How to execute MSI file on Github Actions (windows-latest runner) - windows

Question

Context
I created a Github Actions workflow that generates a .msi file that I wan't to execute afterwards to test if the application is working as expected.
The workflow implementation is as below
build-windows:
runs-on: windows-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout#v2.3.4
- name: Create binary from branch
run: |
choco install make
make build-windows
- name: Generate msi
shell: powershell
run: .\.github\scripts\windows\gen-win.ps1
- name: Install msi
run: |
echo "Start Msiexec"
msiexec /qn /i "file.msi" /L*vx!
echo "End Msiexec"
Basically this workflow creates the .exe file (Create binary from branch step), then use a script in powershell that generates the .msi file (Generate msi step), and finally try to install the .msi file (Install msi step).
Issue
The problem occurs on the Install msi step, the runner logs only returns:
Start Msiexec
End Msiexec
... without showing any log, or creating the directories and files as the installation should do on the $HOME directory.
What I tried
Using the default shell for windows-latest runner (which is cmdlet), I tried to run those commands in the workflow without success, using "file.msi" or "path/to/file.msi":
msiexec /i "file.msi"
msiexec /qn /i "file.msi"
msiexec /qn /i "file.msi" /L*vx!
I'm not very familiar with the windows operating system, but for what I searched online, this msiexec command should work.
I also tried to install the .msi file generated manually on a windows 10 computer using those commands with success (so the generated .msi file is valid and working locally). However, it opens another prompt window automatically showing the installation and setup logs (it's not in the same terminal window) and I imagine this may not happen on Github Actions.
Question
➡️ How can I install this application from the .msi file through a command line on the windows-latest runner?

Answer 1

After asking the same thing on the Github Community forum, I got the following answer from #Simran-B (Github Advisory Council Member):
msiexec doesn’t seem to log anything to a terminal. If your MSI does
(even if in a separate window), then it must be something that is
specific to that MSI…
What msiexec supports is to log to a file. Based on Is there anyway
to get msiexec to echo to stdout instead of logging to a file - Server
Fault,
I successfully ran the following PowerShell script (using a Blender
MSI as a test):
$file = "file.msi"
$log = "install.log"
$procMain = Start-Process "msiexec" "/i `"$file`" /qn /l*! `"$log`"" -NoNewWindow -PassThru
$procLog = Start-Process "powershell" "Get-Content -Path `"$log`" -Wait" -NoNewWindow -PassThru
$procMain.WaitForExit()
$procLog.Kill()
I can’t recommend /l*vx!, because the forced flush for every log
line makes things slow and the verbose output with additional
debugging information can produce thousands of lines. Alternatively,
you could log everything to a file without flushing, wait for
msiexec to exit, and then print the file contents to the console in
one go, which should be significantly faster (but you lose live
logging).
If I remember correctly, GitHub-hosted runners use elevated
permissions by default. In my local test, I had to run the above
script from an elevated PowerShell because the MSI tried to install to
C:\Program Files\, which is not writable unless you have elevated
permissions, and that made the installation fail without obvious log
entry. If there’s something wrong with the .msi path, you may get an
exit code of 1619 ($procMain.ExitCode), which is also not very
intuitive. Another possible reason for nothing getting installed (at
least apparently) can be that you don’t actually wait for msiexec to
finish - the command immediately returns and the installation process
runs in the background. You can use Start-Process with the -Wait
option or get the handle with -PassThru and call .WaitForExit() on
it to wait until it is done.
It worked for me! With those commands, I could execute the .msi file to install the software, then use it afterwards in my github actions workflow to perform my tests!