I think I was just an idiot when I thought the <RemoveFile ...> wasn't
working. Maybe my test files were what was in the installer. I've tried
this in the real world and it works.
Thanks so much for the explanation of how Wix/.msi's choose to replace
files. I'm printing this out and sticking it on my cube wall. Very
useful information.
Also not, lest anyone's worried :-), all our deployments are internal
websites and services, and I've confirmed with IT that they don't save
custom files or backups there, so in theory we're not going to wipe out
anything that needs to be kept. I'd never do something like this on
consumer targeted installers. I know you all care. Ha ha.
-Matt
_____
From: Mike Dimmick [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 12:53 PM
To: Matthew Janulewicz; wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: RE: [WiX-users] Clear out directory before install?
I recommend they use xcopy exclusively. Give them a ZIP file.
Actually, the installer should overwrite whatever's already there. The
rules for first installs and major upgrades are clear:
If both the existing file and the new file have a version number,
highest version wins. If the version is the same, no upgrade occurs.
If only the new file has a version, the existing file is overwritten.
If only the old file has a version, the existing file is kept.
If neither file has a version, and the existing file has been modified
(LastWriteTime different from CreationTime), it is kept.
If neither file has a version and the existing file is unmodified, the
new file overwrites the old one. As an optimisation, if the installer
contains a hash for the file (WiX always generates hashes) and the hash
of the existing file is the same, the new file is not copied. This saves
a little write I/O and potentially saves extracting the file from the
CAB, and even downloading the CAB or file if installling from an
administrative install point or from the Web.
These rules only apply to the key path of each component. If the key
path is determined to need upgrading, the whole component is installed.
With WiX, the first file mentioned in the Component is the key path,
unless you explicitly set it with the KeyPath attribute. Optionally, you
can tell Windows Installer to use a different file for version decisions
(a CompanionFile) but you're not allowed to do this if the file is the
key path for its component.
It's possible that if they're xcopying, the modified date becomes
different from the creation date. In this case Windows Installer thinks
that this is user data it's supposed to be protecting and won't
overwrite it. Xcopy doesn't offer any options to work around this.
--
Mike Dimmick
_____
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matthew
Janulewicz
Sent: 12 June 2007 18:08
To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: [WiX-users] Clear out directory before install?
I realize this is a certifiable Bad Thing(tm), but it's a situation I
haven't much control over. Here's what's going on.
Deployment crew deploys website or application .msi's to one set of our
production servers.
Instead of using the .msi's on all our redundant servers, they xcopy it
over to multiple other servers.
Next month, deployment crew does the same thing except that they start
on a different server, one of the xcopy servers. So the new .msi does
not overwrite anything on that server. Then they xcopy it to the
original server and regress everything back to where it was last month.
Everyone spends half a day trying to figure it out before anyone asks CM
about the installers. Problem is then discovered in about 10 seconds.
CM gets blamed for having bad installers.
I've suggested they 'use the installers correctly' but apparently this
is too difficult.
There is no 'extra stuff' in any of the directories, so if I could wipe
them out completely before the .msi starts <InstallFile ...> it would
solve this 'problem'.
Essentially I'm looking for a way to delete items that are not in the
file table in an installer prior to installing. I've tried <RemoveFile
... /> but it doesn't seem to work in the way I would like it to. Or
else I'm not doing it right. Any ideas?
----------
Matthew Janulewicz
SCM Engineer
Green Dot Corporation
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(626) 775-3857
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This SF.net email is sponsored by DB2 Express
Download DB2 Express C - the FREE version of DB2 express and take
control of your XML. No limits. Just data. Click to get it now.
http://sourceforge.net/powerbar/db2/
_______________________________________________
WiX-users mailing list
WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
