Permission allocation on non-English Windows versions

[buzz71]

Hi

I have an installation which allocates specific permissions to a folder on installation. These permissions are set up as follows via the "Permissions" tab on the "Edit Folder" dialog:

NetworkService
Administrators
Users
Power Users
SYSTEM

This works fine on installation to any English language version of the O/S this has been tried on (Win XP/2003/7/2008).

However on a French language version of XP the following error occurred:

Code: Select all

Error 1609. An error occurred while applying security settings. Users is not a valid user or group. This could be a problem with the package, or a problem connecting to a domain controller on the network. Check your network connection and click Retry, or Cancel to end the install.       Unable to locate the user's SID, system error 1332

This is because "Users" group does not exist on the French language XP (equivalent is "Utilsateurs"). Also, Power Users does not exist in this version of the O/S.

As a workaround I got the customer to create "Users" & "Power Users" groups on the target machine to get the installation to work.

However, I need to be able to avoid this in future, and there are potentially many different language versions of O/S that the software will be installed on. How can I "map" the Users permission to the language specific User group on the target O/S?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Buzz

[mihai.petcu]

Hi Buzz,

Here's a link to a similar thread that debates this issue:
http://www.advancedinstaller.com/forums ... 568#p46909

All the best,
Mihai

[buzz71]

Hi

I have created a .NET DLL that includes functions which return the values of localised "Users" and "Power Users" depending on the language of the O/S.

But I am unsure how to include this in the Advanced Installer project through a custom action. Do you have an example to share of how to use a .NET dll in a custom action please?

Thanks in advance.

Buzz

[mihai.petcu]

Hi Buzz,

Here is an article you can follow to create a fully fledged .NET custom action.

All the best,
Mihai

[buzz71]

Hi

I have created the WiX project as specified and have a function that looks like this in the c# dll that returns a string if called through a test harness:

Code: Select all

        /// <summary>
        /// Get the POWERUSER alias for the language O/S
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns></returns>
        [CustomAction]
        public static string Get_USER_Alias()
        {
            return Globalisation.Get_USER_Alias();
        }

But fails on install. I get from the log file:

Code: Select all

Action start 14:36:58: WiXUsersCustomAction.CA.dll.
MSI (s) (84:58) [14:36:58:389]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: C:\Program Files\X\UserTest\WiXUsersCustomAction.CA.dll, Entrypoint: Get_USER_Alias
Action ended 14:36:58: WiXUsersCustomAction.CA.dll. Return value 3.
Action ended 14:36:58: INSTALL. Return value 3.

I call the rouine with the following custom action definition from InstallExecuteSequence -> CostFinalize:
Function Name: Get_USER_Alias
Action data: [DUMMY]

[DUMMY] was set up on the "Install Parameters" page.

Can you see anything obviously wrong with the way I call the function? Is putting the [DUMMY] parameter in the Action Data section the way to get the return of the call to the dll into the parameter?

Kind Regards,

Buzz

[mihai.petcu]

Hi Buzz,

The custom action should return one of the following values to control the installation process:

• 0 action not executed
• 1 success
• 2 user canceled
• 3 fatal error
• 4 suspended, waiting for a reboot

Depending on these values, the installation will continue or rollback.

If you need to get or set installer public properties from within your fully fledged .NET custom action here is how:

Code: Select all

public static ActionResult CustomAction1(Session session)
{
// sending message to installation log
session.Log("Begin CustomAction1");

// getting a property
YourVariable = session["YOUR_PROPERTY"];

// setting a property
session["YOUR_PROPERTY"] = "YOUR_VALUE";

return ActionResult.Success;
}

All the best,
Mihai

[buzz71]

Hi Mihai

Thanks for the information.

I have made my installation very simple now - installing a single file and trying to update a "DUMMY" variable with a string.

The code in the Custom Action Dll now has a single function:

Code: Select all

        [CustomAction]
        public static ActionResult CustomAction1(Session session)
        {
            // sending message to installation log
            session.Log("Begin CustomAction1");

            // getting a property
            string GetDummy = session["DUMMY"];

            // setting a property
            session["DUMMY"] = "Changed in code...";

            session.Log("Completed CustomAction1");

            return ActionResult.Success;
        }

But when I execute the installation the following is logged:

Code: Select all

MSI (s) (9C:B4) [11:58:26:417]: Doing action: WiXUsersCustomAction.CA.dll
Action 11:58:26: WiXUsersCustomAction.CA.dll. 
Action start 11:58:26: WiXUsersCustomAction.CA.dll.
MSI (s) (9C:EC) [11:58:26:427]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: C:\Program Files\X\Test\WiXUsersCustomAction.CA.dll, Entrypoint: CustomAction1
Action ended 11:58:26: WiXUsersCustomAction.CA.dll. Return value 3.
Action ended 11:58:26: INSTALL. Return value 3.

Could you please advise on what I may be doing wrong?

Thanks in advance

Buzz

[mihai.petcu]

Hi Buzz,

I am not sure why you are getting this behavior. Can you please send us the .AIP (project) and the verbose log of the installation to support at advancedinstaller dot com so we can investigate them?

All the best,
Mihai

[mihai.petcu]

Hi Buzz,

By definition, an "Installed Custom Action" behaves as an attached custom action, but it must be scheduled after the files have been deployed on the target computer.

In your particular case, you can try to move the custom action after the Install standard action.
Another approach is to use an "Attached Custom Action" instead. In this case you can schedule it under after any standard action.

All the best,
Mihai

[clint]

Last week I had a customer with a German system, who towards the end of the installation also received this error (Error 1609 and SID system error 1332) , where permissions folders were trying to be set set for users and groups "Administrator" and "Everyone".

I noticed that in the MSI LockPermissions table, the domain column was empty.

So in the advanced installer Resources "Files and Folders" for the folder in question, under Properties-Permissions I added the property [%USERDOMAIN] into the field "Domain".

After that the installation worked.

[Eusebiu]

Hi,

Thank you for sharing the solution, I'm sure it will help other users in the future.

Best regards,
Eusebiu