Inno Setup Testing installer exit code

Question

How can I access the return code of Inno Setup based installer?

For example, this documentation says that exit code will be 1 if "Setup failed to initialize". In my installer, in some cases, code returns False from InitializeSetup(). I am running the installer with /silent flag on command prompt. If I echo %errorlevel%, I get 0.

Relevant portion of code from the InitializeSetup() function:

function InitializeSetup(): Boolean;
var
  ResultCode: Integer;
begin
  { In silent mode, set Result to false so as to exit before wizard is }
  { launched in case setup cannot continue. }
  if WizardSilent() then
  begin
    { CompareVersion() logically returns the -1, 0 or 1 based on }
    { whether the version being installed is less than, equal to or greater }
    { than version already installed. Returns 0 is there is no existing }
    { installation. }
    ResultCode := CompareVersion();
    if ResultCode < 0 then
    begin
      Result := False;
      Exit;
    end;
  end;

  Result := True;
end;

From command line, here is how I am running and capturing return value:

C:\VersionCheck>myinstaller.exe /Silent

C:\VersionCheck>echo %errorlevel%
0

C:\VersionCheck>

The log file shows :

2016-09-29 08:05:11.259   Log opened. (Time zone: UTC-07:00)
2016-09-29 08:05:11.259   Setup version: Inno Setup version 5.5.9 (u)
2016-09-29 08:05:11.259   Original Setup EXE: C:\VersionCheck\myinstaller.exe
2016-09-29 08:05:11.259   Setup command line: /SL5="$9051C,3445541,131584,C:\VersionCheck\myinstaller.exe" /Silent
2016-09-29 08:05:11.259   Windows version: 6.3.9600  (NT platform: Yes)
2016-09-29 08:05:11.259   64-bit Windows: Yes
2016-09-29 08:05:11.259   Processor architecture: x64
2016-09-29 08:05:11.259   User privileges: Administrative
2016-09-29 08:05:11.259   64-bit install mode: Yes
2016-09-29 08:05:11.259   Created temporary directory: C:\Users\ADMINI~1\AppData\Local\Temp\2\is-TQB2V.tmp
2016-09-29 08:05:11.275   Installed version component : 3
2016-09-29 08:05:11.275   Updating to version component : 0
2016-09-29 08:05:11.275   This computer already has a more recent version (3.5.0.0) of XYZ. If you wantto downgrade to version 0.0.0.0 then uninstall and try again. Setup will exit.
2016-09-29 08:05:11.275   InitializeSetup returned False; aborting.
2016-09-29 08:05:11.275   Got EAbort exception.
2016-09-29 08:05:11.275   Deinitializing Setup.
2016-09-29 08:05:11.275   Log closed.

Is there something I am missing?

Yes, you get the exit code 1, when you return False from InitializeSetup. If you do not, show us an exact command sequence you use to run the installer and check the exit code, including a complete output. — Martin Prikryl
@MartinPrikryl - Edited the question to capture more details. Please check. — Anand

Martin Prikryl Martin Prikryl · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-29T15:21:12

Your test is not valid.

When you execute a GUI application (the installer) from a command-line, the console does not wait for the program to finish. So the %errorlevel% cannot contain an exit code of the application (installer), as it has not finished at the time yet.

In this case the %errorlevel% reflects errors (but not success) of starting the application only.

Also note that the silent mode has actually no effects on this. The non-silent mode behaves the same.

But if you add the exactly same commands to a batch file (.bat), it will work. As the batch file waits for the application to finish.

C:\VersionCheck>test.bat

C:\VersionCheck>myinstaller.exe /Silent

C:\VersionCheck>echo 1
1
C:\VersionCheck>

Where the test.bat contains your two commands:

myinstaller.exe /Silent
echo %errorlevel%

Inno Setup Testing installer exit code

1 Answers