I am using InstallShield 2015 and project type is basic MSI. I need to run a few different batch files during the install process as well as the uninstall process. For the install process I created a custom action to run an EXE (or batch file in my case). The working folder is the SystemFolder and the command line is the following:
"[SystemFolder]cmd.exe" /c "[INSTALLDIR]PrinterInstaller\installPrinterDriver.cmd" [INSTALLDIR]PrinterInstaller\
This works perfect during the install process. A problem occurs during the uninstall. I have another custom action for the uninstall:
"[SystemFolder]cmd.exe" /c "[INSTALLDIR]PrinterInstaller\removePrinterDriver.cmd"
This above does not work. I reviewed the log and [installdir] is returning the default path instead of the path the user chooses during the install process. So if the user accepts the default install path during installation, everthing works great. If they choose a different path, the uninstall process fails. I researched this and my mistake is that I can't use the INSTALLDIR property during uninstall as it will return the default. I've read several posts on this subject and I understand the problem. I am facing the same issue with some custom installscript that runs during the uninstall process. I solved this by using the registry to store the "user" selected install folder during install then retrieving it during the uninstall. This works. Is there a way to apply a similar technique to custom actions that run batch files? I mean, can I lookup from the registry somehow and get rid of the [INSTALLDIR] syntax in my command line.
Here is a similar post, but was not a solution for me:
Install file create by InstallShield 2012 sometimes did not get the proper INSTALLDIR when uninstall
OK, I found a solution for this. I created a system search to read the registry and retrieve a value which can be stored into a public PROPERTY. Here are the steps:
1. Create a system search (uses the AppSearch and RegLocator tables). The system search will lookup the value from the registry and store it into a new public property (i.e. REALINSTALLDIR) that I choose.
2. During install phase the correct installation path will be stored into the registry under something like HKLM\software\mycompany\myproduct. Make sure the registry path and value used here matches the path/value used in the system search.
3. Change the custom action to use the new property.
"[SystemFolder]cmd.exe" /c "[REALINSTALLDIR]PrinterInstaller\removePrinterDriver.cmd"
REALINSTALLDIR will contain the user selected path or the default if the user accepts the defaut path. This expands correctly during the uninstall phase because the system search will populate the property at runtime.
The following post was the key to my answer:
http://forum.installsite.net/index.php?showtopic=10773
Related
I need to modify the installation behavior of a MSI setup for "IBM i Access for Windows". The setup was created using InstallShield. During the installation the setup triggers two other MSI installations through "chaining". The parameters passed to MSIEXEC.EXE to execute those two installations get loaded by a custom action from a DLL that is included with the installation. The parameters end up in a MSI property.
I want to change the value in that property to manipulate the command line before the chained installation gets launched. Is this possible? If so, how? I have no problem to create an external DLL that reads and modifies the property, but I am at a loss on how to integrate this with the existing installation -- which tables do I have to modify and how, where should I put the DLL, ...
EDIT 1: To clarify this: I want to modify the parameters passed to the chained MSI installations. They are independent from the parameters I pass to the main installation and are loaded from a DLL that is part of the installation.
EDIT 2: I have uploaded the plain MSI + the relevant log file. I start the main installation with "/qn" to suppress all messages. That works without problems, the chained installations get executed without visible prompts. The problem arises when uninstalling the software (again with "/qn"). The remote custom action gets loaded from a DLL (line 6417):
MSI (s) (10:28) [09:00:45:643]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: C:\Windows\Installer\MSIA4BD.tmp, Entrypoint: ISChainPackages
The command line loaded from the DLL specifies to call MSIEXEC.EXE with the parameter "/qb" instead of "/qn" (line 6958):
MSI (s) (10!60) [09:00:46:033]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding IS_CHAINER_POST_COMMANDLINE property. Its value is '/l"c:\temp\IBM_iAccess_7.1_Uninstall.log" /qb /x{CCA40632-843E-48C6-B14F-E1070015D87C} ...
And because the MSI installer has a lock on a file a messagebox pops up triggered by the uninstallation of the chained MSI (line 44046):
MSI (s) (10:C0) [09:01:05:553]: RESTART MANAGER: Did detect that the custom action server with process ID 2352 holds file[s] in use, so a reboot will be necessary.
MSI (s) (10:C0) [09:01:05:553]: Note: 1: 1610
MSI (s) (10:C0) [09:01:11:224]: RESTART MANAGER: The user chose to go on with the installation, although a reboot will be required.
The setup must update files or services that cannot be updated while the system is running. If you choose to continue, a reboot will be required to complete the setup.
The installation files for version 7.1 of this software are no longer available on the IBM website. Only the current version is, and I have not looked into whether the problem still exists with the latest version or not as I have been asked to package v7.1 by the business department.
One approach to this problem would be to create a new Custom Action that executes VBScript code stored in the Binary Table and place the new Custom Action right after ISChainPackagePrepare. The VBScript code will read the value of IS_CHAINER_POST_COMMANDLINE and replace it as specified in the Replace() function
The VBScript Code could look like this:
Option Explicit
Function ReplacePropVal()
dim propvalue
dim newvalue
propvalue = Session.Property("IS_CHAINER_POST_COMMANDLINE")
newvalue = Replace(propvalue,"/qb","/qn")
Session.Property("IS_CHAINER_POST_COMMANDLINE") = newvalue
End Function
You want to give your new Custom Action a Type of 6 to indicate that your Custom Action data is stored as a VBScript in the Binary table. Your Custom Action Source is a reference to the Name in the Binary Table. The Target value of your Custom Action will need to be the name of the VBScript Function which is ReplacePropVal in this case
Afterwards, you place your new Custom Action in the InstallExecutionSequence table using the same name for it as in the CustomAction table. Also make sure to give it a higher Sequence value as ISChainPackagePrepare. I would recommend placing it right after by incrementing the Sequence value of ISChainPackagePrepare by 1.
After you've changed the tables and generated a new transform, just run the package with the new transform being applied by specifying its path in the TRANSFORMS public property and your property value should be changed.
I think the ideal approach here would be to transform the chained package definition. The UI level (documentation) is stored in the first two bits of the Options column of the ISChainPackage table, so all your transform should have to do is alter that value. In particular, you can change those bits from ecoUIBasic (0) to ecoUINone (1), which should be as simple as adding 1 to the current value. Also available are ecoUIReduced (2) and ecoUIFull (3).
If ISChainPackage.Options is altered correctly, the desired IS_CHAINER_POST_COMMANDLINE will be generated for you, and you won't have to add a secondary custom action to alter the /qb to /qn afterward. (Kudos to sevi for suggesting that functional workaround.)
If this is an Advanced or Suite UI Setup.exe, please check that
link for how to pass a property.
Package Database Entries (Software Re-Packaging tips for iAccess and other software):
https://www.itninja.com/company/browse/i - look at the IBM entries
IBM i Access for Windows
IBM iAccess for Windows 7.1
How to perform silent upgrade for IBM I Access for Windows 7.1?
Making a silent package for IBM i Access for Windows 7.1 with latest patch
Approaches: What does this DLL custom action do? Does it create a license key? Often these things have been found and solved many times before. To check for this, I usually use these approaches to find solutions:
File Extraction: try extracting files from the setup and look for help files that describe proper deployment. "Large Scale Deployment.chm", "Installation Command Line Parameters.chm", etc... or ready-made transforms or command line file samples (Install.cmd).
Deployment Sites: Check https://www.itninja.com/company/browse/i (Software Re-Packaging tips - look at the IBM entries. Several entries that look relevant, here is one).
Forums: inspect their support forums or online support - if available.
Phone: get on the phone with the vendor. Sometimes very helpful, often a waste of time. Ask for deployment relevant information sent from support. Do this if you have a support agreement?
See section on file extraction below.
Setup.exe Switches: I have a similar or related answer here, where I also mention setup.exe command line switches: Silent run installer (.exe) with parameters on Windows.
Logging: If the custom action does not create something dynamic (unique license key, machine locking identity, etc...), then you can try to find what was generated by logging the setup and looking for the command line used in the log file. Mock-up sample:
MSI (s) (AC:00) [00:00:00:00]: Command Line: TARGETDIR=C:\ SHORTCUTDIR=C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Test ACTION=INSTALL
File Extraction: Is this an Installshield Suite project? did you extract the embedded files and MSI files first?: Programmatically extract contents of InstallShield setup.exe.
What is in a Setup.exe?: Installshield setup.exe files can be lots of different things (explanation of different setup.exe flavors): Regarding silent installation using Setup.exe generated using Installshield 2013 (.issuite) project file.
Links:
Extract MSI from EXE
What is the purpose of administrative installation initiated using msiexec /a?
I'm building a setup executable using Visual Studio 2015 Setup Project template.
I added an external executable in the file system of my package that the user needs to install to be able to run my program. Then, I added this package as a custom action on Commit.
I want my install package to recognize if this external executable is already installed on the user computer by looking at the registry of looking at a certain folder structure on the computer (the method to check is not defined yet).
How can I set up this kind of check for the custom actions ? I've seen that there is a Condition property when clicking on the .EXE in the Custom Actions window, but all I can find about this property is that, which does not really answers my problem.
VS setups offer a registry search, and that search will set a property name that you define (in uppercase). If the registry entry exists, meaning that you don't need to run the program, then you give the custom action a condition of NOT FOUNDREGISTRY assuming FOUNDREGISTRY is the name of the property.
Having said that, if that program is a redistributable that installs something then:
They are typically smart enough to figure out if they need to do anything or not, and that includes seeing if what's already installed is an older version, so they should run anyway because it's a newer version. So it may be best to just run it anyway.
If the executable wraps a MSI-based setup then it will fail because you can't install an MSI-based setup with a custom action in a VS MSI setup.
Using Installshield 2010 and Basic MSI project.
I have an exe that was previously installed by my installer. That exe needs to be running during an installer upgrade. Is there a way to guarantee that the installer won't try shutdown the process? Basically, I would like the behavior to be : If file doesn't exist, lay it down, otherwise ignore it.
I have made the exe a key file in a component and set it 'Never Overwrite' to true. Should this give me my desired behavior ?
Never Overwrite will be used by future installers to determine if the file will be overwritten or not by other MSI packages. Basically, this attribute should have been set for the installed EXE.
A good approach is to use a file search to determine if the EXE exists. The search property can then be used to condition the new component.
Windows Installer doesn't automatically close applications, but it does show a FilesInUse dialog which offers this option to the user.
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]
My installer requires there be two files in the same directory in order for it to install.
The installer (.msi file)
An organization specific config file that the installer copies. (This file is customized by the organization and then distributed to it's end users).
Since there are two files, the file has to be distributed as a zip file. Which presents the issue of if a user tries running the .msi without actually extracting the zip... only the msi file gets extracted. I am able to detect the issue in the install process and tell the user they need to unzip the file... but you know how noone actually reads error messages.
So, I'd like to make it more foolproof and so i was wondering if there was a simple tool that i could let my customers (ie the organization) be able to make modifications to the config file and when finished create a .exe file which when clicked would extract to a temp folder and then run the msi. I know there are solutions for this which require commercial software. I'm wondering if a simple freeware tool exists that can do this.
Edit: Accepted Solution Notes:
The one issue i ran into is the iexpress wasn't designed to be used for .msi files. As a result on the step that asks you for the Install Program. It's a combo box which if you had added a .exe file in the previous step could just select the .exe file from. Instead you have to manually type in
msiexec /i yourinstaller.msi
I was very pleased to find such a simple solution that's built in to windows. The only way this could be better is if it allowed for wildcards so that your iexpress project would be able to handle changes in the msi file's name which occur with each version. And defaulting the Install Program to the .msi file. These minor inconveniences are offset by the fact that end user wouldn't need to install any new software to create the package so I have stopped looking for other tools.
You could try using iexpress.
It enables you to package up a set of files which can be extracted, with the option of running an installation command automatically after extraction. It also has options to enable you to prompt users about things, show a EULA, restart the computer, etc..
I believe it comes as part of Windows (part of IE?) - try running iexpress.exe from the run dialog to get the UI.
The Wix project has a bootstrapper and packager for dealing with this kind of thing.
I've used wix a lot but haven't really looked at the bootstrapper/packager much - last time I had a quick look it wasn't really usable but that was a long time ago so it may be better now.
I'm guessing that the config file is something like a properties file, and that you want users to set the values of the properties "foo" and "bar". You don't need a separate tool to update the file.
I would do this:
Put one or more dialogs in the install that ask the user what the values of foo and bar should be, and set a couple public properties accordingly.
Write a custom action that writes the config file out to whatever location you want, including whatever values you want for foo and bar. This would be pretty easy in vbscript.
Put the custom action somewhere in the execute sequence (ideally as a deferred execution action, since you're making changes to the system).
Add an entry to the RemoveFile table, so the config file is removed on uninstall (assuming you don't want it to be left behind.)
Add an entry to the LaunchCondition table, to prevent users from doing a silent install. Or if you want silent install to be allowed, make the names of the public properties that hold the config data known, and make them part of the LaunchCondition. You would block "msiexec /i myapp.msi", but you could choose to allow "msiexec /i myapp.msi FOO=Something BAR=SomethingElse".