Running a separate installer with no conditions

[cbarlow]

I'm trying to use a Basic MSI project to run multiple install programs based on certain conditions, but without having it install anything on its own. Some of the installs are conditional and I've handled those, but what's the best way to run a separate installer that has no conditions? Any ideas??

Thanks!

Clark

[Cne9999]

Are you using the Chained MSI method?

Let me know,
Bill V.

[cbarlow]

I wasn't, but after you mentioned it, I read up on chained msi and tried setting it up, but I'm having problems. Does the chained .msi file need to be installed with one of the components?

Also, is the chained .msi file supposed to run silently with arguments passed from the main install, or is the full .msi installer supposed to be launched? Like I said, I haven't gotten it to work yet, so I'm still unsure how it is supposed to work.

Thanks,

Clark

[Cne9999]

Hello again,

The Chained MSI can run with its own settings. You can pass it certain command lines. There is one issue I am not very fond of for Chained MSI(s) though...

That is if the original MSI is installed with a couple MSI(s) chained, and the original MSI is later uninstalled, the chained MSI(s) get uninstalled automatically as well. But to counter this in a way you can uninstall any one of the chained MSI(s) on their own without affecting the other MSI(s).

Your standard options for a chained MSI in IS2009 are as follows:

Installation (run-time path): Where is the MSI located

Product code: Pretty self explanatory

UI level: Choices are pretty standard
Full UI (/qf)
Basic UI (/qb)
Reduced UI (/qr)
No UI (/qn)

Install condition: Any standard conditional statement

Install properties: So you can declare values for any Installer Property

Removal condition: Any standard conditional statement. The default of course is REMOVE="ALL"

Removal properties: So you can declare values for any Installer Property for use during uninstall

Release flags: To declare which builds you want the chained MSI to be part of.


And you can do anything you like within the chained MSI itself.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions too.
Thanks,
Bill V.


I attached a screen shot of the Chained MSI configuration screen for reference to these options.

[cbarlow]

Thanks for the information.

I actually prefer that the chained .msi gets uninstalled when you uninstall the main installer, so that's nice.

However, I would like to have the user specify the target directory in the main installer and then pass that parameter to the chained .msi. I assume I would put this information in the Install properties field in the chained msi window. Do you know what syntax I should use for that? I tried:

[CODE]TARGETDIR="[TARGETDIR]"[/CODE]

but that seemed to install my chained .msi to my external hard drive (not sure how that happened). Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Clark

[cbarlow]

I think I got it worked out. This is the syntax I needed:

[CODE]TARGETDIR="[INSTALLDIR]"[/CODE]

[Cne9999]

Very good!