Tag: Software Installation

InstallShield Tip: Was the MSI Setup Launched from Setup.exe?

In a basic MSI project created with InstallShield, creation of the Setup.exe setup launcher is optional. If your build configuration is set up so the MSI database is external to Setup.exe and if the target system has the Windows Installer service present, a user can launch your MSI file directly to initiate the installation. In some cases, you might want to determine whether the user launched your setup from the setup launcher or from the MSI dat…

June 23, 2016 Revenera

How to Create an Internet Shortcut with InstallShield

Since the Windows Installer service does not directly support Internet shortcuts, it’s not possible to create a shortcut to a URL in the Shortcuts/Folder view of the IDE. However, an Internet shortcut is only a text file with the .url extension. You can create an Internet shortcut on the user’s machine by installing a .url file with the appropriate contents. For example, to create an Internet shortcut that launches the InstallShield web sit…

June 9, 2016 Revenera

Basics of MSI Custom Actions

MSI supports a variety of custom actions and InstallShield can assist you in working with those actions. Types include: Launching executables Calling DLL or script functions Setting property-table properties and directory-table properties Error actions There are two steps involved for each custom action you want to use: Define the action: specify what the action does (launch an executable, call a DLL function, set a property, and so forth) and…

April 19, 2016 Revenera

InstallAnywhere Flat Certificate Exports for Windows Signing

A “flat” certificate, without the certificate chain path included, is required for signing with InstallAnywhere. In order to sign a Windows target using InstallAnywhere, it is necessary for the certificate to be exported flat. In other words, the certificate chain path cannot be included. This is normally a default option, so it must be disabled. If the certificate chain path is included, the builder will report: “Code signing failed with followi…

February 4, 2016 Revenera

Speed Test an InstallShield SQL Database Connection

Having difficulty connecting to a SQL server in InstallShield? Here is a quick way to test SQL connectivity outside of the product as a first troubleshooting step. If you cannot connect this way, then the problem is likely with your environment, not the software installer. Right-click on the desktop, or the folder where you want to create a file. Select New, then Text Document. Give the Text Document any name with a .udl extension (“Show f…

November 10, 2015 Revenera

Set an InstallAnywhere Variable from within Custom Code

Often times, custom code will need to pass an InstallAnywhere variable back in to the running installer. It is possible to set InstallAnywhere variables from within custom code by using the setVariable(String varName, Object value) method where ‘varName’ is the full variable name such as “$USER_INSTALL_DIR$” and value is an object containing the value to be stored within the InstallAnywhere variable. All InstallAnywhere variables are stored as st…

November 4, 2015 Revenera

Managing 32-Bit and 64-Bit Windows-based Locations

Microsoft designed 64-bit versions of Windows to allow existing 32-bit applications to work seamlessly on 64-bit versions of Windows. They also designed 64-bit versions of Windows in such a way to allow a recompiled version of the same code to work seamlessly as a 64-bit application. In some cases, such as installation, what is normally a beneficial separation becomes a challenge. Typically, installers are 32-bit applications themselves (in order…

August 17, 2015 Revenera