[wix-users] MSI File with Multiple Embedded Cabs totaling greater than 2 GB can't be installed

[Walter Dexter]

It's not what I'd like as authoritative, but there's this MSDN blog

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/windows_installer_team/2005/09/18/what-are-the-upper-limits-of-the-cab-file-format/

On Fri, Jan 5, 2018 at 3:34 PM Hoover, Jacob via wix-users <
wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org> wrote:

> I would heavily suggest to not embed the CABS in the MSI.  The issue is
> that windows installer will keep a copy of the MSI in the "installer cache"
> but it does not consider this a valid installation source.  (It keeps the
> copy of the MSI for uninstall capability, and it can't strip the CABS
> because that would invalidate the digital signature.)
>
>
> https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/windows_installer_team/2005/09/18/what-are-the-upper-limits-of-the-cab-file-format/
>
> I do see vague references to the 2GB limit, but I am not able to find any
> clearly stated info from an official site.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wix-users [mailto:wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On Behalf
> Of Grant Arnold via wix-users
> Sent: Friday, January 5, 2018 11:42 AM
> To: wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org
> Cc: Grant Arnold <grant.arnold at safe.com>
> Subject: [wix-users] MSI File with Multiple Embedded Cabs totaling greater
> than 2 GB can't be installed
>
> We have been using WiX for many years to create our installer. Over time,
> the size of our installer has grown and just yesterday the size creeped up
> past 2 GB.
>
> The installer was generated with no errors, but when it is run, it shows
> the UI as normal but when the "Install" button is pressed it throws the
> error message "The system cannot open the device or file specified". The
> only options are to retry or cancel the installation.
>
> After doing some poking around, it sounded like there are some limitations
> of cab files where a single cab can't be greater than 2 GB. I checked and
> we are already splitting the install over several cab files using the
> <MediaTemplate> element, and none of the cabs are over 200 MB.
>
> I then tried building the installer with the "EmbedCab" attribute set to
> "no", and this fixed the installer. It was built successfully and was able
> to be installed. The problem though is this fundamentally changes how we
> deliver our installer to our customers as previously we just sent a single
> .msi installer with the cabs embedded. Now we will have to package up the
> .msi and .cab files into a bootstrapper or something.
>
> My question is: Is this a fundamental limitation of Windows Installer? Or
> of WiX? Is it not possible to have an installer with embedded cabs totaling
> more than 2 GB compressed? Why? Is there any other way to workaround or fix
> this without having to pull the cabs out of the .msi file?
>
> Thanks,
> Grant
> --
>
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