Upgrading multiple instance installations problem

[rn-pro]

Hi,
I have a little problem with the upgrade of the multiple instances installations. I’ve also created a very simple project which shows the problem I have (see attachment).
I’ve just built the project and installed the default instance and the instances #1 and #3 on a test computer. Afterwards, I’ve changed the version, I’ve chosen “Major Upgrade” and I built the project again. I’ve started the new setup on the test computer and the bootstrapper shows me that there are only 2 instances installed on that computer (#1 and #3); the default instance is not listed (please check the image below) even if the Control-Panel shows all 3 instances correctly.

DefaultInstanceMissing.PNG (24.29 KiB) Viewed 5739 times

How could I manage to get also the “default instance” listed by the bootstrapper? (And this way to be able to upgrade it as well?)

Thank you very much,
rn-pro

[mihai.petcu]

Hi Razvan,

To upgrade the default instance you can choose the first radio button. This way only the main instance will get updated and all the previous version's instances will be deleted.

All the best,
Mihai

[rn-pro]

Hi Mihai,

there is a mistake in your explanation or I did something wrong.

So, I've chosen the first radio button and I'm getting the following dialog:

before.PNG (97.4 KiB) Viewed 5727 times

here I get indeed the "Default instance" together with the instances #2, #4 and #5 (just to remember #1 and #3 are already installed as version 1.0).

I've chosen the "Default Instance" and started the installation. After the installation, as in the following image to see we've got the following changes:

after.PNG (53.67 KiB) Viewed 5727 times

So the "Default Instance" was upgraded from 1.0 to 1.2!
The instanced #1 and #3 were not deleted!

[mihai.petcu]

Hello Razvan,

This is happening because "Allow side by side installs of different product versions" option is enabled in the Upgrades page.

All the best,
Mihai

[rn-pro]

Hi Mihai,

This is happening because "Allow side by side installs of different product versions" option is enabled in the Upgrades page.

this is correct and this is also what I expect to get when I select this option ("Allow side by side installs of different product versions").

The real problem is the bootstrapper which at the begining shows only the instances (#1 and #3) as being installed. Why is the default instance not listed? I see, trying to install the default instance new, will actually upgrade it.
But how to deal with some hundreds customers calling our support department to report that they installed 3 instaces of the version 1.0 of our application and complaining that the setup of the version 2.0 only allows them to upgrade 2 of them?

Thank you very much,
rn-pro

[mihai.petcu]

Hi Razvan,

You are correct about this, it's a misleading user experience. This is happening because we cannot get the product code of the previous version.
I added an improvement on our TODO list and we'll be sure to remedy this for a future version.

All the best,
Mihai

[rn-pro]

Hi Mihai,

thank you very much!

There is one more point which could be improved in this scenario.

Imagine one user has installed the default instance of the version 1.0. (important! - "Allow side by side installs of different product versions" option is activated, multiple instances are configured!).
After a while, the version 2.0 (major upgrade!) is released and he tries to install it on the same computer. Right now the setup will automatically upgrade the version 1.0 and this is not allways what the user wants.

Sometimes the user would like at least for a while to have parallel the both versions. He might need to customize a little bit the design of the version 2.0 before it can be productive for example.
Anyway, in such a case would be really nice if the bootstrapper lets the user choose what he wants to do:

1) Upgrade the existing version
2) Install the new version as instance #... and keep also the old version untouched.

Thank you very much,
rn-pro

[mihai.petcu]

Thank you for your feedback and suggestions, Razvan. We'll consider this information for this task.

All the best,
Mihai