Registry validation in Repackage

[idgarad]

I am evaluting AS6 and as a test I am repackaging Office 2000 Professional into a single executable MSI file. I need to restrict the installation to only install if the registry entry HKLM\Software\Deployment\Office = "2000" yet when I attempt to create the custom rule to restrict this it always seems to fail the check, I assume that my syntax is incorrect in creating the custom rule. Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.

[wu_bala_1978]

where are you providing the custom rule. You can do system search/custom action/ install conditions for the check you are doing

[idgarad]

Well I had set the registry validation aside and had moved on with my testing to a repackaging of Office 2000. BTW The pre-install condition was added during a repackaging wizard while I was able to do some editing to the pacakge. I was just stepping through the wizard, wish I could be more specific but we've only had this suite for 9 hours.

But we had done a Office 2000 installation and the repackage has failed twice with shortcuts pointing to C:\Winnt\Installer\{xxxxxxxx .... }\blah.exe rather then in the installation (we removed the registry check for now).

Inspecting the file system the files ended up in the correct locations but when attempting to execute them they complain the software is not installed. This behavior is consistent when using the Monitoring or the more traditional snap shot methods. I assume there is a problem with some internal table mapping the GUID to something.) So far besides the Tuner application, I am not impressed with InstallShield's offering. Office 2000 Pro took 9 minutes to pacakge using Prism and only 12 minutes using Tivoli. Both worked perfect. Can someone give me some tips as to what is missing or what is being done wrong in re-packaging this first (and possibly last) test of this software?

[TsungH]

Office 2000 should not be repackaged, since it's already in MSI. A transform should be created to address any changes required.

[Thaiboxer]

I tried repackaging Office once... it's best not attempted. Your best bet is to make an administrative installation point, then use the tools in the Office Resource Kit to customize.

For eval, I'd try a much easier package!

[idgarad]

Simply put if Office 2k is too hard, Installshield is not faring well in this evaluation. Wise, Tivoli, and Prism had no problems dealing with an Office 2000 repackage. As far as our image QA testing 2000 is a requirement and must be deployed as part of the evaluation. While I agree that it only needs a transform the requirement for this test is a single file distribution and the use of the Update Service. I could just throw it in a RAR or ZIP file and make a self extracter out of it but then I hardly need AS6 to do that and the whole purpose of this is to evaluate Installshield's AS6 product line.

[TsungH]

I don't think it's a fair evaluation. When repackaging a vendor's MSI, which shouldn't be repackaged in the first place, and the repackaged MSI doesn't work, it does not demonstrate the capabilities of AdminStudio in any way.

Vendor's MSI installations don't always come in a single compressed file, hence they shouldn't subject to the "single file distribution" requirement.

idgarad wrote:
Simply put if Office 2k is too hard, Installshield is not faring well in this evaluation. Wise, Tivoli, and Prism had no problems dealing with an Office 2000 repackage. As far as our image QA testing 2000 is a requirement and must be deployed as part of the evaluation. While I agree that it only needs a transform the requirement for this test is a single file distribution and the use of the Update Service. I could just throw it in a RAR or ZIP file and make a self extracter out of it but then I hardly need AS6 to do that and the whole purpose of this is to evaluate Installshield's AS6 product line.

[wu_bala_1978]

TsungH wrote:
I don't think it's a fair evaluation. When repackaging a vendor's MSI, which shouldn't be repackaged in the first place, and the repackaged MSI doesn't work, it does not demonstrate the capabilities of AdminStudio in any way.

Vendor's MSI installations don't always come in a single compressed file, hence they shouldn't subject to the "single file distribution" requirement.

I compeletely agree with TsungH, repackaging MS Office shouldn't be performed as it is already in MSI.