" was added by the converter, but a co-worker may have manually added it in afterwards.
<Component Id='com_FB7105EC_5352_4561_AE01_405562F0EA1E' Guid='6718170E-0335-4FD6-A1E8-D9E926DDE3EC' Permanent='no' SharedDllRefCount='no' Transitive='no'>
<File Id='_FB7105EC_5352_4561_AE01_405562F0EA1E' DiskId='1' Hidden='no' ReadOnly='no' SelfRegCost='0' System='no' Vital='yes' Compressed='yes' Name='LibToReg.dll' Source='..\Path\To\LibToReg.dll' KeyPath='yes' />
</Component>
When I create a Windows Installer package (say using WiX) and I install the application App.exe as well as the App.exe.config should the config file have its own component or should it be a companion file to the application executable?
<Component Id="C.App.exe">
<File Source="App.exe"/>
</Component>
<Component Id="C.App.exe.config">
<File Source="App.exe.config"/>
</Component>
versus
<Component Id="C.App.exe" Guid="PUT-GUID-HERE">
<File Id="F.App.exe" Source="App.exe"/>
<File Source="App.exe.config" CompanionFile="F.App.exe"/>
</Component>
If I install different App.exe.config files depending on some external property (say run-time environment like test or release) does that affect what choice I should make?
The answer is it depends. Rob's article mentioned by Yan is a good read, here is another:
Defining Installer Components
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368269(VS.85).aspx
The trick is to understand how costing and repairs are based on keyfiles, how the default versioning rules work, how you plan on servicing your application in the future and making your decision based on that.
It is recommended to put a single resource (file, registry key, etc.) into a single component. In this case this resource is a KeyPath of the component. Windows Installer watches the key path of each component to decide if it worth installing, repairing, upgrading, etc.
This article of Rob Mensching explains the things in detail.