WIX CustomAction - how to get more info in install/log - wix

Question

Someone told me there was a way for the CustomAction in WIX to display the output in the console log. I'm including an .exe called XmlPreprocess.exe to manipulate my web.config, based on parms in a file called SettingsFileGenerator.xml,
I'm running like this:
msiexec /i bin\Debug\TFBIC.RCT.WCFWebServicesWIXSetup.msi /L*V "C:\logs\WixInstall01.log"
This is my WIX build file:
<CustomAction Id="**SAMPLE_CONFIG**" BinaryKey="XMLPREPROCESS" ExeCommand="/i:"[INSTALLLOCATION]web.config" /x:"[INSTALLLOCATION]SettingsFileGenerator.xml" /e:QA /d:ServiceLocation=[SERVICELOCATION]" Execute="deferred" />
<Binary Id="XMLPREPROCESS" SourceFile="../TFBIC.RCT.WCFWebServices/RequiredBins/XMLPreprocess.exe" />
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="SAMPLE_CONFIG" After="StartServices"><![CDATA[NOT Installed]]></Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
Install log shows this:
Action 15:22:27: StartServices. Starting services
Action start 15:22:27: StartServices.
MSI (s) (58:CC) [15:22:27:898]: Note: 1: 2205 2: 3: ServiceControl
MSI (s) (58:CC) [15:22:27:898]: Note: 1: 2228 2: 3: ServiceControl 4: SELECT `Name`,`Wait`,`Arguments`,`Event`, `Action` FROM `ServiceControl`, `Component` WHERE `Component_` = `Component` AND (`Action` = 0 OR `Action` = 1 OR `Action` = 2)
Action ended 15:22:27: StartServices. Return value 1.
MSI (s) (58:CC) [15:22:27:899]: Doing action: SAMPLE_CONFIG
Action 15:22:27: SAMPLE_CONFIG.
Action start 15:22:27: **SAMPLE_CONFIG**.
SAMPLE_CONFIG:
Action ended 15:22:27: **SAMPLE_CONFIG**. Return value 1.
This is my very first attempt to do WIX, so please bear with my ignorance.
Thanks
UPDATE:
This is a quote from another forum - but he doesn't specify how it works and he doesn't seem to check back often.
WiX has a custom action that captures
the console output and sticks it
directly into the verbose MSI log, so
that's what I use.
reference: http://xmlpreprocess.codeplex.com/Thread/View.aspx?ThreadId=79454
Would this be the tool he is talking about?
http://wix.sourceforge.net/manual-wix2/qtexec.htm
I get this error when trying it:
error LGHT0103: The system cannot find the file 'wixca.dll'.
I have searched entire disk for this .dll and could not find it.

Answer 1

To enable all possible logging while installing an msi, use the /lvx* logfile.txt option. However, even this will not log the STDOUT and STDERR output of command line applications invoked as a custom action.
If you have written the custom action yourself, you can add such logging to it. For example, the DTF libraries that come with wix have a handy Session.Log method that you can call. See c:\program files\windows installer xml v3\doc\dtf.chm, topic "Writing Managed Custom Actions" for more information.
If you have not written the application, you could write a custom action to wrap it. Such a wrapper could use the .NET Process class to invoke an executable, read the StandardError and StandardOutput streams, and log everything with the Session.Log method mentioned above.
edit: I don't know of any standard custom action in wix that sends console output to the log. Try the wix-users mailing list.

Answer 2

In Wix 3.10 you can use the Quiet Execution custom action to run an executable (silently, e.g. without a command window popup), and the console output will end up in the msi log.
As mentioned, you need the WixUtilExtension reference to get access to this feature.