We have recently updated to the new 2011 version of InstallAnywhere and have noticed a problem.
FYI, the build is 4064 and I'm running on CentOS Linux.
A little background:
When our installer runs, it checks to see if the software is already installed. If it is, it will run the uninstaller before proceeding. The uninstaller usually asks the user a question, stops the software, performs a custom action, and cleans itself up. The installer then proceeds normally. This all works fine in GUI mode. It also works fine when the uninstaller is run directly.
The problem:
If I run the installer in console mode, and it decides that the uninstaller should run, the uninstaller seems unable to run properly. It doesn't stop our software, run the custom action, or even clean up files.
I've tried a number of console vs. GUI combinations, and it always seems to boil down to this: If the installer is running in console mode, the uninstaller started by the the installer will fail.
While the installer was running the uninstaller, I used ps to see if it was running at all. I could see it was running like this: (note that is a substitute for the install dir)
I tried to run the uninstaller directly with the "-i silent" option, but it failed and told me:
The installer cannot run in this UI mode. To specify the interface mode, use the -i command-line option, followed by the UI mode identifier. The valid UI modes identifiers are GUI, Console, and Silent.
I'd be willing to bet that this is why it fails when called from the installer in console mode (note the "-i" "silent" in the ps).
This sounds like the message you get if you haven't allowed that UI mode for the installer. Do you have the Silent option checked in InstallAnywhere under Installer UI > Look & Feel > Allowable UI Modes? If the console mode installer is trying to run the uninstaller in silent mode, then silent mode needs to be enabled.
