I used InstallShield to create an installer for my project.
It included the following files (deeply nested in a file directory):
program files (folder),0x0409.ini, setup.exe, Setup.ini, applicationName.msi
Am I supposed to provide all these to the client and have him click the setup.exe button? or is there a nicer (easier) way to make it clear what the client needs to click?
I know you can just have the applicationName.msi, but why did they create a setup.exe program then?
Installshield creates a setup.exe if you have your project's Release configured to create one. Choose "no" under Releases | Setup.exe tab | Setup Launcher. Those other files you mention should not be needed by the client.
Related
I have created an app using Electron and I want to create a Windows installer with a wizard.
I am currently using the electron-installer-windows module to create my installer. But this create a single .exe file with no wizard at all.
I need the wizard to allow user to select destination folder and the possibility of creating a desktop icon
So, there is a way to generate an installer with a wizard using this module? or I need to create my own installer?
also, will this installer manage dependency issues? for example if the end user does not have npm installed, or any other dependency
I ended up using Inno Setup to create the installer.
I've had success with electron-builder. I would recommend giving it a try.
I have an installscript projects which accepts some prefined command line arguments. Depending upon the arguments passed to it, certain features are selected and installation is performed.
I want this installation to be without any User interaction, even the dialogs should not be visible on the screen like we have /qn mode for msi installation.
How can I achieve it for installscript project.
You can construct a command line based on the information found here: Installshield Setup.exe Command line settings.
Some Installshield Installscript setups need a response file created to run silently, and even then there might be cases where it doesn't run entirely silently. This is just how this project type works. Response files are created by running Setup.exe with the /r option.
More information here.
Using InstallShield LE with Visual Studio 2013, dev and target machines are Windows 7.
How do I create a folder under ProgramData and place a file in it? I have a text configuration file that I need to put there so the user can edit it as needed.
[I know this isn't a forum for ranting, so use your imagination to insert some nasty non-family-friendly comments about InstallShield here.]
InstallShield is a Windows Installer authoring tool. InstallShield rants aside, let's talk about the Windows Installer pain of what you are trying to do.
Installing per-user components is a pain. It requires a repair in each user context to populate the file. It's very ugly and has issues such as source resolution.
There is an easier way. Install a "seed" of the file in [ProgramFiles]Company\Product or [CommmonAppData]Company\Product and when the user runs your program copy the file to the users ProgramData if it does not exist.
This way you keep it simple for the installer, only add a few lines of code to your startup and don't have to worry about MSI trying to "fix" the user config file when the user edits the content because the installer doesn't know anything about it.
Easy, heh? Application design and Installer design have to go hand in hand.
Is there any way in InstallShield to show the prerequisites which is being redistributed along with the setup.exe are already installed on the target system, like the image below, which shows what is pending on the target system. What if I want to show that this is already installed?
There's nothing in the UI that shows this. You can run setup.exe /debuglog and read through it to figure out what was skipped:
Q105473: INFO: Setup.exe Command Line Parameters
FWIW, I get in the habit of also implementing the check in the MSI ( AppSearch / LaunchConditions tables ). This way if the setup.exe is bypassed and the MSI directly invoked you'll still make sure to not get into a bad state of missing prereqs. If this is too much work for you, you can use the SETUPEXEDIR property to enforce that the MSI was launched by setup.exe.
I have a setup which has been created using InstallScript MSI project type. This problem is encountered by our client and he wants a quick solution.
Let's assume I have initiated the installation from a path like
C:\Setup_V_1.0.0931.1
Inside this folder I have Setup.exe through which I will install the product. After installation or after some days pass I will change the path to:
C:\New\Setup_V_1.0.0931.1
and this time I want to modify the setup. Actually we are supporting 3 features: Server, Client and Service.
This time I want only Client and not Server. So I will click on the Setup.exe or click on Uninstallation Icon in the Startup Menu which will lead to Maintenance Mode there you have an option to Modify, Repair or Remove. I choose Modify and select the feature, but as the installation progresses, this error message will pop up:
Setup could not find a file on the specified path or Disk. Please check
that the proper disk is inserted or specify a new path. Unable to
locate file c:\New\Setup_V_1.0.0931.1\setup.msi
Then, another popup will be shown saying:
Error: 1706. No Valid Source could be found for product. The Windows
Installer cannot continue.
The next error message is:
Error: 1603. Fatal error during installation. Consult Windows Installer
Help (Msi.chm) or MSDN for more information.
But if I change the path to its original location, it works fine.
How can I solve this?
I event checked in this registry path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\{Product-Key}
This key contains a lot of information inside InstallProperties. There is a key called InstallSource and its value is C:\Setup_V_1.0.3909.1\. Even after changing this value installshiled is still showing errors.
I found the same registry information for Uninstallation Information:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{Product-Key}
In your properties change ReinstallMode (or maybe Reinstall I forget which) from omus to vomus
the v means cache your install, so it will put your .msi file in c:\windows\installer so it can be used later.
When installing a MSI, Windows Installer saves the original MSI path in registry (the InstallSource entry you mentioned). When running the MSI in maintenance mode, Windows Installer will use this path to find the installation data (CAB files).
When you move the MSI, the path stored in registry is no longer valid, so Windows Installer cannot find the installation data.
A possible solution is to use "Add or Remove Programs" or "Programs and Features" in Control Panel to modify the installation. This way the cached MSI is used.