CODEWITHSUNDEEP
wixwindows-installer
thewpfguy
thewpfguy

Reputation: 824

Do we "have" to use MsiExec to install a Wix patch?

We normally install Wix patches (xxx.msp) by double-clicking them. But I see at various places over the internet that we should use the MsiExec utility. For e.g. msiexec /update patch.msp REINSTALL=ALL

Is there any downside in not using the MsiExec utility?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 171

Answers (1)

Alexey Ivanov
Alexey Ivanov

Reputation: 11838

No, there's no downside. Effectively, double-clicking runs msiexec /p patch.msp.

If your patch updates only the versioned files, EXE and DLL, and work correctly without adding REINSTALL=ALL, then it's great!

The point of using msiexec explicitly is to add REINSTALL=ALL property. It make the installer to re-install all the files. This is usually added to fix the problems where some files do not get updated when the patch is installed directly by double-clicking.

Upvotes: 1

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