Build Warning 6525

Yes

Summary

"Warning -6525: The Custom Action [1] in the InstallExecuteSequence table is run from an installed file. It must be sequenced after the InstallFiles action. Ensure that the Custom Action is sequenced properly and that the base actions exists in the sequence."

Symptoms

When building an InstallShield project, the following warning may occur:

"Warning -6525: The Custom Action [1] in the InstallExecuteSequence table is run from an installed file. It must be sequenced after the InstallFiles action. Ensure that the Custom Action is sequenced properly and that the base actions exists in the sequence."

[1] is a placeholder that contains the name of the custom action causing this warning.

Cause

Custom actions that are created that depend on files being installed by the setup to function properly are not sequenced correctly such as a new exe custom action that launches an executable file that is installed with the product. For these types of custom actions to work properly, the file being installed must be installed on the machine before the custom action itself is called. Therefore, any custom actions that depend on files being installed by the setup need to be sequenced in the Execute sequence after the InstallFiles standard action because the InstallFiles action is what actually installs the files included in the setup. If this custom action is sequenced before the InstallFiles action, it will not work properly, and this warning occurs during the build process.

Resolution

To resolve this warning, it is necessary to sequence this custom action to occur after the InstallFiles action, preferably after the InstallFinalize action. To accomplish this, follow these steps:

Select the Sequences view.
Expand the Installation folder in the center panel to view the sequences beneath.
Double-click the Execute sequence to display the sequenced actions beneath.
Locate the custom action referenced in the warning message.
Delete this custom action from the sequence by highlighting it and choosing the Delete button.
Locate the InstallFinalize standard action. This typically occurs at the end of the sequence.
Right-click on the InstallFinalize action and choose Insert.
Select the desired custom action from the selection box and choose OK to insert it into the Execute sequence after the InstallFinalize action.
Rebuild the project.

Note: To avoid any run-time errors, it is strongly recommended that this custom action be placed after the InstallFinalize action, as all other processes have ended, and it should work correctly.

Additional Information

The only exception to the rule that a custom action that depends on a file being installed by the setup must occur after the InstallFiles action is when this custom action is run during uninstallation. In that case, the file has already been installed so the custom action does not have to occur after InstallFiles.

This error is briefly documented in the InstallShield Help Library topic Troubleshooting Build Errors and Warnings.

Build Warning 6525