A type 2 Custom Action is failing to execute on InstallUISequence while it is executed if put on InstallExecuteSequence

I have a Type 2 Custom Action which is executing an executable file with parameters. I need to execute this CA before InstallWelcome dialog because it is used to collect some information to pre populate a dialog later. So I sequenced this CA after CostFinalize action in the InstallUISequence but the installer fails to execute it with an error like below.

If I move the CA in the InstallExecuteSequence sequence it is executed as expected. (As explained in a later comment this is not true, it fails also in this sequence).

Does anyone have any idea what might happened?

Maybe useful information: If same executable is used in a Type 18 Custom Action (the executable is installed with the application's binaries) it is executed without problem.

<CustomAction Id='RunEXE' BinaryKey='EditCfg.exe.CA.ID' ExeCommand='[INSTALLFOLDER][SEPARATOR][CONFIG_FILE_NETWORK_LOCATION][SEPARATOR][USER_NAME][SEPARATOR][PASSWORD][SEPARATOR][WIX_UPGRADE_DETECTED][SEPARATOR][CHECKED_RULE][SEPARATOR][CERTIFICATE_LOCATION]' Execute='immediate' Impersonate='no' Return='check' />

<Binary Id='EditCfg.exe.CA.ID' SourceFile='path_to_the_exe_file'/>


MSI (c) (14:04) [15:18:36:452]: Note: 1: 2228 2:  3: Error 4: SELECT `Message` FROM `Error` WHERE `Error` = 1722 
Error 1722. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor.  Action RunEXE, location: C:\Users\yyyyy\AppData\Local\Temp\MSIC8A9.tmp, command: param1§param2§param3§§param5§§param7

Solution

The 1722 error indicates that the exe returned a non-zero exit code. If this is expected, you can alter the Return attribute to use ignore instead of check. But if it's not expected, you probably need to figure out what that return code indicates, as odds are high that it's some sort of failure.

Here are a couple things that might cause failures:

The exe file may have some dependencies. Putting just the exe in the binary table doesn't carry its dependencies with it, so attempts to load and run the exe may fail, even before it gets to the exe's main code, depending on the kind of dependency.
When executed as a file installed with the product, the file may not exist in the specified location as of the time the custom action executes. During installation, new files do not show up until a deferred/in-script action after InstallFiles (or regular scheduling after InstallExecute); during uninstallation they often disappear by RemoveFiles. Maintenance can be a combination of those. However, a missing exe would likely result in a 1721 error instead of a 1722 error.

Regardless, note that exe custom actions cannot communicate useful data back to the Windows Installer session, so it will be difficult to leverage any data it finds (or creates) in the UI without the help of additional DLL-based actions or system searches. If you also add a DLL-based action, you may find it more friendly to launch the exe from that action (or even fully incorporate what it does into the dll), as you can log better diagnostics than the generic ones you've seen here.