Unable to open .ism and .uip files using Installshield 2019 - installshield

I was using InstallShield 2011 (licensed version) to build .ism and .uip InstallShield projects and create .exe and .bin files from them. Since I was using command-in-line arguments (IsCmdBld.exe, InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild.exe) with the above .ism and .uip projects to build, it's pretty easy for us to and create setup.exe and setup.bin from them.
Our sample syntax:
exec executable="${installShield.home}/IsCmdBld.exe" dir="."
arg line=' -p "../ISScript/setup.ism" -r "${release}" '
exec executable="${installShield.universal.home}/InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild.exe" dir="."
arg line='"../universal/setup.uip" -build ${release}'
The issue was raised when we were thinking of upgradation of InstallShield to the latest version, we couldn't find the build tool (InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild.exe) in the latest package. So the installers (.bin) creating for UNIX based platforms are stopped.
FYI: While we were using InstallShield 11 (licensed version) to create the universal installer (.uip) using "InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild.exe" as an executable, we had a package named "Universal" in our InstallShield 11, which contained the above command line too.
We would be happy if you could help us with this.

It's not completely clear what your question is, but I think it's along the lines of “How do I build a .uip project with a current offering from Flexera?” And, while I have some clarifications to offer (and I will), the bottom line is that the product that handled .uip projects was discontinued long ago, so there's likely to be some significant migration work.
In the InstallShield 11 era (2005 or so), the Windows and non-Windows branches of InstallShield were packaged together as a product called InstallShield Universal. Since then, two relevant things changed. The combined packaging was discontinued, so if you need to support both Windows and non-Windows, Flexera's products are once again separate offerings. Also, after ZeroG's InstallAnywhere joined the family, the long term result was that InstallShield Multiplatform was discontinued, and InstallAnywhere survived as the non-Windows offering.
So the important question is what sort of upgrade path there is from your .uip into InstallAnywhere. This is outside my knowledge (I just worked on the Windows side), but there is a mention of Upgrading from InstallShield MultiPlatform in the InstallAnywhere documentation. Thus I wouldn't rule it out. And once you sort that out, you'll have to adjust your build script to use either build.exe or Ant, by the looks of it.

Related

Silent installation msi

0x80070652 - when installing VS 2012 C++ redistributables.
Hi All,
I have a weird issue for the last few days now, i've been looking for a solution in the forums, google etc.
So far, couldn't find a similar problem:
Scenario:
I have an "Basic MSI" project that deploy our company product.
everything worked OK till i needed to add installation of VS 2012 C++ redistributables.
i'm using the installscript to initiate a command line for installing it quietly - 'vcredist_x64.exe /q'.
if the custom action is being added to the execute sequance, the following error is coming from the "VS 2012 C++ redistributables. -
ERROR 0X80070652: ERROR_INSTALL_ALREADY_RUNNING.This error is due to Another installation is already in progress. Complete that installation before proceeding with this install.
if running it manually, regardless to the IS installation, everything is working perfectly.
Also, when the custom action is on the UI sequance - works great. - i cannot leave it on the UI sequance, since our product is being deployed quietly along with our product client.
I've been trying to change into a different project type - "installscript MSI"... Same error.
Please advise, thanks for any inputs.
Short Answer: You can't run this executable from inside your MSI for technical reasons, you should run them in sequence instead. First the executable, then your MSI (batch file or manually). Or you should make an executable that runs them in sequence (WiX Bundle for example).
VCRedist: The VS 2012 C++ redistributable vcredist_x64.exe is a WiX Bundle with a couple of MSI files inside. You are not allowed to run embedded / nested MSI files concurrently with the main MSI installation. Simple explanation here. Inline explanation: This is because MSI files install as a transaction that is supposed to be possible to roll back. Hence the file installation sequence locks the system to prevent other MSI files installing when one is already in progress.
Extract: You can extract a WiX bundle using the WiX toolkit's dark.exe: dark.exe /x D:\VCRedist vcredist_x64.exe. WiX toolkit must be installed and dark.exe must be in the path or you must specify its full path.
Setup.exe: The solution is to run the MSI files in sequence inside a setup.exe bundle created with WiX, Installshield (see link for sample screenshot - more on suite projects here), Advanced Installer or a similar setup creation tool. Another approach is to simply deliver the runtime next to your installer and install them in sequence with a batch file or even by instructing the user to do so.
Merge Modules: Most VCRedist versions have merge modules that you can use to install the runtime (as opposed to setup executables). WiX sample. These are merged into your own MSI at build time and hence feature no nested MSI processes. There are some issues with merge modules and recent VCRedist versions.
Links:
The latest supported Visual C++ downloads
Detect VC runtime presence
Similar answer

Add C++ redistribuitable in my .msi and install on silent

I am working with a setup project of Visual Studio 2015. I want to distribute the 2015 C++ library, vc_redist.x86.exe. But I don't want user to be aware of this pre-requisite, so the idea is that while he is running the .msi, the C++ library will be auto-installed.
I have been reading about the merge modules, but this cannot fix my problem because the setup.exe should be run. Please, could anybody tell me how to deal with this?
Many thanks!
You'll need to change (or create your own custom one) the standard bootstrapper that has documentation starting here:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms165429.aspx
The bootstrapper packages contain the detection and install logic for the redistributables. For example, the \Bootstrapper\Packages folder has VC redist folders, each with a product.xml and a package.xml about installing them as prerequisites. They have standard command lines such as:
Command PackageFile="vcredist_x64.exe" Arguments=' /q:a
and you can substitute that command with something like those listed here:
http://asawicki.info/news_1597_installing_visual_c_redistributable_package_from_command_line.html
that show the quiet options (as do standard Microsoft docs somewhere).

Adding InstallShiled project to another InstallShield project

I have two installshield projects, I want to ask is it even possible to wrap an existing ism project within a wrapper ism project?!
The desired functionality is:
When i use custom installation and select to install the nested project it will behave as like i used it's native installer.
I'm using installshield 2011 Professional edition.
Thanks for helping.
I encountered this SAME problem. I wanted an installshield project to run another installshield project (which was an updater) to bring the software up to date before installing the first installer.
I solved this by creating a batch file.
1) The user launches the install msi.
2) The installer prerequisites detects that "previous version must be installed" by checking the registry and runs the batch file
3) The batch file kills the current process of installer and runs the second installer
4) Once the second installer is finished, the batch file re-runs the first installer (by using the batch command START /WAIT, which waits for a process to finish)
5) Now that the second installer was installed, the prerequisites doesn't trigger, and you resume with the installation.
You can, with caveats. If both of your projects are Basic MSI or InstallScript MSI, you will encounter the limitation that Windows Installer will only allow one MSI at a time. The end result of that is you can either run both safely through actions in the UI sequence (and fail if they are run silently), you might be able to use MSI Chaining (which I don't personally recommend), or turn one of the MSI packages into a prerequisite, or you have to find another way.
One option could be to add a third project, a pure InstallScript project, as a wrapper. If you go down this route, you have to consider what user experience you want for installation, maintenance, and uninstallation, including deciding what shows up in Programs and Features. Note that in later versions of InstallShield the Suite or Suite/Advanced UI project type is designed for this, but only in the Premier edition. (The Advanced UI project type in the Professional edition only allows for one main package, and you have two already.)

How to make a nested msi in InstallShield 2014 express

I have 2 .msi files, say a.msi and b.msi.
I need to chain these two msi files together. I need a wrapper program which starts installation of a.msi file first. Once it is completed installation of b.msi should start.
I installed InstallShield express 2014 to do this task. But articles show that it needs a commercial version of InstallShield is needed. Please help.
Thanks
InstallShield Express is commercial, so perhaps you meant the Limited Edition. Regardless, short of creating a Suite Project in InstallShield Premier, you really shouldn't try to chain MSIs files together.
If one of those two files is a prerequisite rather than a component, you can look into the prerequisite support. The prerequisite editor is available in the Professional and higher editions; prerequisites themselves are usable in lower editions.

Building on Windows XP, when development is on VS2012?

We're planning moving from Visual Studio 2005 to Visual Studio 2012 (Visual-C++-11).
(We would very much like to skip 2010 if we can help it, since the newer version is already there and offers a better C++ experience.)
But we've hit a little roadblock:
Our build servers still run Windows 2003r2 (all inside dedicated virtual machines), and due to messy tool support/issues, we're in no position to upgrade the build servers to a newer OS.
Developers mostly have switched to Windows7 by now, so moving the remaining Windows XP developer boxes shouldn't pose a problem.
Since VS2012 only runs on Win7 we are wondering whether we can leverage it's tools (C++ compiler, C#) and still do a full equivalent build on the W2k3 build server - after all, we don't really need a VS GUI there, just build C++ and C# projects from VS2012.
What are our options?
Will the SDK (7.1? 8?) compilers + msbuild command line get me anywhere?
In Project Property Pages, there an option "Platform Toolset" that allow you to choose compatibility of your project. So, you can work in VS2012, but built it with "VS2008 compiler"
Here is what we do:
Use CMake
CMake allows you to create build systems for your operating system. Thus we are able to use the same code within VS2005, VS2010 and Eclipse, XCode etc.
You could do something similar: Install VS2005 on your old machines and let CMake create the projects for you from the sources. On your newer machines you can use CMake to generate VS2012 Solutions (I don't know if they have 2012 support yet, because we don't use 2012 yet too).
A big pro here is: If you plan to migrate to any other IDE or even Linux you just can re-run CMake and get your source code within these environment easily compilable.
A big con: You have to start reading about CMake and create CMakeLists.txt for all your projects (might be a lot of work depending on the amount of projects, amount of source code files within each project, specific compiler options, linker options etc.)
Our build servers still run Windows 2003r2 (all inside dedicated
virtual machines), and due to messy tool support/issues, we're in no
position to upgrade the build servers to a newer OS.
Well. Not much came out of this question. We recently re-evaluated this issue, and I see two options (I haven't tried any yet):
Just do a full VS installation on a supported OS (Win7), zip up the whole VS+WinSDK directories (as well as the neccesary runtme DLLs that live somewhere under %WINDR%), and try if you can get that thing working on an XP based OS. Might work. Not a great idea if you ask me.
Split up the build process to distribute the build across several OS, so that we can work with tools that are only supported on one of them. -- This actually sounds more complicated than it'll be. We already run our build spread over several Jenkins jobs, so I should be able to get that to work. (And all build nodes are already VMs anyway, so adding more VMs isn't that much of an issue.)

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