Wix Custom Action Error in .NET3.5

Question

I have created an installation package (msi) with Wix and Custom Actions. The installation works fine on systems with .NET4 installed, however on clean systems (WIN7 .NET3.5) it fails with the bellow error. I narrowed the wxs package and it seems that if I remove the reference to CustomActions the msi installs (but without registry alterations). CustomActions are entering new values to Registry based on user PC config. Again the same project works flawlesly on .NET4 PCs. The Target framework is set everywhere to .NET3.5. Any ideas?

=== Logging stopped: 7/13/2014  14:23:19 ===
MSI (c) (00:F4) [14:23:19:249]: Note: 1: 1708 
MSI (c) (00:F4) [14:23:19:249]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: Error 
MSI (c) (00:F4) [14:23:19:267]: Note: 1: 2228 2:  3: Error 4: SELECT `Message` FROM `Error` WHERE `Error` = 1708 
MSI (c) (00:F4) [14:23:19:267]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: Error 
MSI (c) (00:F4) [14:23:19:267]: Note: 1: 2228 2:  3: Error 4: SELECT `Message` FROM `Error` WHERE `Error` = 1709 
MSI (c) (00:F4) [14:23:19:267]: Product: MyProject -- Installation failed.

MSI (c) (00:F4) [14:23:19:267]: Windows Installer installed the product. Product Name: MyProject . Product Version: 1.0.1. Product Language: 1033. Manufacturer: Me. Installation success or error status: 1603.

Is that a verbose log file? If not, try creating a verbose log file: msiexec.exe /I "C:\Test.msi" /QN /L*V "C:\Temp\msilog.log". There may be a different error than the .NET version. — Stein Åsmul
– Stein Åsmul, Commented Jul 13, 2014 at 15:08
Here is a list of all .NET versions for reference, and what OS they are included on: msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb822049(v=vs.110).aspx . Here is another link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_Framework — Stein Åsmul
– Stein Åsmul, Commented Jul 13, 2014 at 15:13

Jim · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-13 16:24:48Z

1

Its rather strange fix but, all I had to do is to add the bellow snippet. I thank you all for your support.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <startup useLegacyV2RuntimeActivationPolicy="true">
    <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" />
    <supportedRuntime version="v2.0.50727" />
  </startup>
</configuration>

answered Jul 13, 2014 at 16:24

Jim

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2 Comments

Stein Åsmul Over a year ago

Is this what you added to your Wix code or the application config.xml?

Christopher Painter Over a year ago

That's the CustomAction.config file and it's done by default if you use the WiX C# custom action project template.

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-13 12:13:44Z

0

I'll try to provide an answer though I am not fully up to speed on this particular issue. This obviously doesn't help if your application requires .NET 4, but did you try to compile your code to target the .NET 2.0 framework instead of .NET 4? Most computers should be able to run 2.0 code, unless that framework is explicitly locked for use - which can be the case in some companies.

Runtime restrictions like that makes me prefer native C++ code (or Installscript which is also native in later versions of Installshield) for serious setups for widespread use.

Emulated custom action code (.NET code or active scripting such as VBScript effectively) is fine for in-house stuff though - it even yields transparency for the setup as to what it is up to which is a key corporate benefit of MSI.

Other than targetting .NET 2.0 you can also check that the right version of the .NET framework is available and abort the setup or install it as a prerequisite via Wix's Burn feature.

Finally, and this is actually my preferred solution, you can have the application itself update the registry with the required settings and leave them out of your setup. This allows more flexibility and error handling. It all depends what kind of settings you are adding. HKLM settings must generally be added by your setup.

edited Apr 13, 2017 at 12:13

CommunityBot

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answered Jul 13, 2014 at 14:09

Stein Åsmul

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2 Comments

Jim Over a year ago

Hi, I am compiling the projects against .NET 3.5. The Nature of hte application does not allow it to post update the Registry.. it has to be done prior application start up.

Christopher Painter Over a year ago

You can add a custom action that's set to ignore and have it do nothing except set a property (say CLRGOOD ) to 1. Then you can use a LaunchCondition or Type 19 custom action to abort the install if it doesn't get set successfully. Now you are testing the actual code path.

Vadim Rapp · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-13 15:24:40Z

0

you will have far less trouble by doing it using vbscript custom actions, if possible.
the best practice is to use custom actions only when it's absolutely can't be done by native Installer's ways. From what you described, "CustomActions are entering new values to Registry based on user PC config", it looks like you can accomplish it by creating system search for whatever in PC config matters, then condition the components with registry values on the properties returned by system search.

answered Jul 13, 2014 at 15:24

Vadim Rapp

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1 Comment

Stein Åsmul Over a year ago

Yes, I agree with both notions. We require more information on the nature of the registry data to determine if it can be written with standard MSI features - which, as you say, is always preferable to custom actions for many reasons (most significantly reliability).

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