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installationenvironment-variableswixwindows-installerwix3

WiX Installer - Environment Variable Removed with Reinstall/Repair

I’m creating a WiX installer for a Petrel plugin using WiX 3.11.1. The Product.wxs is essentially the following one with a couple modifications:

https://github.com/davidbcc/DeCompactPlugIn/blob/dev/FaciesDecompactorInstaller/Product.wxs

I added a page in the wizard where the user can specify a license server in an edit box. From this information, I create and/or update an environment variable:

<!-- Get the current environment variable if it exists -->
<SetProperty Id="LICENSE_SERVER_ENV_VAR" Value="[%LIC_HOST]" After="LaunchConditions" Sequence="first"></SetProperty>


<snip>


<!-- Validate that the license server name is not empty before proceeding. -->
<Control Type="PushButton" Id="Next" X="239" Y="243" Width="56" Height="17" Default="yes" Text="Next">
   <Publish Event="SpawnDialog" Value="ServerNameErrorDlg"><![CDATA[LICENSE_SERVER_ENV_VAR = ""]]></Publish>
   <Publish Event="NewDialog" Value="ngenDialog"><![CDATA[LICENSE_SERVER_ENV_VAR <> ""]]></Publish>
</Control>


<snip>


<!-- Install the plugin and set the environment variable -->
<Fragment>
    <ComponentGroup Id="PluginComponents" Directory="INSTALLLOCATION">
      <Component Id="PetrelPluginPip" Guid="120AF5B9-E751-43F4-AF4C-7DED33C8BEB4">
         <Environment Id="LicenseServerEnVar" Action="set" Name="LIC_HOST" System="yes" Permanent="yes" Value="[LICENSE_SERVER_ENV_VAR]"/>
         <File Id="PetrelPluginPippip" Source="../OceanPluginPip/bin/$(var.OceanPluginPip.Platform)/$(var.OceanPluginPip.Configuration)/PetrelPluginPip.pip" KeyPath="yes" />
      </Component>
    </ComponentGroup>
  </Fragment>

Everything seems to run fine on initial install and when operating through Add/Remove Programs. If I run repair through there, it runs silently and the environment variable remains.

However, after installation, if I right-click on the installer (the actual .msi file), select “Install”, and then select the “Repair” option in the Maintenance dialog, I go through the wizard again. The page correctly pulls the license server information just like on initial install but after completing the repair, the environment variable is removed from the system.

I have tried:

  • setting "Sequence” on SetProperty to “both”
  • putting the “Environment” tag into its own Component
  • creating a CustomAction for setting the license server that is then used in the InstallExecuteSequence

None of these have worked.

Does anyone know why repair through the MaintenanceDialog is resulting in the removal of the environment variable? Thanks.

EDIT: After adding verbose logging, the repair output shows the following which seems relevant:

MSI (s) (60:78) [11:42:25:420]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding RestrictedUserControl property. Its value is '1'.
MSI (s) (60:78) [11:42:25:420]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding PETRELINSTALLLOCATION property. Its value is 'C:\Program Files\Schlumberger\Petrel 2022\'.
MSI (s) (60:78) [11:42:25:420]: Ignoring disallowed property INSTALLLOCATION
MSI (s) (60:78) [11:42:25:420]: Ignoring disallowed property LICENSE_SERVER_ENV_VAR
MSI (s) (60:78) [11:42:25:420]: Ignoring disallowed property TARGETDIR

Action start 11:42:25: LaunchConditions.
Action ended 11:42:25: LaunchConditions. Return value 1.
MSI (s) (60:78) [11:42:25:468]: Doing action: SetLICENSE_SERVER_ENV_VAR
MSI (s) (60:78) [11:42:25:468]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: ActionText 
Action start 11:42:25: SetLICENSE_SERVER_ENV_VAR.
MSI (s) (60:78) [11:42:25:469]: Skipping action due to msidbCustomActionTypeFirstSequence option.
Action ended 11:42:25: SetLICENSE_SERVER_ENV_VAR. Return value 0.

Why is the property disallowed on repair? I'm not seeing that on initial installation. But I still don't see where the environment variable is getting removed.

Solution

  • After investigating what "Ignoring disallowed property" meant, I came across the following post indicating that likely the property is not propagating to the execute sequence:

    https://stackoverflow.com/a/39227065/4460247

    By adding a Property definition and marking it as "Secure" before populating it, the property is set and the environment variable no longer gets removed.

    <Property Id="LICENSE_SERVER_ENV_VAR" Secure="yes"></Property>
<SetProperty Id="LICENSE_SERVER_ENV_VAR" Value="[%LIC_HOST]" After="LaunchConditions" Sequence="first"></SetProperty>