Post-Install Prerequisite

[virgil]

I'm seeking advice for the best solution to the following task;

When a global variable is set on the installer command line:
- Download a file using the global variable as part of the URL (ie MY_VAR="SOMEFILE.ZIP", set URL as http://myserver.com/[MY_VAR])
- Retrieve the path of the downloaded file and pass that as the command line to an executable contained in the installer (ie [APPDIR]\MyMod.exe /i [DOWNLOADEDFILE])

This needs to occur post-install, as MyMod.exe is part of the installed product.

I looked at the Post-Install prerequisite feature, but according to the documentation, the fields only accept Formatted types when it's a feature based install.

[Daniel]

Hello,

I'm afraid you cannot achieve this using our "Prerequisites" feature. In order to achieve what you want you should use custom actions.

Here're the steps to proceed:
- Add a "Set installer property" (i.e. SetURL) custom action with sequence, under "Install Execution Stage" -> "Begin" standard action, like this:

• Property: URLPATH
  Formatted: http://myserver.com/[MY_VAR]
  Condition: NOT Installed

- Add a "Launch attached file" custom action with sequence scheduled after "SetUrl" custom action which will download the related file from "URLPATH" and set a property (i.e DOWNLOADEDFILE) with the downloaded file path. Also, you should use the following condition for this custom action: NOT Installed.
- Add a "Launch installed file" custom action with sequence scheduled after "Install Execution Stage" -> "Add Resources" standard action, like this:

• Source Path: MyMod.exe
  Properties: /i [DOWNLOADEDFILE]
  Condition: NOT Installed

- Also, this custom action should run as "Deferred with no impersonation".
- Build and run your project.

If you have any question let us know.

All the best,
Daniel