I have an existing large WiX install that has already been released. I need to create a small install for just a couple of files that have changed. I have created a patch (.MSP file) in WiX for these few files using the "PatchCreation" element. When the patch is run, it presents the user with a "Reinstall/Repair/Remove" dialog. If the user selects repair, the patch does exactly what it is supposed to. My problem here is that I don't want the patch to say "repair," or to give the user these options. I just want it to install over the few files I have, more or less like a regular install. What can I do to fix this?
MSI implements patches as repairs. In WiX v3.5, the WixUI dialog library has dialogs that are displayed when installing patches.
I have found a more flexible way to work around this, thanks to some help I found here. If you start MSIExec with command-line options (for example, "msiexec /p [patch file] REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=omus"), you can get the install to start up without the "Repair" option coming up. You can also use the IExpress tool (which is shipped with Windows, and can be brought up in a command-prompt) to create a wrapper/bootstrapper that will start the MSP file from MSIExec.
Thanks very much to the answers I received. I would not have figured this out without your help.
I partially agree with Bob. Patches in WiX are applied through a repair, but Windows Installer does support a standalone patch installation. Other setup authoring tools can create them.
Regarding the WiX patch, I recommend using a custom bootstrapper which applies the patch automatically.
Related
When installing my software I need to take care another msi package is uninstalled before. Is this possible? Can burn do this for me?
MSI / Major Upgrade: You can add entries to the Upgrade table in one or all of the MSI files you install. Then the older / other MSI will be uninstalled before (or after) your MSI is installed. This is MSI's built in "major upgrade" feature intended to deliver upgrades for your own products, but you can uninstall any product you want that is MSI-based - even a competitive product - only if you are nuts, and do call legal first :-). Maybe see this description (related problem at least): Adding entries to MSI UpgradeTable to remove related products.
Burn: Burn can run EXE files that can initiate uninstall of pre-existing MSI files, but I would never choose this approach when you can use the above built-in MSI approach instead. I am not sure if you can call msiexec.exe directly via the ExePackage element of Burn, but you trigger the uninstall from within a custom made EXE file in a myriad of ways: Uninstalling an MSI file from the command line without using msiexec. It depends what your EXE is written in. If it is managed code, maybe use the DTF method (option 6 in the linked answer). If it is C++, maybe use the MSI API Win32 functions. See option 14 in the linked answer. I guess you can also chose to shell out to msiexec.exe (option 3). My advice: always go native code for deployment. Your setup must work on any machine, in any language, in any state and in any OS edition. There are many further variables. Minimal dependencies is the only cure.
I have an old installer that is made with InstallShield 2015, its non-MSI based (I tried opening it with 7zip and could not --> non-MSI based, am I right?).
In general, I need to stop using InstallShield and migrate to Wix.
Is it possible some how to convert InstallShield it to Wix?
Using Wix, I need to detect if a previous version (the InstallShield version) is currently installed and automatically uninstall it and then continue with the normal Wix process. Is such a thing possible?
Thank You :-)
I'll add a quick answer for reference, though the problem appears solved already.
If the old Installshield setup is an MSI, you can use dark.exe from the WiX toolkit to "disassemble" an MSI into WiX source code (dark.exe can also decompile WiX setup.exe bundles - there is a somewhat messy description of this here: How can I compare the content of two (or more) MSI files?).
After some cleanup you can compile the WiX source to a new WiX-built MSI. A bit of knowledge and experience is needed for the cleanup to be successful (eliminating GUI sections, add a WiX GUI, realign source paths, clean up binary stream tables, etc... - not trivial, but not rocket science :-).
If the old setup was a legacy installer (not MSI), you can convert it to MSI by using a repackager tool to capture changes done to the system during installation and convert them to an MSI. A lot of knowledge is required to clean up such a capture. If you know the product it is often better to code a new setup "by hand". Or if you are in a large corporation chances are you will have a "repackaging team" available somewhere who will have the expertise to do this job for you.
Yes, old setups can be uninstalled as part of your new MSI.
As you discovered if the old setup was an MSI you can simply use a major upgrade to remove it during the new WiX install.
If the old version was a legacy setup things can get considerably more involved often requiring you to "record" a dialog response file to feed to the uninstaller function of the old setup.exe file. Not at all trivial, and quite error prone. Incidentally one of the major benefits of MSI is the completely suppressible GUI.
For reference, here is an old answer with information on dealing with the infamous setup.exe files that we frequently have to uninstall and upgrade:
How can I use powershell to run through an installer? The setup.exe can be many different things: Installshield Setup, Advanced Installer Setup, Inno Setup, Self-Extracting Zip-Archive, a proprietary setup format, the list goes on...
We use InstallShield InstallScript projects to create our installers and are looking for a good way to migrate to the WiX Toolset. As far as I know there is no UpgradeCode (as for MSI) to update from an Installshield InstallScript project to a WiX project.
The only solution I found so far is:
manually save configurations
uninstall the InstallScript installation completely
install the WiX installation
apply the saved configurations
Is there a better way?
Ok after all those comments I think I understand why this is such an issue. Unfortunately I don't think there is a very simple way to do waht you want to do.
I think your method will be the only real way to migrate from this isntallscript setup based installation. There should be some registry entry in HKLM/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Uninstall that relates to your product. In here there may be a uninstall command which you could read into a Variable from your burn package and pass that value as a property to your msi.
In you MSI you can have 3 custom actions specifically related to upgrading from the installshield product installation. All these tasks should be deferred custom actions so that they can run with administrator elevation. The first task should copy all the configuration settings to a safe place (generally %temp%\ProductConfig\ would be fine). The second part after saving the configuration would run that uninstall command to remove the product, you may need to append /q or something to make it run passively/quietly. Then at the end of the installation you can copy back the configuration files from temp.
Each of the custom actions should run conditionally on whether or not the property you passed in is set to something. I would schedule the copy cofig after InstallInitialize, the uninstall after the copy and the restore before InstallFinalize just to ensure that everything is copied over after the installer puts all the files on the system.
Ideally you would like to get everything to upgrade without the user needing to interact except in a minimal way by clicking next and Install.
I've only dealt with InstallShield enough to know I really don't like it so if someone else knows more and knows of a better way to do it they'll hopefully chime in.
I am trying to call a msi inside wix bootstrapper program.It is working properly at the time of installation.And selected features are installed properly.But after installation i am trying to modify the installed features.In the control panel there is change button.But when i click it then it is showing a dialog with Repair, uninstall, cancel buttons.There is no modify button for modifying the features of installer.
Please specify the solution if any.
code inside Bootstrappertheme.wxl is
<!-- Modify dialog -->
<String Id="ModifyHeader">Modify Setup</String>
<String Id="ModifyNotice">[WixBundleName] is already installed on this machine. If it's not working correctly, you may repair it. You may also uninstall it.</String>
<String Id="ModifyRepairButton">&Repair</String>
<String Id="ModifyUninstallButton">&Uninstall</String>
<String Id="ModifyCloseButton">&Cancel</String>
The wix standard bootsrapper application does not currently support msi feature selection. Currently, the only way to get it is to create a custom bootstrapper application. People have asked about this on the WiX mailing list multiple times. Rob Mensching is the project leader, and Bob Arnson currently manages the 3.x branch.
This guide: Writing Your Own .Net-based Installer with WiX is the best resource I know about for building one in WPF. The actual WiX source code is very helpful as well. It's a very big task though.
I don't have a sample project to share with you, but the blog post I mentioned above does have a section "HANDLING CURRENT & FUTURE STATE" which describes how to do this. I think it really is a terrific resource.
Also, see this question: Custom WiX Burn bootstrapper user interface?
Burn GUI
Burn GUI is very different from MSI-GUI. Here is an older, similar answer
Please also see comments in these answers:
On customized GUI
Changing text color to Wix dialogs
Custom WiX Managed Bootstrapper Application
MSI File
What dialog set are you using for the MSI files? Have you tried enabling the advanced dialog set? I haven't tried it yet: http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/wixui/dialog_reference/wixui_advanced.html
WixUI Dialogs:
http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/wixui/dialog_reference/wixui_dialogs.html
Tutorial:
http://wix.tramontana.co.hu/tutorial/user-interface/ui-wizardry
It might be possible to use Orca (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255905) to edit the MSI and resave it so that it, without special configuration in wix, automatically has the Modify option in Programs and Features. When creating an MSI from scratch (using InstallShield for example), the user can specify which options are available. There should be a way to edit the file to accomplish the same thing.
When you open up the "Change" feature from the Programs and Features menu, it reruns a cached version of the MSI installer in maintenance mode. Regardless of what program is bootstrapping the MSI (wix vs InstallShield), the MSI is the only thing that Windows knows about. If it is not configured to have a Modify option, it won't have it.
My Wix installer worked installing my program, but it's broken for uninstallation. A file is removed too early, and it's needed further down the line. The uninstaller fails and reverts its changes.
This means I can't remove the package from my machine, and hence can't install any further builds of my installer (a considerable inconvenience). How can I force removal of the package?
Update, Stein Åsmul: Injecting this newer list of cleanup approaches.
Find your package in C:\Windows\Installer, where Windows keeps copies of installed MSI packages. The names are generated randomly, so you'll have to look at the creation dates of the files.
Open the MSI file with Orca. (Unfortunately there is no simple download for the orca installer. You can get it by installing the "MSI Tools" of the Windows 10 SDK, and then searching for orca.msi in C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits.)
Delete the offending custom action from the CustomAction table
Now you should be able to uninstall the package.
UPDATE: You can find the actual cache MSI file using Powershell. That was for one package, you can also get for all packages (scroll down to first screenshot).
This command usually works for me:
msiexec /fv installer.msi
It somewhat recaches the installer, so you can try again with a corrected one.
One time this command didn't work and I had to use Microsoft FixIt. It solved the problem (quite a shock for me).
Depending on the exact reason of the behavior you described, you might have at least a couple of options.
If the reason of the failure is a custom action which runs on uninstall, and this custom action is conditioned with some properties you can influence upon, you can try to pass the desired value via the command line:
msiexec /x {YOUR-PRODUCTCODE-HERE} RUNMYACTION=false
In this sample RUNMYACTION is a Windows Installer property which participates in a custom action condition, and if you pass false as its value, the action won't run.
Otherwise, you can fix the logic (or just disable the custom action explicitly) and build the new MSI package. Then upload it to that target machine, and run like this:
msiexec /i YourPackage.msi REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=vomus
Here YourPackage.msi is a new fixed package, REINSTALL=ALL instructs the msiexec to re-install the product using this new package, and REINSTALLMODE=vomus (the v part of it) will re-cache the MSI package and you'll be able to remove it the normal way afterwards.
A side note: you should test your installation on a virtual machine in order not to risk your real one.
FYI: In Windows 8.1 the installers have been moved here: C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\
If you are really desperate and all solutions above don't work try
msizap.exe
This will erase all that your installer put on a machine
LITTLE WARNING
Don't run msizap without knowing what options you want to run it with (for a list of options run msizap /? first).
I used this little tool also from Microsoft
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed
Basically this tool can be used to "repair issues including corrupted registry keys that block you from installing or removing programs"
What it fixes:
Corrupted registry keys on 64-bit operating systems
Corrupted registry keys that control the update data
Problems that prevent new programs from being installed
Problems that prevent existing programs from being completely uninstalled or updated
Problems that block you from uninstalling a program through Add or Remove Programs (or Programs and Features) in Control Panel
It can be used for:
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows 8.1
Windows 10
I usually just look for <Your Installer's Name>.msi or <Your Installer's Company Name> in the registry and delete some of the uninstall keys from some of the Products under the Windows installer trees and everything usually works fine and dandy afterwards, although this WOULD leave some stuff lying around like cached installers and possibly tons of other registry keys for each file installed, etc. but its ALWAYS worked for me when developing installers because honestly, who cares if one MSI is left over and cached somewhere? You're using the machine for development anyways, right?