I have to build an MSI-based installer using WiX and I need to set environment MY_HOME before running a command action.
I have a component:
<Component Id="SEMYHOME"
Guid="*my guid*">
<CreateFolder />
<Environment Id="MY_HOME"
Action="set"
Part="all"
Name="MY_HOME"
Permanent="no"
System="yes"
Value="[APPLICATIONPATH]myapp"/>
</Component>
Then I have a custom action:
<CustomAction Id="InstallMyService"
Directory="INSTALLDIR"
ExeCommand='"[INSTALLDIR]myapp\install_service.bat" install'
Execute="immediate"
Return="ignore"/>
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="InstallMyService"
After="InstallFinalize"/>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
NOTE: This action need the MY_HOME variable to be set before running.
When install this MSI, I got a log showing that the MY_HOME variable is set before running the custom action "InstallMyService", but the command to install my service still fails. I found that the cause is when command called, MY_HOME still not set.
After an install is finished, MY_HOME was set as expected, but the custom action fails :(
How can I fix this problem?
Windows Installer and Custom Actions are hosted via the Service Control Manager which has a long history of not respecting broadcast messages that are sent announcing Environment changes. So even if you fix the immeadiate / deferred problem that Yan mentions you'll find that your custom action still doesn't have the environment variable.
Why don't just just pass "[APPLICATIONPATH]myapp" to your .bat file and fetch it in as %2?
BTW I also don't reccomend calling batch files from an installer. It's fragile and embarrassing to see installs that run popping up little black windows.
You CA is immediate. This means that it runs immediately when Windows Installer is processing your MSI package. And this obviously happens before the component containing <Environment/> is installed. Modify it to be deferred (Execute="deferred") and schedule before InstallFinalize.
Related
Our problem is that custom actions don't run when using msiexec /i Setup.msi /qn (quiet mode installation without UI). They only run with normal installation with UI.
In our Product.wxs for example, we have defined the following:
<Binary Id="SetupCustomAction" SourceFile="$(var.SetupCustomActions.TargetDir)$(var.SetupCustomActions.TargetName).CA.dll" />
<CustomAction Id="UPDATE_CONFIG" BinaryKey="SetupCustomAction" DllEntry="UpdateConfiguration" Execute="commit" Return="check" Impersonate="no" />
<InstallExecuteSequence>
...
<Custom Action="UPDATE_CONFIG" After="InstallFiles"><![CDATA[NOT Installed AND USEIMPERSONATE="0"]]></Custom>
...
</InstallExecuteSequence>
Do we have to use "Quiet Execution Custom Action", trying this out didn't help though!
Please help!
The obvious explanation is that USEIMPERSONATE has the value 1 so the custom action will not run, but I assume perhaps you are setting it to 0 on the command line.
Apart from that it would be useful to know if the install actually succeeds, because if it normally requires elevation with a UAC prompt then this UAC dialog will not be shown, so the custom action will not run elevated and it will fail. The install might succeed because Commit custom actions run after the install, so "check" is not relevant because the install cannot roll back. If you configure that CA as an install custom action it might fail and roll back the install. So after InstallFiles is also not relevant because it's a Commit CA.
The log should show something.
Okay, I have found the cause of the error and a fix for it: The ALLUSERS OR PREVIOUSINSTALLSCOPE (read from the registry) Properties must be set to "1". That way, the DISABLE_IMPERSONATE Custom Action gets run and sets the USEIMPERSONATE Property to "0". Then UPDATE_CONFIG and other Custom Actions get run.
To sum up, the solution is:
Change DISABLE_IMPERSONATE Property to this: <Custom Action="DISABLE_IMPERSONATE" After="AppSearch"><![CDATA[ALLUSERS=1 OR PREVIOUSINSTALLSCOPE="1"]]></Custom>
Call msiexec like this: msiexec /i Bechtle.A365.Office.Client.msi /qn ALLUSERS=1
Thanks to #Ritmo2k, #Brian Sutherland and #PhilDW for pointing me to the right direction.
I have the following command running at the end of my package install for an application.
<Property Id="WixShellExecTarget" Value="[INSTALLDIR]RCR.VDS.exe" />
<CustomAction Id="LaunchApplication" BinaryKey="WixCA"
DllEntry="WixShellExec" Impersonate="no" />
I can't use [#myApplication] because I run heat on my output folder on my build server so I don't know the auto generated id of my application. Any ideas on how to silently run my application after the install?
The log file shows this for the command line section
******* CommandLine: **********
MSI (c) (30:74) [09:47:14:156]: Note: 1: 2203 2: VDSInstall.msi 3: -2147287038
MSI (c) (30:74) [09:47:14:156]: MainEngineThread is returning 2
Please see: How To: Run the Installed Application After Setup
If you want the custom action called during a silent install add:
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="LaunchApplication" After="InstallFinalize">SOMECONDITION</Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
Note SOMECONDITION should be an expression that checks the EXE is installed and the user wants the program to be launched.
The are a copy things you can consider:
The identifier from heat.exe will be stable. So you can use the ugly identifer in your [#UglyFileId1234abcef45612345asdf] custom action.
a. You could also apply a XSLT to transform the heat output for the executable file's Id to something nicer than the ugly identifier. Depends how readable you want the launch custom action to be.
If you want the executable launched silently then you'll probably want the Quite Execution custom action instead of the Shell execute custom action that "LaunchApplication" uses.
My WiX XML file installs app that contains windows-service named OLOLO_SERVICE (for example). I want to stop this service when installing/reinstalling my app.
I use CustomAction with ExeCommand='sc stop OLOLO_SERVICE'.
<CustomAction Id='EnsureThatServiceIsStopped' Directory='INSTALLLOCATION'
Impersonate="no" Execute="immediate" ExeCommand="sc
stop OLOLO_SERVICE" Return="ignore" />
Inside <InstallExecuteSequence> tag is action
<Custom Action='EnsureThatServiceIsStopped' Before='InstallValidate' />
But this doesn't works, uninstaller shows this window "For uninstallation continue you should stop following executables" (maybe not 100% correct, because in my russian Windows 7 it is written in russian).
I think that possible reasons for this are
script runs before admin rights taken (and stopping service fails because it needs admin privilegies)
script runs after validation (and validation fails when checking installed executables)
Plesae help me, I want to stop service using batch 'sc stop OLOLO_SERVICE'
PS. I decided to simplify a question: I want my WiX to execute 'sc stop OLOLO_SERVICE' with administrator privilegies and before checking for running applications
You don't need to do this in a batch file, you can use the ServiceControl element:
<ServiceControl Id="ServiceControl_OloService"
Name="OLOLO_SERVICE"
Stop="both"
Remove="uninstall"
Wait="yes" />
I have an installer done with WiX. When it's done installing, it starts an application that injects some code in the Explorer process.
Currently when I uninstall, the Restart Manager kicks in and offers to shut down my application and Explorer. Instead of that I want to close my application manually (this is done by running it again with -exit on the command line). I have a custom action that does it.
Here's what I tried so far:
<CustomAction ExeCommand="-exit" FileKey="MyApp.exe" Id="CloseMyApp" Impersonate="yes" Return="ignore" />
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<RemoveExistingProducts After="InstallInitialize" />
<Custom Action="CloseMyApp" Before="RemoveFiles" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>
This doesn't work. The action is done way after the Restart Manager session. So the Restart Manager pops up and asks to close my app and Explorer. The action runs later, but by then the app is already gone.
So then I tried this:
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<RemoveExistingProducts After="InstallInitialize" />
<Custom Action="CloseMyApp" Before="RemoveExistingProducts" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>
This also doesn't work. The action is done too late still. I also get "warning LGHT1076 : ICE63: Some action falls between InstallInitialize and RemoveExistingProducts.".
So basically - how do I execute my custom action during uninstall and before the Restart Manager session?
I'm guessing if I use Impersonate="no" it might run at the right time, however that's not an option. That's because the new process must run for the same user as the process that has to close because it looks up its window and sends messages. That's much trickier to do if the processes belong to different users.
Any ideas?
You would need the CloseMyApp custom action to run before InstallValidate since that is when the restart manager is processed (doc). Alternatively, you could disable restart manager with MSIDISABLERMRESTART or MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL Properties.
I'm installing a large app, and part of it is a custom written tool called "DbUpdateManager" to mass execute SQL scripts against our target database.
Right now, the WiX 2.x install works - but it has one flaw: during install, I also install a couple of Windows services, which can be optionally started right away. Those however will fail, if the DbUpdateManager hasn't been run yet.
So what I'm trying to accomplish is this:
Install DbUpdateManager and my services from my MSI
Run DbUpdateManager BEFORE any of the services start up
My current WiX source looks something like this:
<Directory Id='INSTALLDIR' Name='DbUpdMgr' LongName='DbUpdateManager' >
<!-- DbUpdateManager component with the necessary files -->
<Component Id='DbUpdateManagerComponent' Guid='...' DiskId='1'>
<File Id='DbUpdateManagerFile' LongName='DbUpdateManager.Wizard.exe'
Name='DbUmWz.exe' src='DbUpdateManager.Wizard.exe' KeyPath='no' />
</Component>
<!-- Component to install one of my Windows services -->
<Component Id='InstallServiceComponent' Guid='...' DiskId='1'>
<File Id='InstallServiceFile' LongName='MyService.exe'
Name='MyServic.exe' src='MyService.exe' KeyPath='yes'/>
<ServiceInstall Id='InstallMyService' Name='MyService'
Description='My Service' ErrorControl='normal'
Start='auto' Type='ownProcess' Vital='yes' />
<ServiceControl Id='UninstallMyService' Name='MyService'
Remove='uninstall' Wait='yes' />
</Component>
<!-- Feature for the DbUpdateManager referencing the above component -->
<Feature Id='DbUpdateManager' ConfigurableDirectory='INSTALLDIR'
AllowAdvertise='no' Description='DbUpdateManager' Level='1'
Title='Database Update Manager'>
<ComponentRef Id='DbUpdateManagerComponent'/>
</Feature>
<!-- Custom action for running DbUpdateManager -->
<CustomAction Id='RunDbUpdateManagerAction' FileKey='DbUpdateManagerFile'
ExeCommand='' Return='asyncWait' />
<!-- Calling the custom action in the install sequence -->
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<RemoveExistingProducts After='InstallInitialize' />
<Custom Action='RunDbUpdateManagerAction'
After='InstallFinalize'>&DbUpdateManager=3</Custom>
I inherited this WIX, and it works - but as I said - the DbUpdateManager gets called too late in the process (only "After=InstallFinalize") and thus the services will fail to start up properly at first (the run fine the second time around when you restart them manually after DbUpdateManager has run).
I poked around the MSI documentation a bit and found a nice step called "StartServices", so my hunch was to just change my calling the custom action to this:
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action='RunDbUpdateManagerAction'
Before='StartServices'>&DbUpdateManager=3</Custom>
Unfortunately, in this case, nothing at all happens - DbUpdateManager NEVER gets called....
Any ideas why? Debugging the MSI/WiX stuff is really really tricky, and I can't seem to see the forest for the trees anymore....
Thanks!
Marc
EDIT: The "RunDbUpdateManagerAction" is placed in the right position in the InstallExecuteSequence table in my MSI - right AFTER InstallServices and just BEFORE StartServices - and yet it doesn't work.... DbUpdateManager (a Winforms utility) does not show up during installation :-(
EDIT 2: now my action appears to be executed and at the right time - unfortunately, I'm just not seeing my wizard :-( What I'm seeing is an error code "return value 1631" which means something like "MSI Service could not be started" - wtf ???
MSI (s) (2C:D8) [20:53:36:383]: Doing action: RunDbUpdateManagerAction
Action 20:53:36: RunDbUpdateManagerAction.
Action started at 20:53:36: RunDbUpdateManagerAction.
MSI (s) (2C:D8) [20:53:36:383]: Doing action: StartServices
Action 20:53:36: StartServices. Services are being started
Action started at 20:53:36: StartServices.
Action finished at 20:53:36: RunDbUpdateManagerAction. Return value 1631.
Well, I finally got it working - with a bit of help from everyone who responded, and by consulting some of the WiX tutorials and help pages out there on the web. MSI installer stuff isn't easy to figure out and learn......
Basically, I changed execution of my custom action to "deferred" (as suggested by Rob) and I moved the point in the sequence where it gets executed to "After=InstallFiles". I also changed the condition in the <Custom> tag to "NOT Installed" which seems to work just fine in my scenario.
Contrary to Rob's fear, the Db Update Manager and its UI come up quite nicely this way, and the process of updating our database is now completed before any of our services (that depend on the database) get started.
Looking forward to a full RTM release of WiX 3.0 (and its future) !
Thanks to everyone - unfortunately, I could only accept one answer - all would have deserved it.
Marc
It appears that your CustomAction depends on the 'DbUpdateManagerFile' being installed. That means that your CustomAction needs to be scheduled after InstallFiles executes. Remember there are two passes to the InstallExecuteSequence. First, the "immediate" (or "scheduled" or "script generation") actions are executed to build the transaction log (aka: "install script"). Second, the "deferred" actions in the transaction log are executed.
Right now your CustomAction is "immediate" (the default) so it is trying to run before the files are actually copied to the machine. The InstallFiles action is in the script before your CustomAction but it hasn't been executed yet.
So, you need to mark your CustomAction "deferred" to get it to run after your files are installed.
Note: you are not probably not able to show UI from a deferred CA. I wasn't sure if this tool of yours was expected to show UI.
PS: sorry if I didn't explain that well, it's been a long day.
Try getting a log file of the Installation, and look for the sequence order in there and the value of the condition to perform the Custom Action
Use this in the command line:
msiexec /i [msiname] /l*v [filename]
EDIT: After reading your comment have a look at this page here you could try to add NOT INSTALLED in the condition
EDIT2: I found this page Search for your error Number 1631
You can open the .msi in Orca and look at the InstallExecuteSequence table to see what order things are actually happening in. This may give you a good idea of what's actually happening when.