Silent uninstall

[Jassie]

I have a silent install which works perfectly. Now I want to create a silent uninstall, for my installer (basic MSI, installshield 2008). Does anyone know how to do this?

[Happy_Days]

Take a look at this article:

http://helpnet.acresso.com/robo/projects/helplibdevstudio9/IHelpCmdLineMSI.htm

For ex: to uninstall a basic msi package with basic user interface, the command line would be:

msiexec /x {product GUID} /qb

[Ranjit_Kumar]

Hi,
In my scenerio this is not working.

I am using basic msi installshield 12 project.

I compressed all the files into setup.exe.

i installed the product and now i want to uninstall the product in silent mode.

During uninstallation i want to create a log file. So tell me how to uninstall setup.exe in silent mode and how to create log file for that.

[Jassie]

It the command same in case of all different types of projects in installshield.

So, to setup I will run a setup.exe and to uninstall i will run a "msiexec /x" from the setup folder.

Now, my setup folder does not have any msiexec file. Also, it gives me the prompt saying wheter I want to uninstall and then when I say yes for uninstalling it gives me the following error

" The installation package could not be opene. verify that the package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer package."

Do I need something to the code or change some settings??

[vijayakumar]

Did you check what is there in the 'UninstallString' key under 'Uninstall \' registry?

[Jassie]

I did not see any uninstall string in the registry, it's empty, or may be I am not looking at the right place......
I am looking in HKLM\Software\\\

[vijayakumar]

Look the 'UninstallString' under

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\<Ur Product GUID>' registry.

[Jassie]

Thank you! Now that I have the uninstallstring...what would the entire command be??

[vijayakumar]

msiexec /x /qb

[Jassie]

....it still did not work 😞

[vijayakumar]

What's happening?? can you post the log file?

[Jassie]

Is there any other way to get it to work?

[Jassie]

an errorMSI file got generated but nothing else...and I cannot open that file

[vijayakumar]

Try

msiexec /x /l*v C:\Uninstall.log

[Jassie]

Verbose logging started: 6/11/2008 9:39:21 Build type: SHIP UNICODE 3.01.4000.4042 Calling process: C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe
MSI (c) (5C:B8) [09:39:21:366]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (c) (5C:B8) [09:39:21:366]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (c) (5C:B8) [09:39:21:366]: ******* RunEngine:
Product: C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{GUID}\setup.exe -runfromtemp -l0x0009 -removeonly
Action:
CommandLine: **********
MSI (c) (5C:B8) [09:39:21:382]: Client-side and UI is none or basic: Running entire install on the server.
MSI (c) (5C:B8) [09:39:21:382]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (c) (5C:B8) [09:39:21:397]: Cloaking enabled.
MSI (c) (5C:B8) [09:39:21:397]: Attempting to enable all disabled priveleges before calling Install on Server
MSI (c) (5C:B8) [09:39:21:413]: Incrementing counter to disable shutdown. Counter after increment: 0
MSI (s) (D0:A0) [09:39:21:429]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (s) (D0:DC) [09:39:21:429]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (s) (D0:DC) [09:39:21:429]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (s) (D0:DC) [09:39:21:429]: ******* RunEngine:
Product: C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{GUID}\setup.exe -runfromtemp -l0x0009 -removeonly
Action:
CommandLine: **********
MSI (s) (D0:DC) [09:39:21:429]: Note: 1: 2203 2: C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{GUID}\setup.exe -runfromtemp -l0x0009 -removeonly 3: -2147287038
MSI (s) (D0:DC) [09:39:21:429]: MainEngineThread is returning 2
MSI (c) (5C:B8) [09:39:21:429]: Decrementing counter to disable shutdown. If counter >= 0, shutdown will be denied. Counter after decrement: -1
MSI (c) (5C:B8) [09:39:21:429]: MainEngineThread is returning 2
Verbose logging stopped: 6/11/2008 9:39:21

[Jassie]

any idea ???

[Jassie]

Do I need a uninstall.iss file? If yes, then how to create it?

[Happy_Days]

This does not looks like a pure MSI package, rather a mix of InstallScript and MSI or an InstallScript project. Try creating the uninstall response file by running: setup.exe /r

The setup.iss file will be created under Windows folder. Copy it to the folder containing the setup.exe and rename it as uninstall.iss. Similarly, create a response file for installation too and rename it as install.iss.

To uninstall, run:
setup.exe /s /f1"\uninstall.iss"

To install, run:
setup.exe /s /f1"\install.iss"

HTH.

[Jassie]

If I run the setup.exe /r command it simply takes me to a new installation page. So i will have two identicl file one for install and the other for uninstall.

[vijayakumar]

If it is a windows installer file(msi), the iss file is not needed.

BTW, what is there in the 'UninstallString' registry?.

[Jassie]

This is the value int he uninstallstring

C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{GUID}\setup.exe -runfromtemp -l0x0009 -removeonly

With this i have another question.

On different machine the GUID will change so how do i actually retireve this value in my silent installer.....or the silentUninstall file does it??