error 2753 on certain machines

[mjs]

I am getting error 2753 when my .msi tries to call a custom action during uninstall.

This doesn't happen on all machines. It seems to happen on some Vista machines. We have a server.msi that calls a client.msi and the client.msi does the custom action and this is failing during the uninstall. The stand alone client.msi (which also calls the custom action) uninstalls fine. Also, the uninstall works fine on many machines, even on some Vista machines. If I run the server.msi uninstall from an elevated command line on a machine where I get the failure the uninstall works fine. Here is part of the debug log:

Code: Select all

MSI (s) (08:2C) [16:01:16:497]: Doing action: VsipClientCustomActions.exe_1
Action 16:01:16: VsipClientCustomActions.exe_1. Removing Visual Studio Integration components, DO NOT CANCEL...
Action start 16:01:16: VsipClientCustomActions.exe_1.
MSI (s) (08:2C) [16:01:16:544]: Note: 1: 2753 2: VsipClientCustomActions.exe 
DEBUG: Error 2753:  The File 'VsipClientCustomActions.exe' is not marked for installation.

Any ideas?

EDIT: one more thing...I just tested it some more and the uninstall works fine on Vista when logged onto the machine as the built in "Administrator", but not as a user in the administrators group. So, is it possible that something isn't elevating the client uninstall custom action correctly when it is called from another .msi? Again, the stand alone client.msi uninstall works fine and the server.msi uninstall just calls the client.msi uninstall.

[Cosmin]

Hi,

Please note that on Vista custom actions should run only without impersonation. Is this custom action set to run with no impersonation?

If this is the case please make sure that the file used by the custom action is present on the target machine when the custom action runs. If the problem persists please send us the AIP you are using and the complete log file to support at advancedinstaller dot com so we can investigate them.

Regards,
Cosmin

[mjs]

Yes, the custom actions are run without impersonation. I have them set to run as "deferred without impersonation". I will send you the log files and the .aip files soon. And I did check and the customaction.exe is in the right place when the uninstall fails. Again, this only happens when the client.msi is called from the server.msi. The stand alone client.msi works perfectly.

[Cosmin]

Hi Mary Jo,

There are two possible problems with the approach you used for your installation packages:
1) You are launching the Client MSI package with a "MSI database attached to installation" custom action. Note that this type custom action has been deprecated and you may encounter problems while using it.

If you want to run a MSI after the "InstallFinalize" standard action you can use a "Launch file or open URL" custom action. You can set the "Command Line" field to:

"[SourceDir]Client.msi"

(with the quotes) in order to launch the Client.msi pacakge. Note that in this case the Client.msi file must be in the same folder as the Server.msi file.

Since two MSI-based installation cannot run at the same time, you need to set the custom action with the "Asynchronous execution, do not wait for return" option.

2) If the Client.msi file is attached to the installation package, it will be extracted in order to be launched. If it is extracted into a folder for which the user doesn't have write access, it will be virtualized.

This would not be a problem if the package would write into folders for which the user has write access, but since the installation writes in the "Program Files" folder, the installed files may also be virtualized. If the target of the custom action in the Client.msi package cannot be found (because of the virtualization), the custom action fails.

I tested your scenario with a "Launch file or open URL" custom action for launching the Client.msi file and it worked as expected. Please try this and let me know if the problem persists.

Regards,
Cosmin