How to Troubleshoot MSI Installation

If your MSI doesn't work properly, how do you troubleshoot? The easiest way is to turn on tracing to get the setup log file. The command line is:

            msiexec /i product.msi /L*v log.txt

'L' means generating a log file; 'v' means verbose. Open log.txt file, you can see detailed information of the setup process. For example, if you run product.msi like below:

           
            msiexec /i product.msi MYPARAM=cool /l*v "c:\log.txt"

Open log.txt, you will see MYPARAM has been added to the properties:

     MSI (c) (D8:58) [01:12:36:093]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding MYPARAM property. Its value is 'cool'.
     ...
     Property(S): MYPARAM = cool

For detailed command line options of msiexec, you can check out MSDN.

See also

  • Introduction to the Windows Installer XML(WiX) Toolset
  • MSI basics
  • WiX Tutorial - Steps to Create an MSI with Windows Installer XML(WiX)
  • How to Install a COM DLL with Windows Installer XML(WiX)
  • How to Add a License Agreement UI to Windows Installer XML(WiX)
  • How to Add Customization Code CustomAction to Windows Installer XML(WiX)
  • How to Reset Windows Service with Windows Installer XML(WiX)
  • How to Troubleshoot MSI Installation
  • How to Pass Parameters to the Customization Code(CustomAction)
  • How to Log Tracing Infomation to the Calling MSI from CustomAction
  • How to Invoke InstallUtil.exe to Call Your Managed Installer Class
  • How to Create a Website and Virtual Directory with Windows Installer XML(WiX)
  • How to Install Files to an Arbitrary Location Outside "Program Files"
  • How to Read Configuration Parameters from Xml File
  • How to Use Environmental Variables and WiX Preprocessor
  • Download WiXSharp



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