CODEWITHSUNDEEP
wixwindows-installer
Mike
Mike

Reputation: 273

Install a file regardless of version number with WiX

MyApp version 1.0 contained the file foo.dll. The version of this file was version 10.5.567. Now MyApp is version 2.0 and the version of foo.dll is 2.0.123. The version is LOWER than the old version. The vendor who wrote this dll decided to go backwards with the file version number. This is not a decision I can change.

How do I get WiX to always install this file?

The RemoveExistingProducts action is scheduled after the InstallFinalize action and also cannot be changed.

InstallShield had an 'always overwrite' flag but I don't think I can mimic this without changing the behavior of all files via a compiler switch. I do not want this. I just want to update THIS ONE file.

I have also tried

<RemoveFile Id="foo.dll" On="install" Name="foo.dll" />

But this did not work either. I end up getting 'Error 2753 The file foo.dll is not marked for installation' later.

Upvotes: 17

Views: 13388

Answers (5)

ringwaldK
ringwaldK

Reputation: 129

It is really crazy this post is 10 years old and we also have this problem. The other approaches did not work for us.

How to solve it:

  1. All files which should be copied regardless of their version, must be in their own component
  2. Component element must have a unique Guid, not a *
  3. Set KeyPath to no in the inner File element

Example:

<Component Id="cmpExample" Guid="{5ABE7229-C247-4CBA-B8DE-2C4968CD103E}" >
     <File Id="fileExample" KeyPath="no" Source="$(var.TargetDir)\SomeExample.dll" />
</Component>

I would recommend to aggregate all those component elements in a component group. And furthermore you can use XML Transformation to get rid of those files if you use heat.exe to harvest all your files.

With this solution you can copy the file, even if the installed file version is higher. And it still works as expected when a higher file version will be installed with your upgrade.

Upvotes: 12

user3379122
user3379122

Reputation:

Annotation

Force always overwrite in Light.exe output with the "InstallShield trick":

XPath="/wixOutput/table[@name='File']/row/field[5]" InnerText=„65535.0.0.0“

Upvotes: 0

Christopher B. Adkins
Christopher B. Adkins

Reputation: 3567

One thing that could be worth trying is to set RemoveExistingProducts real early in the sequence. The MSI should then remove the old program first, then install the upgrade. This will solve your issue. e.g.

<InstallExecuteSequence>
    <RemoveExistingProducts After="CostFinalize" />
</InstallExecuteSequence>

Upvotes: -2

Stein &#197;smul
Stein &#197;smul

Reputation: 42126

I answered a similar question a while back: Forcing an upgrade of a file that is modified during its initial installation

I think I would use a companion file to solve this problem, but you might get validation errors since the file in question is a dll and hence considered an executable. I believe it would still work, and reliably so.

Upvotes: 1

martin
martin

Reputation: 2997

This isn't easy because it is against the standard behaviour of MSI-packages. When compiling, you have to set supress-file-options with -sf in light.exe. Then there are no file-informations from your files read. You can set DefaultVersion this version will be used. I have also used RemoveFile in a solution, but i can say that it works. I have add it in same componente where i add the file.

   <Component>
        <File DiskId="1" Id="fooDLL" Name="foo.dll" Vital="yes" 
         DefaultVersion="$(var.MAJORVERSION).$(var.MINORVERSION).$(var.BUILDVERSION)" 
         DefaultLanguage="0"></File>
        <RemoveFile Id='RemoveOldDLL' On='install' Name='foo.dll'/>
   </Componente>

This is not a clean way, but to remove an old version it works for me.

Upvotes: 6

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