Build Errors Caused By Windows Installer CAB File Format Limitations

Yes

Summary

This issue occurs when one of the above items is true and a compressed release is being build. A compressed release is any release that builds a single compressed setup.exe, compressed MSI, or a CD-ROM, DVD, or custom release that uses compression.

Symptoms

The following may cause errors during the build process in a Basic MSI or InstallScript MSI project:

A file has been included in the project that is larger than 2GB.
The resulting size of a compressed CAB file in the project build is larger than 2GB.
More than 64,000 files are being included in one CAB file.

When building a release you may encounter build errors such as -6271, -1501, the build may unexpectedly abort, or the IDE may crash.

This issue occurs when one of the above items is true and a compressed release is being build. A compressed release is any release that builds a single compressed setup.exe, compressed MSI, or a CD-ROM, DVD, or custom release that uses compression.

Cause

The Basic MSI and InstallScript MSI projects use the Microsoft Windows Installer service to perform the installation. InstallShield uses the Microsoft Cabinet SDK to compress files because the Windows Installer service supports the Microsoft CAB file format for compressed sources.

The Microsoft CAB file format has the following limitations:

The maximum size of a single file that can be contained in a CAB file is approximately 2GB.
The maximum number of files a single CAB file can contain is approximately 64,000.
The maximum size of a single CAB file is approximately 2GB.

Workaround

If you need to include files that are larger than 2GB in a MSI-based project, the release settings need to be set to build an uncompressed release.

Additional Information

The following article contains information related to this issue:

What are the limits for a large MSI package?

Build errors -6271 and -1501 are documented in the helpnet article Build Errors and Warnings.

Build Errors Caused By Windows Installer CAB File Format Limitations