setup.exe results in silent installation error

Question

I need to install setup.exe in silent mode. I have recorded the response by using "setup.exe /r" and it created the setup.iss in Windows directory. I copied that file into my working directory where setup.exe file exists. Then I gave the command setup.exe /s, it starts the installation but exit in a second.

There is a log file available in the same directory, it says error code = -3. While surfing in net, -3 refers not enough info available in the .iss file. But how can I find out what information is not available?

Answer 1

For Googlers: I got a -3 exit code when reinstalling a package that was already installed. If I uninstalled and installed again, the exit code would go back to 0.

Also note that InstallShield silent install packages create log files in C:\Windows\, but it doesn't seem to overwrite logged errors with successes e.g.

1. Install once and have an error, you get a log file with a non-zero exit code.
2. Install again successfully, you still have the old non-zero exit code in the log file. The time on the file hasn't changed, so it looks like it wasn't written to. If you delete the file, then successfully re-run the setup, you get a new log file with a successful exit code.

Your mileage may vary, but that was my experience.

Answer 2

Error code = -3, meaning is "Required data not found in the Setup.iss file. "