Hi, I really hope someone can help me with this one.
We have been told to implement patch upgrades on a version of our software, that earlier on have been upgraded with accumulated Quick Patches.
I've done a lot of searching on the forum and understand that this is not recommended, but I'm afraid it is the only solution.
We have a product versioned 12.0.959.0...this software is upgraded (by Quick Patches) to 12.0.959.1-9 on several costumers servers.
So the patch needs to be able to install on both a 12.0.959.0 and a 12.0.959.x ...and this is where it gets tricky.
Our new patching strategy is to deliver "service packs" through patches made in the Patch Design view.
We made the patch a major upgrade, since all the files have changed due to a compiler shift.
We were forced to disable the "default patch sequencing" checkbox, since MSI 3.0 does not support sequencing on a major upgrade.
When we install the patch on a 12.0.959.0 everything is fine. But when we install it on a 12.0.959.9, we get an error message saying
"No valid sequence could be found for the set of patches"
We have tried putting the .msi file for the Quick Patch 12.0.959.9 into the list of Previous Setups in the Patch Design view, but no luck...we haven't tried putting all of the Quick Patches in, but I don't see how that would have an effect anyway.
I'm afraid that we cannot do a major upgrade at all, but if anyone knows of a way to do it, I would be very(!!!!!) grateful.
Our other option is to do a small update which probably means putting 1300 files or so into the RemoveFile table. That would be a pretty damn boring day at work or a pretty complicated VBscript.
Can anyone help find the best solution to this problem?
If it is a major upgrade why not release a full msi that will upgrade any previous version (Setting it to uninstall then reinstall)? The major thing to worry about there is customizations the client has done.
I'm afraid I can't follow the advise, since the bosses expect something "new and exciting" for our costumers...even at installation level it HAS to be different to signal the change in strategy.
If we do a regular major upgrade of the product, we haven't solved our task, even though that is the right way to do it.
I'm convinced now that a small update is the way to go under these circumstances. Thanks for your time.
And Sheryl, thank you for the link to Heaths blog. I've read a few of his entries...it's definitely going in my Favorites folder. 🙂
