[wix-users] why does 64 bit bundle install key/value pairs under the 32 bit HKLM/Software/Win6432Node registry key?

Wed Oct 12 17:34:29 PDT 2016

Feel free to create two setups if you'd like. That's your choice. But
understand that burn is always 32-bit (for the reasons mentioned
earlier) and you'll need to take that into consideration.

The Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable packages are good examples of
your approach. They have a burn setup.exe for 32-bit MSIs and a
different burn setup.exe for 64-bit MSIs. But both setup.exe are
32-bit! Of course, they're not trying to locate the installed bundle's
UninstallString so that part is different.

I wasn't trying to suggest that two different burn setup.exe was a bad
approach. I was trying to explain why burn setup.exe is always 32-bit.

--
Edwin G. Castro

On Wed, Oct 12, 2016 at 5:27 PM, Ian Bell <ib at ianbellsoftware.com> wrote:
> Edwin,
>
> Being able to create two different deployment programs (i.e. one for a 32
> bit application, the second for the 64 bit application) using a single WIX
> project in VS is certainly a convenience.   However, burn provides the only
> mechanism for installing prerequisites that an application is dependent on.
> In other words, if the MSI were capable of installing the prerequisites
> along with my application then there would be no need for me to use burn and
> this would certainly make registry access a little bit easier.     I
> acknowledge my understanding of and experience with WIX  is limited and that
> is perhaps why I consider prerequisites the overriding reason for using burn
> instead of the issue of having a single entry point.   If I have understood
> you correctly, then personally, I would favor having two entry points if
> only to maintain simplicity and consistency in writing to different 32 and
> 64 bit areas of the registry and hard disk.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Ian
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wix-users [mailto:wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On Behalf Of
> Edwin Castro
> Sent: 12-Oct-16 16:22
> To: WiX Toolset Users Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [wix-users] why does 64 bit bundle install key/value pairs
> under the 32 bit HKLM/Software/Win6432Node registry key?
>
> Something that hasn't been explicitly mentioned is why burn is a 32-bit
> process to begin with.
>
> The purpose of burn is to provide a single entry point to install 32-bit
> and/or 64-bit packages. Since you can't install 64-bit packages or run
> 64-bit executables on 32-bit windows, then burn certainly needs to be a
> 32-bit process on 32-bit windows. IF you could have both 32-bit burn and
> 64-bit burn, then you'd have two entry points rather than a single one. If
> you have multiple packages to install, then burn could still be helpful but
> if all burn was doing is giving you a mechanism to install a 32-bit MSI OR
> 64-bit MSI based on the target OS, then having both 32-bit and 64-bit burn
> would simply add more complexity for very little value add. In that case,
> you'd be better off just distributing the 32-bit MSI or the 64-bit MSI
> directly once you know which burn you're going to deliver.
>
>
>> > The question is,
>> > how does the 64 bit version of my application know whether it was
>> > installed using the WIX based MSI installer or the WIX based SETUP
> installer?
>
> The registry API allows me to say that I always want to read the 32-bit hive
> regardless of whether I'm a 32-bit or 64-bit process.
>
> See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa384129.aspx
>
> If your application is .NET, then you could use RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey if
> you're on .NET 4
>
> See
> https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.win32.registrykey.openbas
> ekey.aspx
>
> If you're on earlier versions of .NET then, you'd have to use pinvoke to
> call the C API directly.
>
> --
> Edwin G. Castro
>
> On Wed, Oct 12, 2016 at 12:35 PM, Hoover, Jacob <Jacob.Hoover at greenheck.com>
> wrote:
>> 32 bit processes write to 32 bit keys.... It would be smell if burn
> registered elsewhere.
>>
>> Your app shouldn't need to look in the registry for the bundle info, but
> if it does it should use the existing logic inside of dutil in Butil.cpp.
> If your process is a 64 bit process, this code would have to be tweaked to
> only access the 32 bit locations.  I still don't see a reason as to why your
> application would need to know about the UninstallString, but with a given
> bundle upgrade code you can find this
> (BundleEnumRelatedBundle->BundleGetBundleInfo).
>>
>> Note, only the bundle registration is done in 32 bit land, if your bundle
> installs 64 bit MSI's then they register into the 64 bit location. If there
> is a configuration option your BA collects, then one would think you would
> pass it to your application installer via a MSIProperty, and then your MSI
> puts it in the registry where it sees fit.  Using that pattern, then your
> application doesn't need to care about a bundled install vs a bare install,
> as the location will be the same for both.
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: wix-users [mailto:wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On
>> Behalf Of Ian Bell
>> Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2016 2:02 PM
>> To: 'WiX Toolset Users Mailing List' <wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org>
>> Subject: Re: [wix-users] why does 64 bit bundle install key/value pairs
> under the 32 bit HKLM/Software/Win6432Node registry key?
>>
>> Burn only writes to the 32 bit registry?   OUCH - the 'code-smell' is
>> already detectable.   JJJ
>>
>>
>>
>> The WIX based MSI installer adds configuration information to 32 bit or 64
> bit registry keys depending on which soluction platform (i.e. 32 bit or 64
>> bit) of the WIX base MSI project is built in VS2015.   So far, so good.
>> Now, you have just confirmed the same is not true for WIX based SETUP
> (i.e.
>> bundle) installers - these installers only add configuration
>> information to
>> 32 bit registry keys.  Here is the problem.  My app needs to know where to
> find configuration information added to the registry by WIX based MSI and
>> SETUP installers (e.g. the 'UninstallString'  key/value pair).   If the 64
>> bit version of my application was installed using the WIX based MSI
> installer then my application needs to look for the installer added
> information in the 64 bit registry keys (this is the expected location).
>> On the other hand, if the 64 bit version of my application was installed
> using the WIX based SETUP installer then my application needs to look for
> the installer added information in the 32 bit registry keys (this is the
>> unexpected location and where the 'code-smell' begins).   The question is,
>> how does the 64 bit version of my application know whether it was
> installed
>> using the WIX based MSI installer or the WIX based SETUP installer?
> There
>> are several hacks that come to mind such as writing a custom installer
> that adds this extra information to the registry (i.e. was the application
> installed using an MSI or a SETUP installer) and rewriting the source code
>> to accommodate this hack, hence the 'code-smell'.   Oh well, I'll just
> have
>> to decide which of these hacks is the lesser evil and get on with it.
>>
>>
>>
>> Anyways, thanks you for responding so quickly.   Now I can start to
> grapple
>> with the next WIX based SETUP hiccup. J
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>>
>>
>> Ian
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: wix-users [mailto:wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On
>> Behalf Of Bob Arnson
>> Sent: 12-Oct-16 13:22
>> To: WiX Toolset Users Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [wix-users] why does 64 bit bundle install key/value pairs
> under the 32 bit HKLM/Software/Win6432Node registry key?
>>
>>
>>
>> Yes. Burn is currently 32-bit.
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>>
>> From: wix-users [ <mailto:wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org>
>> mailto:wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On Behalf Of Ian Bell
>>
>> Sent: Wednesday, 12 October, 2016 12:59
>>
>> To:  <mailto:wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org>
>> wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org
>>
>> Subject: [wix-users] why does 64 bit bundle install key/value pairs under
> the 32 bit HKLM/Software/Win6432Node registry key?
>>
>>
>>
>> The 32 bit version of my WIX setup bundle adds key/value pairs under
>> the 32 bit
>> HKLM/Software/Win6432Node/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Uninstall
>>
>> registry key.    Examples of the keys added to the registry are
>>
>> BundleCachePath, BundleVersion, QuietUninstallString and UninstallString.
>>
>> Now, I found the 64 bit version of my WIX setup bundle also adds
>> key/value pairs under the 32 bit
>> HKLM/Software/Win6432Node/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Uninstall
>>
>> registry key and this is not where I expected to find the 64 bit
>> key/value
>>
>> pairs.   Instead, I expected the 64 bit version of my WIX setup bundle to
>>
>> install under  these key/value pairs under the 64 bit registry key
>>
>> HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Uninstall.   My application
>>
>> needs to know where the key/value pairs installed by my WIX bundle are
>>
>> located in the registry.    Is it normal for the 64 bit version of the
> setup
>>
>> bundle to add these key/value pairs to the 32 bit version of the registry
> key?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Ian
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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