How do I pass msiexec properties to a WiX C# custom action? - wix

Question

I have an MSI file being created with Wxs 3.0. My MSI references a C# custom action, written using the new C# Custom Action project.
I want to pass an argument to msiexec that gets routed to my custom action - for example:
msiexec /i MyApp.msi ENVIRONMENT=TEST#
In my .wxs file, I refer to my custom action like this:
<Property Id="ENVIRONMENT"/>
<Binary Id="WixCustomAction.dll" SourceFile="$(var.WixCustomAction.Path)" />
<CustomAction Id="WixCustomAction" BinaryKey="WixCustomAction.dll" DllEntry="ConfigureSettings"/>
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="WixCustomAction" After="InstallFiles"></Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
My C# custom action is set up like this:
[CustomAction]
public static ActionResult ConfigureSettings(Session session)
{
}
I was expecting to be able to access the property like this:
string environmentName = session.Property["ENVIRONMENT"];
but this doesn't seem to work.
How do I access the property I passed to msiexec in my custom action?

Answer 1

If instead of
<CustomAction Id="SetCustomActionDataValue"
Return="check"
Property="Itp.Configurator.WixCustomAction"
Value="[ENVIRONMENT],G2,[CONFIGFILE],[TARGETDIR]ITP_v$(var.VERSION_MAJOR)" />
you write this:
<CustomAction Id="SetCustomActionDataValue"
Return="check"
Property="Itp.Configurator.WixCustomAction"
Value="Environment=[ENVIRONMENT];G=G2;ConfigFile=[CONFIGFILE];TargetDir=[TARGETDIR]ITP_v$(var.VERSION_MAJOR)" />
then you will be able to reference your variables like this:
string env=session.CustomActionData["Environment"];

Answer 2

Just for completeness; using the method described by Jeremy Lew, in the blog above allows for the following:
Calling:
msiexec /i ITP.Platform.2.msi ENVIRONMENT=QA CONFIGFILE=EnvironmentConfig.xml
With this in the .wxs file:
<Property Id="ENVIRONMENT" Secure="yes" />
<Property Id="CONFIGFILE" Secure="yes" />
<Binary Id="Itp.Configurator.WixCustomAction.dll"
SourceFile="$(var.Itp.Configurator.WixCustomAction.Path)" />
<CustomAction Id="SetCustomActionDataValue"
Return="check"
Property="Itp.Configurator.WixCustomAction"
Value="[ENVIRONMENT],G2,[CONFIGFILE],[TARGETDIR]ITP_v$(var.VERSION_MAJOR)" />
<CustomAction Id="Itp.Configurator.WixCustomAction"
Return="check"
Execute="deferred"
BinaryKey="Itp.Configurator.WixCustomAction.dll"
DllEntry="ConfigureItpBrandSettings" />
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="SetCustomActionDataValue" After="InstallFiles"></Custom>
<Custom Action="Itp.Configurator.WixCustomAction" After="SetCustomActionDataValue"></Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
With a custom action:
/// <summary>
/// CustomAction keys should be Environment,BrandId,ConfigPath,itpBasePath
/// </summary>
/// <param name="session"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
[CustomAction]
public static ActionResult ConfigureItpBrandSettings(Session session)
{
string[] arguments = GetCustomActionDataArguments(session);
string environmentName = arguments[0];
string brandId = arguments[1];
string configPath = arguments[2];
string itpBasePath = arguments[3];
//Do stuff
return ActionResult.Success;
}
private static string[] GetCustomActionDataArguments(Session session)
{
string[] keys = new string[session.CustomActionData.Keys.Count];
session.CustomActionData.Keys.CopyTo(keys,0);
return keys[0].Split(',');
}
works.
Parsing the CustomActionData arguments is pretty ugly, but it does work. Hopefully someone knows a more elegant way to do this.

Answer 3

Here is my working code:
<Binary Id="MyCA" SourceFile="..\bin\ChainerRun.CA.exe" />
<CustomAction Id="SetCustomActionDataValue" Return="check" Property="CustomActionData" Value="TARGETDIR=[TARGETDIR];AA=Description;" />
<CustomAction Id="ReadAndSet"
BinaryKey="MyCA"
DllEntry="ReadAndSet"
Execute="immediate"
HideTarget="no"
Return="check" />
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="SetCustomActionDataValue" Before="InstallFiles" />
<Custom Action="ReadAndSet" After="SetCustomActionDataValue" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>
In the C# custom action function:
[CustomAction]
public static ActionResult ReadAndSet(Session session)
{
ActionResult retCode = ActionResult.NotExecuted;
System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(false);
session.Log("ReadAndSet() begins ...");
string installLocation = session.CustomActionData["TARGETDIR"];
string hostName = session.CustomActionData["AA"];
...
}

Answer 4

Your custom action needs to be a deferred custom action in order to run after InstallFiles. Deferred custom actions do not have access to properties, but they do have access to CustomActionData. See this blog post for a discussion on how to get what to do about it. (This example is a VBScript custom action, but you will be able to retrieve the value through the session.CustomActionData collection.)

Answer 5

If we're talking about Wix Sharp (and not plain Wix with its XML stuff), adding a custom property is a piece of cake. All you have to do is to set UsesProperties property for your managed action.
For example, if you want to add a custom property named "MYPROP", just define your action like this:
new ElevatedManagedAction(nameof(CustomActions.MyCustomAction))
{
Condition = Condition.Installed,
When = When.Before,
Step = Step.RemoveFiles,
Return = Return.check,
Execute = Execute.deferred,
UsesProperties = "MYPROP"
}
Set the property value via msiexec command line:
msiexec /i my.msi MYPROP=MYVALUE
And then you'll be able to access it from your custom action:
[CustomAction]
public static ActionResult MyCustomAction(Session session)
{
session.Log("MYPROP VALUE: " + session.CustomActionData["MYPROP"]);
return ActionResult.Success;
}
When property is not set via command line the default value will be an empty string.