I am making an installer where I have defined my own installer property. I want to store this property in the registry. As this property is only needed by the installer, I thought that the best location to store it would be:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{PRODUCT CODE}.
I use Installshield 2010 to make the installer.
What I want to know is: Is this possible and how can I do this?
Yes, this is possible. The registry values are formatted, so you can use something like this:
[MY_PROPERTY]
The location you chose is not very good. That key is used by Windows and Windows Installer internally. You can try creating your own key under SOFTWARE, for example:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\My Company\My Application
I have created a deployment project using VS 2005. By default, files are installed in AppDataFolder. There are also 2 string values added to the registry during the installation. These registry values represent the path to some dll files found in the install dir.
When the user chooses the default installation directory everything works fine. But if the user choose another directory, instead of having the registry values with the user selected directory, I still get the default values.
How can I change that? Is it possible to do it during the deployment project creation?
Thanks,
Olivier.
Use reg.exe from command line.
You could call that exe from your program and provide the correct parameters.
reg.exe is included since Windows XP.
So instead of using the [AppDataFolder] property, I should have used [TARGETDIR]
After way too many experiments, I've come to the conclusion that Windows Installer is simply bad technology. But the customers want MSI files.
So, how can I create an MSI file that extracts an EXE file to a temporary directory and runs it with options same or similar as were passed to the EXE file?
Options to an MSI are explained in Msiexec (command-line options) (low level "run" of an MSI is msiexec option package.msi).
EDIT: mjmarsh's WiX solution looks like it works. I just haven't had a chance to try it yet (crunch time). If it works, I'll be accepting it.
EDIT: it does not work. Missing piece: attended/unattended does not seem to be available.
Anyway, the only to make this work at all would be for the custom action to kill its parent process!
EDIT: So somebody posted as a further answer wrapping the whole thing as a post-install custom action. Theoretically possible but since a reboot may be required (thanks MS for .NET 4 requiring a reboot sometimes) we have to do further hackery. So from the matrix of advantages:
Transparency: No. One big custom action.
Customizability: No.
Standardization: No.
Management and reporting: No. Appears to work but will not.
Security: No benefit.
Validation: No. The hackery required to survive reboot makes this sure to not work.
Resiliency: Completely defeated.
Rollback: No. Rollback didn't work when we were using MSI anyway.
Patching & Updates: No. We have a local solution anyway.
Logging: No. Appears to work but will not.
No point.
Well, there is the free way and the $$$ way. I cannot document everything here, but this should get you started.
On a side note, yes, Windows Installer is a maddening technology. There are many times where I think a task will be straightforward, but it actually becomes complicated. You definitely have to immerse yourself to understand it.
In any case, here goes:
Free: WiX (here)
This is a free tool to generate MSI files from a set of XML configuration files. I'll leave you to find tutorials online, but here is the crux:
You can compress your EXE into the installer by using the following tag in the WXS file:
<Binary Id="MYEXE" src="<path to my exe?"/>
Then you can create a custom action which launches your EXE file:
<CustomAction Id="EXECA_CALLMYEXE" Return="check" Execute="deferred" BinaryKey="MYEXE"
ExeCommand="my command line"/>
Then you insert your custom action into the InstallExecuteSequence in the appropriate spot (I almost always run mine somewhere between InstallInitialize and InstallFinalize)
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="EXECA_CALLMYEXE" After="InstallInitialize"><![CDATA[Not REMOVE]]></Custom>
$$$: Get InstallShield (HERE)
First create a "Basic MSI" project and make sure you say you want no setup.exe generated. You set this in the Release settings.
Then you essentially do the same thing as with WiX, but you have a UI for it.
You can specify your helper EXE file by using the Direct Editor and putting your EXE file in the 'Binary' table
You can create a custom action to launch that EXE file from the "Custom Actions" Node in the tree on the left
You can insert the custom action by selecting "Install Sequences" and putting it in the InstallExecuteSequence somewhere between InstallInitialize and InstallFinalize as I said before.
Sorry, I could not be more detailed, but this should be a good start.
I think the easiest way to create a .MSI file is to use WiX.
Lesson 1 from the WiX tutorial is all you need to create a simple install.
Joshua, I understand your frustration very well. MSI is quirky to say the least - a completely new way to think of deployment. Still, applied correctly MSI offers the best possible deployment, especially for corporate customers.
What operations does your installer EXE perform? Is it largely file copy, some COM registration and some registry writes, or does it run complex installation logic, setting up databases etc...? The reason I ask is because it probably would be very quick to create a well functioning WIX MSI for you so you can abandon the EXE approach.
It is indeed possible to run an EXE from inside an MSI, but it requires proper sequencing, and it is guaranteed to cause you more blues than a simple MSI. If the app is small, and not doing anything crazy during installation, I would be happy to provide you with a basic WIX conversion.
A summary of deployment tools and their strengths and weaknesses
Advantages of using MSI files
Adding to weir's answer, change the custom action attribute like below:
<!--Run Action-->
<CustomAction Id="RunWrappedExe"
Return="asyncNoWait"
FileKey="ApplicationFileId"
Execute="deferred"
ExeCommand=""
HideTarget="no"
Impersonate="yes"/>
Setting Return=asyncNoWai does not wait for the exe to return. The installer does it's job and closes normally. Meanwhile, the exe continous its execution.
-Madhuresh
No solution. We went NSIS as corporate MSI install is going to be broken anyway due to MSI nesting problem (just try installing EXE wrapping MSI from inside MSI someday).
If you don't want to manage MSI, but only execute EXE, try Exe to MSI Converter Free. You just put in the path to the EXE and get an MSI.
There is also a free version of the MSI Wrapper. It also supports uninstall and upgrades. Also, it only creates one entry in the Add or Remove programs.
try this:
In MSI package, there is a behaviour call "Launch an application after installation", that means your exe file will be executed after the MSI installation(the MSI is closed).
Try to execute your exe there, so when your exe invoke other MSI packages, it won't conflict with the first one.
Wix can do it. Here is my sample code for wix 3.5:
<?xml version='1.0'?>
<Wix xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi'>
<Product Id='*' UpgradeCode="11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555"
Name='My Setup' Language='1033' Version='1.0.0.0'
Manufacturer='Your company'>
<Package Description='pak' InstallerVersion='200' Compressed='yes' />
<Media Id='1' Cabinet='setup.cab' EmbedCab='yes' />
<Directory Id='TARGETDIR' Name='SourceDir'>
<Directory Id="TempFolder">
<Directory Id="INSTALLLOCATION" Name="~_tmpdir">
<Component Id='MyComponent' DiskId='1' Guid=''>
<File Id="File0" Name="setup.exe" Source="setup.exe" />
<File Id="File1" Name="file1.txt" Source="file1.txt" />
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Directory>
<Feature Id='InstallFeature' Title='Install Feature' Level='1'>
<ComponentRef Id='MyComponent' />
</Feature>
<!-- Run Action -->
<CustomAction Id="RunWrapExe" Return="ignore" Execute="deferred"
FileKey="File0" ExeCommand="setup.exe param here"
HideTarget="no" Impersonate="no" />
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="RunWrapExe"
After="InstallFiles">NOT REMOVE~="ALL"</Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
</Product>
</Wix>
I was having the same problem (wrap EXE, call other MSI from the EXE including .net setup, etc.),
and here is my solution:
I build the setup exe using InstallAware.
It has its own MSI Wrapper that wraps the generated EXE with MSI.
It works OK, the EXE can call other MSIs without any problem (including .net setup, other 3rd party setups), but that is because the launching MSI ends ("returns") rights after it launches the setup EXE file, and that way they avoid the MSI limitation of recursive MSI calls.
BUT - some customers (companies) that uses MSI deployment tools, requires the MSI (msiexec) to return (end) only after the setup process ends, and that is a problem with the above solution.
So - to solve this:
There is another MSI Wrapper (exemsi.com) that generates MSI that returns only after the EXE setup ends, but for using that you must use another unique option of InstallAware:
InstallAware has the option to generate the EXE setup using their own native engine, and not based on Windows Installer engine, to avoid MSI recursive limitation.
Combine those both, and you have the perfect solution.
Hope this will help someone, although many years passed since this question was first posted.
Simple trick:
Project image
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace Setup
{
internal class Program
{
[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
private static extern IntPtr GetConsoleWindow();
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern bool ShowWindow(IntPtr hWnd, int nCmdShow);
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
ShowWindow(GetConsoleWindow(), 0);
Stream st = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream("Setup.MSI.Temp.msi");
string path = Path.Combine(System.IO.Path.GetTempPath(), "Temp.msi");
using (var fileStream = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write))
{
st.CopyTo(fileStream);
}
Process p = new Process();
p.StartInfo.FileName = path;
p.Start();
p.WaitForExit();
File.Delete(path);
}
}
}
Nah man, just use Inno Setup's wizard. It makes an setup EXE but not an MSI. It's like 5 mins and you'll have a windows installer.
Simply download it, install it, point it to your EXE, and follow the on-screen prompts
Using WiX (Windows Installer XML) I have created an MSI installer which installs Word templates into the users Application Data folder, e.g. on Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates
I'm retrieving the path to this folder from the registry:
<Property Id="APPDIR" Secure="yes">
<RegistrySearch Id="RegSearch_AppData"
Type="directory"
Key="Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders"
Name="AppData"
Root="HKCU" />
</Property>
<CustomAction Id="ActionWordTemplateFolderAssign"
Property="TEMPLATEFOLDER"
Value="[APPDIR]Microsoft\Templates" />
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="ActionWordTemplateFolderAssign" Sequence="1" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>
However, some users installing the MSI file on Windows Vista receive an error because the APPDIR property is empty.
Is APPDIR not the correct way to retrieve the Application Data folder? Or do I have to consider another property on Vista?
EDIT: This is just a short version of the WiX Code to retrieve Word's template folder. First I'm actually checking whether the user has a custom template folder defined by a policy or under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\General\UserTemplates. However, if none of these are set the fallback is to use the default location under %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Templates which is retrieved by the above code.
You should use [AppDataFolder] instead. I can't find anything about "appdir" in the windows installer property reference.
Edit after question edit: The shell folders key (great blogpost btw) where you get your appdir value from is a very old and deprecated way to get at the system folders. It is only there for backwards compatibility and you should not rely on it. Especially if you live near Raymond Chen.
Edit 2: Since the real question turns out to be "how do I find the user's word template folder"... The word template folder is not always
[AppDataFolder]\Microsoft\Templates
This is because the template folder can be configured under tools - options - file locations - user templates. Ironically we are back to searching the registry if we want to detect this:
<Property Id="USERTEMPLATES">
<RegistrySearch Id="SearchUserTemplates"
Root="HKCU"
Key="Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\General"
Name="UserTemplates"
Type="raw" />
</Property>
This registry value is normally not present however, and you cannot specify a default value that contains [AppDataFolder] here (I tried).
Instead, I would try to define two components, one which installs to USERTEMPLATES and one which installs to [AppData]\Microsoft\Templates. You can then make use of Condition elements to test for the existence of USERTEMPLATES, and install only the right one.
Some additional information:
The reference for MSI properties containing special folders:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370905(VS.85).aspx#system_folder_properties
And a link to a related blog post:
What is the WiX equivilent of Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData from .NET?
Divo - In response to your comment on localized Vista installations, the problem probably isn't so much localized Vista (unless I'm reading you wrong) but localized Office.
Microsoft\Templates might become Microsoft\Vorlagen with German office for example. It's a pain in the ass, because I haven't found a reliable source of documentation on what folder names have been localized in Office, and what haven't.
My particular problem was with installing Macros to [AppDataFolder]Microsft\Word\STARTUP - which is localized for some languages only. #$%# in the end we just get customers to manually move the templates, the majority of our markets don't have a problem but we've noticed Italian and Turkish office plus a couple of others seems to exhibit this rather annoying behaviour.
On Vista there is a new standard folder available called TemplateFolder. I think that is what you want. To use it in WiX just do something like:
<DirectoryRef Id="TARGETDIR">
<Directory Id="TemplateFolder" Name="Templates"/>
</DirectoryRef>
Then you can reference the TemplateFolder Directory where ever you may need it.
After following the advice in this question successfully, I added a couple additional lines of code for another custom action. This one is intended to call regsvr32 on the copy of capicom which I've tried to put in the user's system folder. However, I'm getting error 2721, which seems to be a custom action not found error, from what I've seen. Any suggestions? I'm trying to maintain consistency with previous iterations of my installer by calling regsvr, rather than just adding the registry entries during install, which could be a good idea instead. :::shrug:::
<Directory Id="SystemFolder" Name="Sys">
...
<component ...>
...
<File Id="CapiCom.Dll" LongName="CapiCom.Dll" Name="CAPICOM.DLL" Source=... />
</component>
</directory>
...
<CustomAction Id="REGCAPICOM" ExeCommand='regsvr32.exe "[SystemFolder]capicom.dll"' Return = "ignore" Execute="deferred" />
...
<InstallExecuteSequence>
...
<Custom Action="REGCAPICOM" After="InstallFiles" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>
Edit: Yes, using regsvr32 as an installer is ugly. But when I downloaded the Capicom SDK, that is what MS said to do in order to install it. Searching around has found many people saying that this is a stupid way to do it...but it's also mechanism MS provided. I'll listen to suggestions for a better way. I don't consider it a big deal if Capicom being left behind when my application is uninstalled, considering that it's a standard windows component.
Edit: Hmmm. Apparently, one of the things running selfreg on the dll does is to create a random seed to add to the registry. Not sure what mechanism it uses to generate this seed but I suspect it would be considered in poor taste to just generate one myself, especially if I gave all the users the same seed. Not sure.... Apparently if I skip this Capicom does it on its own, so I'm fine.
The Right way:
c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003\Common7\Tools\Deployment\regcap.exe" /O capicom.reg capicom.dll
Run program from Adam Tengen's post here.
Note that Heat (and Tallow, IIRC) do not, as of this posting, work properly on Capicom.
The Wrong Way:
<CustomAction Id="RegisterCapicom" Directory="SystemFolder" ExeCommand="regsvr32.exe /s "[SystemFolder]Capicom.dll"" Return="check" Execute="deferred" />
...
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="RegisterCapicom" After="InstallFiles" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>
Uhh, are you really trying to install a Windows system file yourself? That's not allowed on a great many levels. Also, regsvr32.exe is SelfReg and SelfReg is well known to be evil in installations. Actually using the Windows Installer to write the registration is far superiour
However, the whole design here is very suspect.
You could use heat on the File to create a output WXS file, that will put the capicom.dll information in the registry without the use of regsvr32, when the msi is executed
Something like so:
heat file [Path\Capicom.dll] -template:product -out capicom.wxs
Then add the capicom.wxs to your installer, in that file create a ComponentGroup Element, that contains the Component(s) element(s):
<ComponentGroup Id="capicom">
<ComponentRef Id="capicom.dll"/>
</ComponentGroup>
After in the main WXS file add the Fragment element that will link the capicom component
The last step is to add the ComponentGroupRef to the feature that it belongs to:
<Feature Id="PRODUCTFEATURE">
<ComponentGroupRef Id="capicom" />
... [Other components or ComponentGroups references]
</Feature>