skipping prerequisite because it was installed before the reboot

[AndyTK]

There is another thread on this, but it is both old, and doesn't solve my problem.

My goal is to backup a database before uninstalling the existing (old) sql server service and installing the latest sql server service.  (This is to avoid having to upgrade the sql server service multiple times to go from sql server express 2008 to 2022, also, it is felt that a fresh install would be cleaner).

I created a prerequisite that performs the backup.  Maybe I should be trying to accomplish this in a different way?  Anyway, I create a prerequisite that performs the backup.  That prerequisite isn't being run because, according to InstallShield, "skipping prerequisite because it was installed before the reboot".

My test procedure is to reset a PC to its factory clean version of Windows.  Install the old version of our software, which includes installing sql server 2008.  Then run the new install with the backup prerequisite.  So that prerequisite has never be run before on that machine.  Not a once.

We are still using InstallShield 2015 because of other legacy issues.

As far as I can tell I have to have an .exe associated with a prerequisite, one that has to be part of the install, I cannot assume that a particular .exe already exists on the machine, and maybe this is the source of my problem? (sqlcmd.exe, which is the application that performs the backup is not something that gets installed by itself however).

Here is the debug log up to the point that InstallShield to not run my prerequisite:

10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: InstallShield setup.exe (Unicode) started, cmdline: /f2"c:\setup.log" /debuglog"c:\installDebug.log"
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Relaunching setup from temp
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Attempting to launch (no wait): C:\Users\Gerber\AppData\Local\Temp\{757547C3-E4F4-46B5-A6BA-D83695845B54}\setup.exe /q"F:\Z1 with Axis Software\setup.exe" /tempdisk1folder"C:\Users\Gerber\AppData\Local\Temp\{757547C3-E4F4-46B5-A6BA-D83695845B54}" /f2"c:\setup.log" /IS_temp /debuglog"c:\installDebug.log"
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Launch result 1
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: InstallShield setup.exe (Unicode) started, cmdline: /q"F:\xx Software\setup.exe" /tempdisk1folder"C:\Users\xx\AppData\Local\Temp\{757547C3-E4F4-46B5-A6BA-D83695845B54}" /f2"c:\setup.log" /IS_temp /debuglog"c:\installDebug.log"
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Reading setup.ini from F:\xx\Setup.INI
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Extracting 'BetaMarker.dat' to C:\Users\xx\AppData\Local\Temp\{757547C3-E4F4-46B5-A6BA-D83695845B54}\BetaMarker.dat
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Extraction of 'BetaMarker.dat' failed
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Extracting 'EvalMarker.dat' to C:\Users\xx\AppData\Local\Temp\{757547C3-E4F4-46B5-A6BA-D83695845B54}\EvalMarker.dat
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Extraction of 'EvalMarker.dat' failed
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Upgrade check: checking product code {2c815351-131a-4b65-8659-ef781e717090}
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Default language: 1033, got code page 1252
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Running setup prerequisites ()...
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Checking setup prerequisite 'BackupAxisDB.prq'
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Prerequisite 'BackupAxisDB.prq' scheduled before feature selection
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Extracting 'BackupAxisDB.prq' to C:\Users\xx\AppData\Local\Temp\{757547C3-E4F4-46B5-A6BA-D83695845B54}\BackupAxisDB.prq
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: PrereqEngine: condition,32,2,HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\SQLEXPRESS\MSSQLServer,CurrentVersion,,16.0.1000.6 -- Successful
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: PrereqEngine: file,12CE7B341902EBD0A3C65F181D0C7A7F,.\SQLServerExpress\SQLCMD.EXE,,,, -- Successful,
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: PrereqEngine: execute,SQLCMD.EXE,-S "DESKTOP-GID9QVF\SQLEXPRESS" -E -Q "BACKUP DATABASE [Lightning] TO DISK = N'c:\Lightning.bak' WITH FORMAT, INIT, MEDIANAME = N'Lightning', NAME = N'Lightning-Full Database Backup', SKIP, NOREWIND, NOUNLOAD, STATS=10",,,, -- Successful
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: PrereqEngine: Id,{541F905F-AEF8-4E09-8EB7-E84948AAD2D6},, -- Successful
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: PrereqEngine: behavior,Optional,,Reboot,,Failure,
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: PrereqEngine: Lua,1
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: PrereqEngine: Hidden,
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: PrereqEngine: MsiProgress,
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Skipping prerequisite 'BackupAxisDB.prq' because it was installed before the reboot
10-29-2023[06:47:35 PM]: Checking setup prerequisite 'Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express SP2 Remove (x64).prq'

Since it was mentioned in the five year old post with a similar problem, the uninstall directory in the registry is attached.

Here is the prq file (since, for some reason, files of type .prq are not accepted as attachments, and the file itself is small.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<SetupPrereq>
<conditions>
<condition Type="32" Comparison="2" Path="HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\SQLEXPRESS\MSSQLServer" FileName="CurrentVersion" ReturnValue="16.0.1000.6"/>
</conditions>
<files>
<file LocalFile=".\SQLServerExpress\SQLCMD.EXE" CheckSum="12CE7B341902EBD0A3C65F181D0C7A7F" FileSize="0,345952"/>
</files>
<execute file="SQLCMD.EXE" cmdline="-S &quot;%COMPUTERNAME%\SQLEXPRESS&quot; -E -Q &quot;BACKUP DATABASE [Lightning] TO DISK = N'c:\Lightning.bak' WITH FORMAT, INIT, MEDIANAME = N'Lightning', NAME = N'Lightning-Full Database Backup', SKIP, NOREWIND, NOUNLOAD, STATS=10&quot;"/>
<properties Id="{1EEAC678-86F6-4902-954E-084AACF915F7}" Description="Saves the Axis database before we remove the old SQL Server instance and then install the SQL Server 2022 Express"/>
<behavior Lua="1" Failure="4"/>
</SetupPrereq>

Here is a link to the five year old similar, but not the same, issue.

https://community.flexera.com/t5/InstallShield-Forum/redistributable-not-being-installed-because-it-was-installed/m-p/75481

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Andy