[wix-users] Burn Bootstrapper Repair Hangs on MSI Failure

[Tyler Gustafson]

Good morning,

I've got a Burn Bootstrapper with a chain element that looks like this:
    <Chain DisableRollback="yes">
      <MsiPackage Id="WorkingMsi" SourceFile="Working.msi" DisplayInternalUI="yes" Vital="yes" Visible="yes" />
      <MsiPackage Id="FailingMsi" SourceFile="Failing.msi" DisplayInternalUI="yes" Vital="yes" Visible="yes" />
    </Chain>

I've designed Failing.msi with a CustomAction which will intentionally fail the install:
    <CustomAction Id="FailingAction" Directory="PRODUCTDIR" Execute="deferred" Return="check" ExeCommand="[SystemFolder]cmd.exe /c "COLOR 00 > [PRODUCTDIR]FailingAction.log"" />
    <InstallExecuteSequence>
      <Custom Action="FailingAction" After="InstallFiles">(NOT Installed) OR (Installed AND NOT REMOVE~="ALL")</Custom>
    </InstallExecuteSequence>




  1.  The first time I run the bootstrapper, I see a window from the UI of the Failing.msi at the appropriate point;
"There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor."
After pushing ok, the bootstrapper shows an error message "One or more issues caused the setup to fail. Please fix the issues and then retry setup. For more information see the log file. 0x80070643 - Fatal error during installation." Pushing Close exits gracefully. All of this is expected behaviour.


  1.  If I then try to run the bootstrapper again, I get a Repair option (which I push) because the bootstrapper was intentionally not rolled back and removed from system (DisableRollback="yes")


  1.  This time, it does not show me the window indicating there is a problem from step 1, but instead, hangs saying "Please wait while Windows configures Failing". When I mouse over that window, it updates the title bar from "Failing" to "Failing (Not Responding)". This is not expected behaviour.


  1.  I try to push the cancel button and get the standard windows dialog asking if I want to close the program or wait for it to respond and I choose to close the program.



  1.  Now I get the bootstrapper UI showing me the message that was displayed by the msi's UI from step 1 "There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor." Pushing OK closes the program as expected.


  1.  Program flow starts from step 2 every time I run the bootstrapper now, unless I uninstall it from add/remove programs. If I do that, program flow starts over from step 1.


I think I'm seeing a bug with the interplay of bootstrapper repair, and passing messages back from the msi. I can't find this listed as a bug anywhere but I'll admit I'm not sure exactly what search terms to use. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Tyler Gustafson
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