Large data directory is backed up when doing install or upgrade

[jusher]

Hi,

I have a situation where there are gigabytes of text data in a directory that is part of my file hierarchy, that looks like it is being backed up or moved when we do the installation.
The directory in question is marked as 'permanent' in properties as we do not wish for any of the data to be overwritten.
Any ideas?
Regards,
John


This from a colleague: - 'CIM MSI backups the BTS directory (or specified Program Location directory) to AI_RecycleBin
Details This is problematic on large systems such as ICT which contains 300GB of raw data which slows the installation considerably or runs the drive out of space. If the installation is cancelled part way through the AI_RecycleBin isn't tidied up so it has to be manually removed.

This may also be the case for other MSI's as I've seen this before but didn't know the cause.'

[Catalin]

Hello John,

Unfortunately, the Windows Installer technology does not offer the possibility to preserve data.

That being said, the only way to do so is by creating a backup copy of said data and then restoring it after being removed.

So if you'd like to preserve some data, I'm afraid that this is the only way.

If you'd like, you could create your own method of backing the files up, through custom actions.

Best regards,
Catalin

[jusher]

Hi Caitlin,

You missed the point entirely.
It is taking 4.5 hours to do the install.
There is the following directory structure: -
DATA_DIR
Config
Data
Images

You can tick permanent in the properties and all of these will be preserved. Also you can choose whether to overwrite files if older.
The Data directory here has X-Gigabytes of data in raw text files. When we do an install or an update it copies these files to an internal AI_ directory on disk. It seems to do this in case it fails so then it can rollback to what was there before. On disks with a small amount of spare disk space it runs out of space and fails. How do I prevent it doing the initial copy of the data?

Regards,
John

[Catalin]

Hello John,

I'm sorry for the misunderstanding!

Please give me some more time to discuss this with our dev team as I was not able to find which action could be possibly doing that.

As soon as I will have more information, I will let you know.

Best regards,
Catalin

[Catalin]

Hello John,

If possible, could you please forward me a copy of your AIP file by email at support at advancedinstaller dot com so we can further investigate this?

Best regards,
Catalin

[jusher]

Hi Caitlin,

I have sent it this morning. Sorry for delay.

Regards,
John

[Catalin]

Hello John,

I can confirm that I received the AIP file.

Thank you for that, and no worries about the delay!

I will followup over the email or here when I will have more information.

Best regards,
Catalin

[Catalin]

Hello John,

I've had a look over the AIP file your provided and, but I'm afraid I wasn't able to find much.

Normally, the backup is only done when this option is checked:

Screenshot_77.png (4.21 KiB) Viewed 15620 times

which in your case isn't.

You sent me the project empty, so I wasn't really able to test this. On your end, did you check what items the backup folder contains? Are those the exact same as in the DATA_DIRECTORY?

Best regards,
Catalin

[jusher]

Hi Caitlin,

I don't know what you mean "I sent the project empty"?

AI have all of the dialogs etc. from times I sent them before.

Yes, the data files in DATA_DIRECTORY are copied as in backed up. Our original fault report says: -

'This is problematic on large systems such as ICT which contains 300GB of raw data which slows the installation considerably or runs the drive out of space. If the installation is cancelled part way through the AI_RecycleBin isn't tidied up so it has to be manually removed.

This may also be the case for other MSI's as I've seen this before but didn't know the cause.'

With the disk space available the MSI ran to completion in 4.5 hours and gets rid of AI_RecycleBin and therefore frees disk space.

[Catalin]

Hello John,

By "empty project" I meant that no files were in the "DATA_DIRECTORY" at all.

As previously mentioned, there really isn't anything in your project that would point to that behavior.

If possible, could you please create a sample project that reproduces that and forward it to me (together with the files so I can build it) by email at support at advancedinstaller dot com?

Best regards,
Catalin

[jusher]

Hi Caitlin,
The project is supposed to create the DATA_DIRECTORY if it is not present. In this case the directory is there before we run this msi. The data files, that are captured by another process, are written to this data directory. So, when we come to upgrade or merely remove the installed product this data directory is still there. When you come to run it again it checks whether the DATA_DIRECTORY is there, well this time it is and it is full of data files so it backs them to AI_RecycleBin or some such name.
You can replicate this by creating the data directory c:\BTS\CommsWare\Data and populating with empty text files.
Regards,
John

[Catalin]

Hello John,

Thank you for your followup on this!

I somehow thought you're going through a different scenario.

I have run the tests on my end and I was able to reproduce this as well. Upon further investigations, it looks like this happens because the DUMMY_SQL_FOLDER which has the option enabled:

Screenshot_81.png (25.16 KiB) Viewed 13868 times

Now, why this happens is because both DATA_DIR and DUMMY_SQL_FOLDER have the same path, C:\BTS.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,
Catalin

[jusher]

Thank you Catalin. This is a great help.
Regards,
John

[Catalin]

You're always welcome, John!

Glad I was able to assist.

Best regards,
Catalin