Wix Burn, how do I allow downgrading?

9
votes

So I've got a pretty simple burn installer, primarily to include .net upgrades or occasionally a driver pack for hardware our app needs to talk to.

The MSI's we create support upgrading or downgrading.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"       
     xmlns:bal="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/BalExtension">
    <Bundle Name="My App Name" Manufacturer="Company Name" Version="!(bind.packageVersion.MyAPP_MSI)"
            IconSourceFile="MyIcon.ico"  DisableModify="yes" DisableRemove="yes"
            UpgradeCode="{15E598EF-89CE-470B-8CEF-E32C8983DA33}" >
        <BootstrapperApplicationRef Id="WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.RtfLicense" >
            <bal:WixStandardBootstrapperApplication
                LogoFile="$(var.CoreComponents.TargetDir)InstallerGraphics\Bootstrapper_Logo.png"
                LicenseFile="$(var.CoreComponents.TargetDir)AppRoot\App License.rtf" 
                SuppressOptionsUI="yes" />
        </BootstrapperApplicationRef>

        <Chain>
            <PackageGroupRef Id="NetFx451Web"/>

            <MsiPackage DisplayName="My full Application Name"  Id="MyAPP_MSI" SourceFile="$(var.Installer_MyAppMSI_TargetPath)"
                        DisplayInternalUI="yes" ForcePerMachine="yes" Visible="yes" />

        <MsiPackage DisplayName="My Hardware Driver" Id="Installer_MSI_Driver" SourceFile="$(var.Installer_Driver.TargetPath)"
                    DisplayInternalUI="yes" ForcePerMachine="yes" Visible="yes" />

        </Chain>
    </Bundle>
</Wix>

We typically have beta releases and when a user wants to downgrade from a beta back to our stable releases they can't simply execute the old EXE installer. They have to remove previous package from Add/Remove Programs explicitly to installer the older Burn EXE.

This wasn't an issue with the MSI based install. How do we get back to that functionality?

Log

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:04]i001: Burn v3.8.1128.0, Windows v6.1(Build 7601: Service Pack 1), path:\\iop-filesvr\IOP\Builds\Main\8.1.240\IO Practiceware Client Setup.exe, cmdline: '-burn.unelevated BurnPipe.{197B8193-6EFC-4ED0-AF90-DE7205F13E65} {CD23A8AB-520B-4F5D-BCB9-98998C5A1EC0} 2216'

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:04]i000: Setting string variable 'WixBundleLog' to value 'C:\Users\jeff\AppData\Local\Temp\IO_Practiceware_Client_8.1.240.0_20140623111004.log'

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:04]i000: Setting string variable'WixBundleOriginalSource' to value '\\iop-filesvr\IOP\Builds\Main\8.1.240\IO Practiceware ClientSetup.exe' 

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:04]i000: Setting string variable 'WixBundleName' to value 'IO Practiceware Client 8.1.240.0'

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:05]i100: Detect begin, 2 packages

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:05]i000: Setting string variable 'PrerequisitesVersion' to value '1.0.0.0'

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:05]i102: Detected related bundle: {8d398d25-606f-419a-9b29-e3434aeb2485}, type: Upgrade, scope: PerUser, version: 8.1.241.0, operation: Downgrade

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:05]i103: Detected related package: {7EA877FF-CE7A-49CE-8F76-D5A11EA7DD7A}, scope: PerMachine, version: 1.0.0.0, language: 0 operation: MajorUpgrade 

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:05]i103: Detected related package: {8E8A7689-FB1C-4FE5-AF7C-95D499A342DE}, scope: PerUser, version: 8.1.241.0, language: 0 operation: MajorUpgrade 

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:05]i101: Detected package: PrerequisitesMsi, state: Absent, cached: None

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:05]i101: Detected package: ClientMsi, state: Absent, cached: None 

[0CB8:067C][2014-06-23T11:10:05]i199:Detect complete, result: 0x0 

[0CB8:076C][2014-06-23T11:10:16]i000: Setting numeric variable 'EulaAcceptCheckbox' to value 0

[0CB8:076C][2014-06-23T11:10:16]e000: Error 0x80070666: Cannot install a product when a newer version is installed.
3
wixburn
So what is happening when you run the old burn exe installer? Ideally burn handles upgrades at the burn level and the MSI level. So if the MSI is setup to do downgrades, it should happen. If it is not happening, can you please paste the burn install/uninstall logs? – Isaiah4110
You say "downgrade from a beta back to our stable release". We treat a stable release as being an upgrade from a beta release. e.g. Beta 1.2.3.1234 is seen by the user as "1.2.3.1234". The following release is 1.2.3.1235 but is seen by the user as, say, "1.2". The version number used by Wix can be different to the version seen by user user. e.g. informational version. – Rob Smyth

3 Answers

3
votes

This worked for me:

<MajorUpgrade Schedule="afterInstallInitialize" AllowDowngrades="yes"  />

See WIX docs on MajorUpgrade Element.

2
votes

Try to add <Property Id="REINSTALLMODE" Value="amus" /> in your product.wxs file. REINSTALLMODE property is a set of settings which defines the behavior of new installation with different/same version. For more details, you can check REINSTALLMODE property as reference.

0
votes

Treat betas as releases leading up to stable (RC or market) releases. The file/assembly version always moves up, so the install is an upgrade.

Take this sequence of releases:

  • 1.2.3.4567 Beta
  • 1.2.3.4568 Market release
  • 1.2.4.4569 Next Beta

Define the version that the customer sees depending on if a market (stable) release or a beta.

Check out 'AssemblyInformationalVersion'.

[assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.0.1234")]
[assembly: AssemblyFileVersion("1.0.0.1234")]
[assembly: AssemblyInformationalVersion("1.0")]

Always upgrade.