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visual studio .net setup
group:Trouble with VS 2005 Installer and Add\Remove Program entries
visual studio .net setup:
the first time, it creates folders and files necessary for our web app to run on their server. After which, the user manually assigns some required shares on the newly created folders, along with some other IIS settings. Our issue is when we create an update with a newer version number, even though it correctly updates the files, it also creates an identical listing in “Add/Remove Programsâ€, which we obviously don’t want. However, we don’t want to uninstall the previous version because this removes the originally created folders. That’s not typically a problem, but in this case, it means the user has to recreate the shares on the newly created folders, just as they did before. We want to avoid this. So our question is, how can we have our web setup install over the existing files, without having to uninstall the previous version and not have it list the same setup name in “Add/Remove Programsâ€? We assume we could somehow make our setup create the shares on the newly reated folders via a shelled program (and do the other IIS settings) but because of complexity and time, we were hoping a few setup tweaks could resolve this issue. All other setup packages I’ve worked with simply replace the existing entries in “Add/Remove Programs†whenever an update is made (without having to uninstall the previous version) so it seems it should be easy, but we’re not finding it. Regards,
You can't really get there with Visual Studio setups. Its supported update
mechanism is RemovePreviousVersions, which uninstalls the previous version of the product. When you don't use that you'll get two versions of the product in ARP. It's dangerous to replace files from the first onstall with another setup because that first MSI setup can go into repair mode and restore them. So getting RemovePreviousVersions to work will get you an updated product installed, and the new setup could create those shares with a custom action. I don't know how many files you need to update, but when all you're changing is a few files (and not deleting anything) a patch (a .msp file) is how MSI products are updated, but Visual Studio has no IDE support for that. Updating an MSI product has rules - it's not just copying files around. I've lost track of the number of times I've advised people to make sure they know how to update a product *before* they ship it. -- Phil Wilson [Microsoft MVP-Windows Installer] [quoted text, click to view] "DatabaseOgre" <DatabaseOgre@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:84D2F6B5-D381-4C6A-9464-9C8C190F7677@microsoft.com... > We have a web setup project in MS 2005. When our users run it on their > server > the first time, it creates folders and files necessary for our web app to > run > on their server. After which, the user manually assigns some required > shares > on the newly created folders, along with some other IIS settings. > > Our issue is when we create an update with a newer version number, even > though it correctly updates the files, it also creates an identical > listing > in “Add/Remove Programsâ€, which we obviously don’t want. However, we > don’t > want to uninstall the previous version because this removes the originally > created folders. That’s not typically a problem, but in this case, it > means > the user has to recreate the shares on the newly created folders, just as > they did before. We want to avoid this. > > So our question is, how can we have our web setup install over the > existing > files, without having to uninstall the previous version and not have it > list > the same setup name in “Add/Remove Programsâ€? > > We assume we could somehow make our setup create the shares on the newly > reated folders via a shelled program (and do the other IIS settings) but > because of complexity and time, we were hoping a few setup tweaks could > resolve this issue. All other setup packages I’ve worked with simply > replace > the existing entries in “Add/Remove Programs†whenever an update is > made > (without having to uninstall the previous version) so it seems it should > be > easy, but we’re not finding it. > > Regards, > > DatabaseOgre
Thanks for your response, which leads to another question. We’re considering
simply having multiple listing in the ARP. However, you said, “It's dangerous to replace files from the first install with another setup because that first MSI setup can go into repair mode and restore them.†My question is, can occur on its own, without the user choosing to run the setup in repair mode? And without the first install’s setup.exe file present on the machine? -- Regards, DatabaseOgre [quoted text, click to view] "Phil Wilson" wrote:
> You can't really get there with Visual Studio setups. Its supported update > mechanism is RemovePreviousVersions, which uninstalls the previous version > of the product. When you don't use that you'll get two versions of the > product in ARP. > It's dangerous to replace files from the first onstall with another setup > because that first MSI setup can go into repair mode and restore them. So > getting RemovePreviousVersions to work will get you an updated product > installed, and the new setup could create those shares with a custom action. > > I don't know how many files you need to update, but when all you're changing > is a few files (and not deleting anything) a patch (a .msp file) is how MSI > products are updated, but Visual Studio has no IDE support for that. > Updating an MSI product has rules - it's not just copying files around. > > I've lost track of the number of times I've advised people to make sure they > know how to update a product *before* they ship it. > -- > Phil Wilson > [Microsoft MVP-Windows Installer] > > "DatabaseOgre" <DatabaseOgre@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:84D2F6B5-D381-4C6A-9464-9C8C190F7677@microsoft.com... > > We have a web setup project in MS 2005. When our users run it on their > > server > > the first time, it creates folders and files necessary for our web app to > > run > > on their server. After which, the user manually assigns some required > > shares > > on the newly created folders, along with some other IIS settings. > > > > Our issue is when we create an update with a newer version number, even > > though it correctly updates the files, it also creates an identical > > listing > > in “Add/Remove Programsâ€Â, which we obviously don’t want. However, we > > don’t > > want to uninstall the previous version because this removes the originally > > created folders. That’s not typically a problem, but in this case, it > > means > > the user has to recreate the shares on the newly created folders, just as > > they did before. We want to avoid this. > > > > So our question is, how can we have our web setup install over the > > existing > > files, without having to uninstall the previous version and not have it > > list > > the same setup name in “Add/Remove Programsâ€Â? > > > > We assume we could somehow make our setup create the shares on the newly > > reated folders via a shelled program (and do the other IIS settings) but > > because of complexity and time, we were hoping a few setup tweaks could > > resolve this issue. All other setup packages I’ve worked with simply > > replace > > the existing entries in “Add/Remove Programs†whenever an update is > > made > > (without having to uninstall the previous version) so it seems it should > > be > > easy, but we’re not finding it. > > > > Regards, > > > > DatabaseOgre > >
A repair can be triggered by a number of things - shortcuts, COM activation
are a couple. I don't think I'd bet my business on one not occurring. If it goes into repair mode and requires the original MSI file to restore files there'll be a message box asking for you to browse to the source MSI file if it can't locate it at the original install location. -- Phil Wilson [Microsoft MVP Windows Installer] [quoted text, click to view] "DatabaseOgre" <DatabaseOgre@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:B617961F-41C2-4942-B974-BAA52FA42E7C@microsoft.com... > Thanks for your response, which leads to another question. We're > considering > simply having multiple listing in the ARP. However, you said, "It's > dangerous > to replace files from the first install with another setup because that > first > MSI setup can go into repair mode and restore them." My question is, can > occur on its own, without the user choosing to run the setup in repair > mode? > And without the first install's setup.exe file present on the machine? > -- > Regards, > > DatabaseOgre > > > "Phil Wilson" wrote: > >> You can't really get there with Visual Studio setups. Its supported >> update >> mechanism is RemovePreviousVersions, which uninstalls the previous >> version >> of the product. When you don't use that you'll get two versions of the >> product in ARP. >> It's dangerous to replace files from the first onstall with another setup >> because that first MSI setup can go into repair mode and restore them. So >> getting RemovePreviousVersions to work will get you an updated product >> installed, and the new setup could create those shares with a custom >> action. >> >> I don't know how many files you need to update, but when all you're >> changing >> is a few files (and not deleting anything) a patch (a .msp file) is how >> MSI >> products are updated, but Visual Studio has no IDE support for that. >> Updating an MSI product has rules - it's not just copying files around. >> >> I've lost track of the number of times I've advised people to make sure >> they >> know how to update a product *before* they ship it. >> -- >> Phil Wilson >> [Microsoft MVP-Windows Installer] >> >> "DatabaseOgre" <DatabaseOgre@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message >> news:84D2F6B5-D381-4C6A-9464-9C8C190F7677@microsoft.com... >> > We have a web setup project in MS 2005. When our users run it on their >> > server >> > the first time, it creates folders and files necessary for our web app >> > to >> > run >> > on their server. After which, the user manually assigns some required >> > shares >> > on the newly created folders, along with some other IIS settings. >> > >> > Our issue is when we create an update with a newer version number, even >> > though it correctly updates the files, it also creates an identical >> > listing >> > in â?oAdd/Remove Programsâ?, which we obviously donâ?Tt want. However, >> > we >> > donâ?Tt >> > want to uninstall the previous version because this removes the >> > originally >> > created folders. Thatâ?Ts not typically a problem, but in this case, it >> > means >> > the user has to recreate the shares on the newly created folders, just >> > as >> > they did before. We want to avoid this. >> > >> > So our question is, how can we have our web setup install over the >> > existing >> > files, without having to uninstall the previous version and not have it >> > list >> > the same setup name in â?oAdd/Remove Programsâ?? >> > >> > We assume we could somehow make our setup create the shares on the >> > newly >> > reated folders via a shelled program (and do the other IIS settings) >> > but >> > because of complexity and time, we were hoping a few setup tweaks could >> > resolve this issue. All other setup packages Iâ?Tve worked with simply >> > replace >> > the existing entries in â?oAdd/Remove Programsâ? whenever an update is >> > made >> > (without having to uninstall the previous version) so it seems it >> > should >> > be >> > easy, but weâ?Tre not finding it. >> > >> > Regards, >> > >> > DatabaseOgre >> >> >>
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