CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cmdinstallationwindows-installeradvanced-installer
Kaizer69
Kaizer69

Reputation: 432

Add date to installer log file

I'm building an installer using advanced installer and have run into a problem trying to add dates into the log file. I tried a command using cmd which worked, however when I added it to the MSI commandline all the date values came out as blank. Below is the parameters I pass for the MSI

/L*V "C:\Log_%date:~4,2%.%date:~7,2%.%date:~10,4%-%time:~0,2%.%time:~3,2%.%time:~6,2%.log"

We are trying to make the log be Log_04.05.2019-15.03.45.log instead of Log.log since the logs get overwritten when uninstall happens or on a retry of an installation..

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1143

Answers (1)

Stein Åsmul
Stein Åsmul

Reputation: 42136

Advanced Installer: Sorry, I see that I must have misunderstood. You are trying to set the log file name from within Advanced Installer. Will have a quick look. Where do you specify this command line in the tool? Please note that setting the logging policy for "Global Logging" will ensure unique log file names and that every MSI operation is logged in TMP.

Clarification: So it looks like you don't want to write to the log, but to control the file name of the log file itself?

PowerShell: I find batch files clunky with regards to stuff like this. Can you invoke the installation via Powershell? I don't really use PowerShell, but seeing as it can use .NET, maybe a simple conversion of this C# call would do the trick?

You want something like: "Log_04.05.2019-15.03.45.log", so you could perhaps try this in C#:

Console.WriteLine("Log_" + DateTime.Now.ToString("dd.MM.yyyy-HH.mm.ss") + ".log");

Here is a blog on using PowerShell with Windows Installer, see towards the bottom for this PowerShell snippet (again, I do not use PowerShell for this purpose):

$DataStamp = get-date -Format yyyyMMddTHHmmss
$logFile = '{0}-{1}.log' -f $file.fullname,$DataStamp

$MSIArguments = @(
    "/i"
    ('"{0}"' -f $file.fullname)
    "/qn"
    "/norestart"
    "/L*v"
    $logFile
)
Start-Process "msiexec.exe" -ArgumentList $MSIArguments -Wait -NoNewWindow

Maybe also have a read about the Windows Installer PowerShell Module (Heath Stewart) as linked to in this general purpose answer: How can I use powershell to run through an installer?. Special-purpose PowerShell Module making Windows Installer operations less clunky.

Some Links:

Upvotes: 1

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