Launch after install, with no UI? - installation

Question

How do I launch my application after install with no UI (or in quiet mode)? Thanks!
I had a installer with UI which has an option to run after install. Now I want my application to updates itself by downloading and running the new version of installer in quiet mode, but after updating done, it won't launch again.

Answer 1

From the msdn topic on sequencing custom actions:
As in the case of standard actions,
custom actions that are scheduled in
the InstallUISequence or
AdminUISequence run only if the
internal user interface is set to the
full level.
So I guess your custom action is scheduled in a UI sequence, not in InstallExecuteSequence. Try scheduling your custom action in the InstallExecuteSequence like this:
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action='LaunchApplication' After='InstallFiles'/>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
where "LaunchApplication" should be replaced by the Id of your CustomAction element.
edit: I looked at the instructions that you followed, and I don't see the custom action for launching the application being scheduled in any sequence. It is only triggered from a UI action (clicking the Finish button). This explains why it is never executed during a silent install.
edit: full sample (it's a bit sloppy as it also tries to execute the custom action on uninstall, repair etc. but for some reason I couldn't get the "NOT Installed" condition to work)
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<Wix xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi'>
<Product
Name='ProductName'
Id='*'
Language='1033'
Version='0.0.1'
Manufacturer='ManufacturerName' >
<Package
Keywords='Installer'
Description='Launch application demo'
Manufacturer='ManufactererName'
InstallerVersion='100'
Languages='1033'
Compressed='yes'
SummaryCodepage='1252'/>
<Media Id='1' Cabinet='test.cab' EmbedCab='yes'/>
<Directory Id='TARGETDIR' Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id='ProgramFilesFolder'>
<Directory Id='TestFolder' Name='Test' >
<Component Id="ExeComponent" Guid="*">
<File Id="ExeFile" Source="c:\windows\notepad.exe" />
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Directory>
<Feature Id='Complete'
Display='expand'
Level='1'
Title='Test'
Description='Test'>
<ComponentRef Id="ExeComponent" />
</Feature>
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action='LaunchInstalledExe' After='InstallFinalize'/>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
<CustomAction Id="LaunchInstalledExe"
FileKey="ExeFile"
ExeCommand=""
Execute="immediate"
Impersonate="yes"
Return="asyncNoWait" />
</Product>
</Wix>

Answer 2

In my final solution I used two properties, one for UI (LAUNCH_APP_ON_EXIT), one for command line arguments (UPDATING_AUTOMATICALLY).
I have to do this because if I run the CustomAction after InstallFinalize in full UI mode, the application would start before you click the "Finish" button.
Now I can call setup.exe /qn UPDATING_AUTOMATICALLY=1 in my program to update.
Here is it all:
<Property Id="LAUNCH_APP_ON_EXIT" Value="1" />
<Property Id="UPDATING_AUTOMATICALLY" Value ="0" />
<CustomAction Id="LaunchApplication" FileKey="mainExecutableFile" ExeCommand="" Execute="immediate" Impersonate="yes" Return="asyncNoWait" />
<UI>
<!-- explainations: http://www.dizzymonkeydesign.com/blog/misc/adding-and-customizing-dlgs-in-wix-3/ -->
<UIRef Id="MyWixUI_InstallDir" />
<UIRef Id="WixUI_ErrorProgressText"/>
<Publish Dialog="MyExitDialog" Control="Finish" Order="1" Event="DoAction" Value="LaunchApplication">LAUNCH_APP_ON_EXIT</Publish>
</UI>
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action='LaunchApplication' After='InstallFinalize'>UPDATING_AUTOMATICALLY = 1</Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>

Answer 3

I would assume that you are launching your app from a custom action, which is triggered through a property bound to the checkbox. If that is the case, you can try specifying that property as a command line argument to setup.exe. Say, if your custom action is bound to the MSI property LAUNCH_NEW_VERSION, you can call setup.exe like this:
setup.exe /q LAUNCH_NEW_VERSION=1
The standard setup bootstrapper should pass that property/value to the MSI engine. If it doesn't, you might consider invoking the .msi directly instead of calling the bootstrapper exe to run your installer.

Answer 4

This is the approach I took.
<Property Id="WixShellExecTarget" Value="[#(the id of your exe here)]" />
<CustomAction Id="LaunchApplication" BinaryKey="WixCA" DllEntry="WixShellExec" Impersonate="yes" />
This will execute which ever file id you enter in the Value. The [# ] is needed. I used this and ran it via the UI but you should be able to call this custom action anywhere and it work.