[wix-users] Custom bootstrapper - package caching

[Farrukh Waheed]

The customer can always uninstall these third-party setups from Programs &
Features applet of the control panel.
But when you change your Deployment technology (like now you have adopted
Burn bootstrapper), you also facilitate your customer by either instructing
him/her how to remove older things, or best option is to automate the
removal of older things with some script/app to be executed before your new
bootstrapper based installer start its operations.

In addition, if you are delivering the new versions of EXEPackages, most
probably, these have the ability to upgrade their ancestors. Otherwise,
deliver a bat-script or PowerShell script which will first remove older
things and then execute Bootstrapper based installed.


On 26 September 2017 at 09:23, Roland K via wix-users <
wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org> wrote:

> I have a custom bootstrapper which includes one MsiPackage (our
> applications) and a few 3rd party setups defined as ExePackages. This
> bootstrapper should be the successor to our current setup, which is mostly
> just copying files.
>
> Let's say a customer has already installed our software and all of the 3rd
> party setups by our current setup. Now we give him the new burn
> bootstrapper to install a newer version of our software. Because of the
> DetectConditions defined for every ExePackage, burn detects, that all of
> the ExePackages are already installed and so the MsiPackage is the only
> package which gets installed. So far, so good!
>
> BUT:
>
> Maybe someday, the customer wants to uninstall our software? If he tries
> that, he will run into serious issues. Because the 3rd party setups weren't
> installed by our new bootstrapper, the packages are not cached. Same issue,
> if an ExePackage doesn't get installed at the initial installation, and you
> want to add it later. You can't do that, 'cause they are not available.
>
> Originally I thought, that the smaller file, which gets cached always and
> is named same as the original bootstrapper does contain the ExePackages
> anyway.
>
> So am I right, that either you set Cache to Always on every package, or you
> preserve the full bootstrapper somewhere?
>
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