[wix-users] Where did this component come from!?

[Edwin Castro]

service.exe is not a Windows Service so I don't use ServiceInstall,
ServiceConfig, etc. It is a native C++ executable that integrates with
a proprietary service management platform.

The authoring looks like this:

<Component Win64="$(var.Win64)">
    <File Source="$(var.SourceFolder)\service.exe"/>
</Component>

There is a custom action that registers service.exe with the
proprietary service management platform. The log shows this custom
action is running at the correct time and working as expected.

We do have a custom action that generates a configuration file
dynamically for service.exe which is also working as expected.

Note that the "phantom" component does NOT appear to be breaking
anything. I just can't explain where it came from.

On a different verbose log I saw many more of these "phantom"
components. All of these "phantom" components have an Id in the
following format: __[CompId]65, where [CompId] corresponds to a
legitimate component. In each case, both the legitimate and the
"phantom" component are listed in the log after CostFinalize
completes.

I'm not seeing extra ComponentRegister or ComponentUnregister messages
during InstallFinalize suggesting that my authored components are the
only ones getting registered and unregistered.

This behavior is so weird and it bothers me that I can't explain where
it is coming from.

--
Edwin G. Castro


On Tue, Feb 21, 2017 at 11:49 AM, Hoover, Jacob
<Jacob.Hoover at greenheck.com> wrote:
> What does your authoring for your service.exe component look like? Are you using any CA's to install/configure the service?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wix-users [mailto:wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On Behalf Of Edwin Castro
> Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2017 12:51 PM
> To: WiX Toolset Users Mailing List <wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org>
> Subject: [wix-users] Where did this component come from!?
>
> I understand this is not a WiX question but rather a Windows Installer question. Please let me know if there is a better place I can ask this question. I've asked here because there are a lot of folks with lots of experience with Windows Installer. I apologize for the noise.
>
> I'm looking at a verbose log from our installer and I found a component that I wasn't expecting!
>
> MSI (s) (38:00) [09:53:15:264]: Feature: DefaultFeature; Installed:
> Absent;   Request: Local;   Action: Local
> ...
> MSI (s) (38:00) [09:53:15:264]: Component: service.exe; Installed:
> Absent;   Request: Local;   Action: Local
> ...
> MSI (s) (38:00) [09:53:15:264]: Component: __service.exe65; Installed:
> Null;   Request: Local;   Action: Local
>
> I expected service.exe to appear in the log BUT I did NOT expect __service.exe65!
>
> This is a "clean" install attempt _after_ the product was previously installed and uninstalled on a test system.
>
> I've opened up the MSI in InstEdit and checked the Component table to ensure it contained all the expected rows. I see the service.exe component as expected. The __service.exe65 component does not exist in the Component table.
>
> Does anybody have any clue as to where this "phantom" component may be coming from?
>
> --
> Edwin G. Castro
>
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