starting Installshield 12, in the release view, we have the option to specify "Required Execution level", either to Administrator or to Highest available. i understand its functional implication in terms of UAC and elevated privileges. but i want to know how it does that. i mean does it make some entry in any table.
point of confusion for me is that, in case of setup.exe, it might be embedding a manifest file in it, but what it does to my MSI file, because if i run my MSI directly without using the setup.exe, even that works on Vista perfectly. but if i don;t set the REquired Execution Level and make the build and then run the MSI then it fails, so for sure Installshied is doing something to MSI also along with setup.exe.
any hint on this will help us understanding the exact implementation and will solve lot of our problem which i am facing on Vista.
This is a new Vista style safety feature. The following guide explains it quite well. Although it is written for developers, the same applies to us packagers. Windows Vista requested execution level.
dear, i am aware of this, but what i wanted to know is that how is this incorporated in MSI. i mean what specific installshield does so this facilitates MSI to run in Vista by default in the Execution level you set in release mode.
i hope i am clear in my question and not creating any confusion.
If you are asking what changes in the MSI then it is the summary information stream. You can see the setting in the Installshield summary information view as Require Administrative Privilages This instructs windows installer to run in the required context (vista only) as specified in the last hyperlink
The option in the release view affects only the manifest of setup.exe, so it will have no effect on an installation launched directly from the .msi file. Best practice is to set this to Invoker and let msiexec elevate at the execute sequence, but I know many people see easier results by setting it to Administrator. (Note that InstallScript MSI projects cannot elevate at the execute sequence due to limitations in MSI, so Invoker may not be a good option there.)
The option in the summary information view affects the bit which tells msiexec whether it needs to elevate at the execute sequence. Unless you're making a per-user non-administrative installation, this should be set to require administrative privileges.
