[wix-users] Always do major upgrades

Joel Budreau joel.budreau at gmail.com
Wed Dec 7 12:01:32 PST 2016 

If you set your REINSTALLMODE to "emus" you should be able to force your
files to be installed every time, whether upgrading or downgrading. Just
make sure that you aren't installing any shared components since this
change would forcefully downgrade another product's shared files.

On Wed, Dec 7, 2016 at 11:56 AM, Wolfgang Haupt <haupt.wolfgang at gmail.com>
wrote:

> http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/xsd/wix/majorupgrade.html
>
> Actually when you have a look at the docs of the "new" MajorUpgrade-Tag,
> even the standard scheduling of RemoveExistingProducts does not rollback
> the implizit deinstallation of your product.
> "Note that if the installation of the upgrade product fails, the machine
> will have neither version installed."
>
> This was another surprise I did not expect.
> Crazy sidenote, I found a product that uses the former Upgrade-Tag and
> schedules RemoveExistingProducts "Before=InstallInitialize" and it just
> works since years.
> I tried upgrades and downgrades no issue, but when I try my newly created
> MSI package it always fails on downgrade.
>
> Instead of asking myself why the heck my setup cannot downgrade, I ask
> myself how the other one does...
>
> Joel Budreau <joel.budreau at gmail.com> schrieb am Mi., 7. Dez. 2016 um
> 17:55 Uhr:
>
> > If you're looking to always run a full uninstall followed by a full
> > install, you can just move the RemoveExistingProducts action before
> > CostFinalize in the InstallExecuteSequence.
> >
> > Be aware, this solution will not support rollback. If the new MSI fails
> to
> > install you will be left with nothing on the machine. You may or may not
> > care about this tradeoff...
> >
> > - Joel
> >
> > > On Dec 7, 2016, at 7:59 AM, Wolfgang Haupt <haupt.wolfgang at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Wow this situation is a bummer.
> > > It seems like a very common scenario to me and I can't believe that
> this
> > is
> > > not supported by MSI.
> > > Maybe I'm just plain wrong and I do things completely wrong.
> > >
> > > Anyway, thanks for the awesome clarification.
> > >
> > >
> > > Best Regards,
> > > Wolfgang
> > >
> > > Skildum, Mat <Mathew.Skildum at aspect.com> schrieb am Mi., 7. Dez. 2016
> um
> > > 16:33 Uhr:
> > >
> > >> Generating new component GUIDs will have no bearing on the issue you
> are
> > >> trying to solve.  MSI will see that the component does not exist, but
> > the
> > >> file that is installed has a higher version than the one you are
> trying
> > to
> > >> install.  You will still have the same case as you described.
> > >>
> > >> The only way I have found to get around the way MSI updates files, and
> > >> create an always overwrite situation like InstallShield supports, is
> to
> > set
> > >> a pseudo version.  In fact I took this straight from InstallShield.
> If
> > you
> > >> look at an InstallShield generated MSI where always overwrite was
> being
> > >> used, you will see they set a bogus file version to force the
> overwrite.
> > >> Of course this is based on older versions of Installshield as I have
> not
> > >> generated an MSI using InstallShield for many years.
> > >>
> > >> Mat Skildum
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> -----Original Message-----
> > >> From: wix-users [mailto:wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On
> > Behalf
> > >> Of Wolfgang Haupt
> > >> Sent: Wednesday, December 7, 2016 9:04 AM
> > >> To: WiX Toolset Users Mailing List <wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org>
> > >> Subject: Re: [wix-users] Always do major upgrades
> > >>
> > >> Thx for your fast answer.
> > >> Would it be an option to always harvest my files with heat in a
> > >> create_setup.bat and generate new GUID's for every component?
> > >> Reading the MSI-Log it seems, the windows installer takes the GUID of
> my
> > >> component to lookup if it's already installed, or does it take the
> > keypath
> > >> into account and I really have to change the filedate or version, to
> get
> > >> this right.
> > >> Basically this setup is a migration of a very old InstallShield-Setup
> > that
> > >> uses "always overwrite" utterly often.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Skildum, Mat <Mathew.Skildum at aspect.com> schrieb am Mi., 7. Dez. 2016
> > um
> > >> 15:56 Uhr:
> > >>
> > >>> MSI does not truly support this type of functionality without some
> > >>> hacks to the MSI.  Basically you have create a pseudo "always
> > overwrite"
> > >>> situation by setting false version numbers on the version components.
> > >>> I do this with a post build step where I call a small VBScript that
> > >>> updates the file version in the Files table to 99.99.99 or some other
> > >>> high value you will never reach for a version.  You can do this for
> > >>> all files if you want a global over write, or just for the versioned
> > >>> files if they are all you are worried about.
> > >>>
> > >>> If this has been done, you should be able to upgrade or downgrade if
> > >>> no issue as long as your upgrade table id handled correctly.
> > >>>
> > >>> Mat Skildum
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> -----Original Message-----
> > >>> From: wix-users [mailto:wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On
> > >>> Behalf Of Wolfgang Haupt
> > >>> Sent: Wednesday, December 7, 2016 8:22 AM
> > >>> To: wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org
> > >>> Subject: [wix-users] Always do major upgrades
> > >>>
> > >>> Hello,
> > >>>
> > >>> I think I stumbled across following problem:
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15138731/wix-major-
> upgrade-not-inst
> > >>> alling-all-files
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/astebner/2015/11/16/why-
> windows-insta
> > >>> ller-removes-files-during-a-major-upgrade-if-they-go-
> backwards-in-vers
> > >>> ion-numbers/
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4227456/windows-
> installer-deletes-v
> > >>> ersioned-file-during-product-upgrade-instead-of-down?rq=1
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> I basically want to be able to up and downgrade my application from
> > >>> whatever versions.
> > >>> It's no problem for me that it cannot track files and save some
> > >>> installation time, I just want to remove the existing installation
> and
> > >>> then install the "new" (or older) version.
> > >>>
> > >>> When I read the docs it seems to me if I can use the MajorUpgrade-Tag
> > >>> with "AllowDowngrades=yes", but still the installer is checking the
> > >>> version of my Components after CostInitialize and keeps saying:
> > >>> MSI (s) (9C:34) [15:02:05:904]: Disallowing installation of
> component:
> > >>> {GUID} since the same component with higher versioned keyfile exists
> > >>>
> > >>> After that it removes my current version and does not install the
> > >>> mentioned components anymore.
> > >>> This keeps puzzling me since days.
> > >>>
> > >>> Does anyone have an answer/opinion on this topic?
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> Best Regards,
> > >>> Wolfgang
> > >>>
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