In previous version of installer, created by Wix, next code exists:
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<RemoveExistingProducts After="InstallInitialize" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>
In order to work around the bug in Windows Installer described in this knowledge base article code has been fixed:
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<RemoveExistingProducts After="InstallFinalize" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>
But now, if I install program with installer with first code and then install program with installer with second code without remove installed program, all files remove and my path exist empty folders (all files in both installer have equal name).
If I open second installer and press Repair - all files appear.
What wrong and how this problem fix?
P.S. Sorry for my English :(
Just a guess: It sounds like the first and the second setup install the same files but as part of components with different component id's. To verify this, you can open both msi files with orca.exe and compare the component ids.
The component IDs should stay the same, so that they can be properly reference counted. Otherwise you will get different components trying to manage the same files, which will in this case result in disappearing files when either of the components is uninstalled.
If you follow the windows installer rule that the content of a component should never change (i.e. never remove or add files to it) then the component GUIDs generated by wix should automatically stay stable. This is one of the reasons why it is best to have one component per file.
I'm using the project reference feature of WiX to harvest a project automatically using Heat. This is particularly useful since the WiX installer is being built both locally and on a TFS2010 build server, and when it's built on the build server the output is redirected to a different location meaning that if I don't automatically harvest the projects, it gets very messy trying to reference the correct location for recently compiled items.
I have the following WiX "code" to install and start the service:
<ServiceInstall Id="MyService"
Type="ownProcess"
Vital="yes"
Name="MyServiceName"
DisplayName="My Service Display Name"
Description="My Service Description"
Start="auto"
Account="[SERVICEACCOUNT]"
Password="[SERVICEPASSWORD]"
ErrorControl="ignore"
Interactive="no" />
<ServiceControl Id="StartService" Name="MyServiceName" Start="install" Wait="no" />
<ServiceControl Id="StopService" Name="MyServiceName" Stop="both" Wait="yes" Remove="uninstall" />
So far, so good... I get a problem when the installer tries to install and start the Windows Services however saying "Service 'MyServiceName'(MyServiceName) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services". If I choose the "Ignore" button, the installation completes "successfully", but when I check the services installed on my machine, the new service isn't listed.
From my investigations online, I believe that the problem is that the service isn't actually getting installed correctly because I need to set the KeyPath to the executable that should be run as the service, but since I am harvesting the files using Heat, I can't find a way to do this... unless I create a custom action which will install the service for me allowing me to specify the executable name once all the files have been installed... but that doesn't sound like it should be the right solution...
Does anyone have any advice or have they encountered the same problem and come up with a solution?
Thanks
UPDATE 07/10/10: In my WiX script, I have the following:
<Directory Id="INSTALLLOCATION" Name="Dolphin Transfer Service Server" ComponentGuidGenerationSeed="AF89976D-CD66-4b94-911B-1D27F969BC14">
<Component Id="ServiceComponent" Guid="F55415F7-803C-4a83-A677-C0F882699374">
<ServiceInstall Id="DolphinTransferService" Type="ownProcess"...
and the target directory for my harvested files is the INSTALLLOCATION directory.
Looking at the msi using Orca, I can see my ServiceComponent and all the generated components for each harvested file. Looking in the File table, there are no files associated with this component (since they have a component generated for each file...). Looking in the ServiceInstall table, the component that it is trying to install is ServiceComponent.
So I think that I need to somehow get the ServiceInstall element to be inside the component that is generated for the service exe so that it installs this component as a service and not the empty "ServiceComponent" component? But since this component is generated at build time by heat I've not managed to make any further progress...
The output of heat is a WXS authoring with one file per component. This is the default behavior and can't be changed using standard heat switches. This was done to natively follow the component rules.
If a component contains a single file, this file is automatically a KeyPath. Hence, if you don't transform the output of heat and keep to the rule "one component - one file", this must not be the reason of the error you get.
I would suggest investigating the verbose log and see if it contains more detailed description of the failure you face with.
What is the purpose of the Source attribute? Have a look at this snippet:
<Component Id="MyComponent" Guid="123456789-abcd-defa-1234-DCEA-01234567890A">
<File Id="myFile" Name="myFile.dll" Source="myFile.dll"/>
</Component>
Since Name and Source have the same value, what does Source add? The code does not compile without it.
Where can I find documentation that explains these attributes? I have tried MSDN for MSI but did not find an answer.
Thanks.
WiX and MSI are not the same. Hence no reference in the MSDN documentation ;)
You need to refer to WiX.CHM where you installed WiX, or the online WiX documentation.
Assuming you're talking about File/#Name and File/#Source, this is optional if your source files are laid out in the same way as your WiX directory structure.
The nifty part comes in when you use multiple -b arguments to light and SourceDir in the File/#Source attribute. For example...
<File Id="example.dll" KeyPath="yes" Source="SourceDir\example.dll" DefaultLanguage="0" />
I usually specify 4 folders with -b in my standard build. One for various installer specfiic resources, one for where I store merge modules, one for common resources between all my installs and one for my source files. Now WiX will look in every directory specified on the command line, which makes things a lot more portable if I'm building on a different system with a different directory layout.
As per the documentation, if (in your example) myfile.dll was in the current directory, you could omit the File/#Source attribute.
File/#Source provides the location to get information about the file (size, language, hash) and to copy it to the correct location (either in a cabinet or laid out in a directory relative to the MSI file).
File/#Name is optional if you do not want to install the file with a different name. In other words, if the file exists with the right name on your build machine, just refer to it using the File/#Source and leave off File/#Name.
File/#Id is also optional as long your file name is unique. You cannot have two files with the same File/#Id so add File/#Id when you have collisions.
In WiX v3.5 I often just do:
<Component>
<File Source="my.exe"/>
</Component>
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.