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WISE/MSI creation problem
Ok, so packaging and coding.. not my forte so bear with me.
Problem:
I'm making an MSI that needs to be able to patch a program. Currently the files don't get there file versions updated between versions and this is causing TONS of problems with file copying. I'm using Wise Package Studio 7 and Wise documentation is... spotty. The other guy that's used Wise here generally just uses it for captures and doesn't build from scratch. This doesn't help me.
Any and all help with anyone that knows how to build in WISE or work with an MSI/MST would be greatlly appreciated. I've found resources like http://www.dawnstar.com.au/wpshelp/ and http://juice.altiris.com/taxonomy/term/231/ but the specifics are either for a FAR older version or expects a level of training in WISE I admittedly do not have.
History
At the new job the primary reason my Citrix servers exist is for this one program I'm currently working with. It's based on CA's AllFusion Gen 7.5. This is an internally made product by a complete other division that I have interaction with but the politics are... odd.
We have change control here... not my favorite thing but I can live with it. We also patch pretty much weekly.
This CA GEN based app runs off Client Manager and we have about 12 regions that each are installed in a different location. They are all basically copies of each other but of different versions. This week lets say 4 regions are patch 14, 8 are patch 15, and 4 are patch 16. At this time I can't combine them into minimal regions.
Here is where it gets fun. Patches.... are zip files. That I unzip onto a region with filemonitor turned on and watching the folder. WTF? Again, internal product, why bother with an installer. A couple problems however, they don't fix the file versions of the DLL/EXE's when they update them.
Now, I AM planning on building a VB .NET frontend with scripts that will do all of this for me. But that's down the road and I'm working on this now and have to make it work in some sort of automated way. I have WISE Package Studio 7, I've updated it as much as I can. I'd prefer Installshield from what I've found in my research but this is what I have.
What I've tried
File versions that are the same but the files are different are a big no no. MSI's don't know what to do with it. No matter what I've tried the files stay at whichever version was written to the folder first.
I've tried:
- "Admistrator options" - File replacement - Always reinstall and reinstall if same or older (this SHOULD apply to install as well
- Making merge modules - yes I know this isn't ideal but it links files together and should get around the problem. However, you get to set ONE install locale and if you link it to another 'feature' that also has the file it removes it from the feature.
- Copying from another location. This doesn't work unless the file existed BEFORE the installer started. I suppose i can make a required MSI that puts in the source files but honestly haven't figured out how to do THAT yet either. Or how to order when what is done. It seems to be kind of 'it will get done... sometime' during the install. Wise scripting and install order are also not known to me yet.
-Manually changing the WISE to run in 'omus' instead of 'amus' and/or changing the ReinstallFileVersion and ReinstallFileOlderVersion from 'o' to 'a'
Problem:
I'm making an MSI that needs to be able to patch a program. Currently the files don't get there file versions updated between versions and this is causing TONS of problems with file copying. I'm using Wise Package Studio 7 and Wise documentation is... spotty. The other guy that's used Wise here generally just uses it for captures and doesn't build from scratch. This doesn't help me.
Any and all help with anyone that knows how to build in WISE or work with an MSI/MST would be greatlly appreciated. I've found resources like http://www.dawnstar.com.au/wpshelp/ and http://juice.altiris.com/taxonomy/term/231/ but the specifics are either for a FAR older version or expects a level of training in WISE I admittedly do not have.
History
At the new job the primary reason my Citrix servers exist is for this one program I'm currently working with. It's based on CA's AllFusion Gen 7.5. This is an internally made product by a complete other division that I have interaction with but the politics are... odd.
We have change control here... not my favorite thing but I can live with it. We also patch pretty much weekly.
This CA GEN based app runs off Client Manager and we have about 12 regions that each are installed in a different location. They are all basically copies of each other but of different versions. This week lets say 4 regions are patch 14, 8 are patch 15, and 4 are patch 16. At this time I can't combine them into minimal regions.
Here is where it gets fun. Patches.... are zip files. That I unzip onto a region with filemonitor turned on and watching the folder. WTF? Again, internal product, why bother with an installer. A couple problems however, they don't fix the file versions of the DLL/EXE's when they update them.
Now, I AM planning on building a VB .NET frontend with scripts that will do all of this for me. But that's down the road and I'm working on this now and have to make it work in some sort of automated way. I have WISE Package Studio 7, I've updated it as much as I can. I'd prefer Installshield from what I've found in my research but this is what I have.
What I've tried
File versions that are the same but the files are different are a big no no. MSI's don't know what to do with it. No matter what I've tried the files stay at whichever version was written to the folder first.
I've tried:
- "Admistrator options" - File replacement - Always reinstall and reinstall if same or older (this SHOULD apply to install as well
- Making merge modules - yes I know this isn't ideal but it links files together and should get around the problem. However, you get to set ONE install locale and if you link it to another 'feature' that also has the file it removes it from the feature.
- Copying from another location. This doesn't work unless the file existed BEFORE the installer started. I suppose i can make a required MSI that puts in the source files but honestly haven't figured out how to do THAT yet either. Or how to order when what is done. It seems to be kind of 'it will get done... sometime' during the install. Wise scripting and install order are also not known to me yet.
-Manually changing the WISE to run in 'omus' instead of 'amus' and/or changing the ReinstallFileVersion and ReinstallFileOlderVersion from 'o' to 'a'