Application Packaging Online Training - November 2012 Batch

Inviting registrations for new batch of Application Packaging Online Training using AdminStudio, demo session scheduled on 7th November 2012.

What you need to attend training:

1. Laptop/Desktop with good Internet Speed 

2. Headset in working condition both microphone, speaker

Demo Session Timings:

India: 10.30pm IST 7th November

USA: 12:00 Noon Eastern Time(EST), 7th November

UK:    5pm BST, 7th November

Interested candidates can reply me for registration and to know more about timings and fee details.

For candidates who are interested but unable to make it to above mentioned, please let me know and I can arrange another demo session in your flexible timings.

For more details of our training and consulting services, please visit www.apprepack.in

Application Packaging Training - July 2012 Batch

Application Packaging Training new batch is scheduled to start on 30th June 2012. For further visit www.apprepack.in or contact me on Arjun@Apprepack.in

Application Packaging Training - July 2012 Batch

New batch of Application Packaging Training starting from 30th June 2012.

Duration: 1 Month

Interested candidates can visit www.apprepack.in for more information or email us on contact@apprepack.in 

-> We also deliver training on Microsoft App-V, SCCM 2007, AdminStudio, Installshield, Wise Package Studio

Application Packaging Online Training - May 2012 Batch

New batch of Application Packaging Online Training starting from 10th May 2012


Course Duration: 1 Month


Anyone interested? please contact me on Virtual.App.Packager@gmail.com


visit www.AppRepack.in for more information on training topics.

Application Packaging Services & Training

Application Packaging Services & Training


AppREPACK Technologies offers solutions on Application Packaging, Virtualization and Deployment technologies.

Resolve ICE 57 Error - MSI

Error: Component has both per user and per machine data with a per machine keypath


Solution: Create a new component (with a new GUID), move all of the per user data from the component that kicks up the error to the new one. Set one of the files/reg keys as it’s keypath.

Resolve ICE 43 Error - MSI

Error: Component “…” has non-advertised shortcuts. It Should use a registry key under HKCU as its KeyPath, not a file.


Solution: Put one Current_User registry key under the mentioned component and set that registry key as the keypath

Resolve ICE18 Error - MSI

Error: KeyPath for Component “…” is Directory “…”. The Directory is not listed in the CreateFolders table


Solution: Create a new row in the table “CreateFolder”, select the mentioned Directory and the mentioned Component.

Application Packaging Training - January 2012 batch

New batch of Application Packaging Classroom Training at Hyderabad from 17th January 2012.


Course Duration: 1 Month
Anyone interested?, please contact me on Virtual.App.Packager@gmail.com
visit www.AppRepack.in for more information on training topics.


Note: Send me an email, if you are looking for online training details. Thanks

Application Packaging Videos

Video tutorials on Wise Package Studio and Installshield are going to be released soon. For more updates keep following this blog or visit www.apprepack.in

Application Packaging Training @ Hyderabad, January 2012 Batch

New batch of Application Packaging classroom Training at Hyderabad from 3rd January 2012


Duration: 1 Month


Interested candidates can contact me on +91-9963678795 or virtual.app.packager@gmail.com


visit www.apprepack.in for more information about training details.


Note: If you are looking for Online training, please contact me. 

How to create Minor Upgrade MSI

Steps to create Minor Upgrade:

1. Change the Package code and Product Version to create a minor upgrade
2. Add feature / component by following the guide lines in Section: Requirement for Minor upgrade
3. Add Remove or Modify files, registry keys and shortcuts.
4. Add minor upgrade item in upgrades view (this is optional).
5. Build and use the installer for upgrade.

Windows File Versioning Rules

At the core of any installer is the actual installation of files. But determining whether to install a file is a complex process. At the highest level, making the determination depends on whether the component to which a file belongs is marked for installation. Once the determination is made that a file should be copied, the process is complicated if another file with the same name exists in the target folder. In such situations, making the determination requires a set of rules involving the following properties:

• Version
• Date
• Language

The installer only uses these rules when trying to install a file to a location that already contains a file with the same name. In this case, the Microsoft® Windows® Installer uses the following rules to determine whether to install.


Highest Version Wins — All other things being equal, the file with the highest version wins, even if the file on the machine has the highest version.


Versioned Files Win — All other things being equal, a versioned file gets installed over a non-versioned file.


Favor Product Language — All other things being equal, if the file being installed has a different language than the file on the machine, favor the file with the language that matches the product being installed. Language neutral files are treated as just another language so the product being installed is favored again.


Mismatched Multiple Languages — All other things being equal, after factoring out any common languages between the file being installed and the file on the machine, any remaining languages are favored according to what is needed by the product being installed.


Preserve Superset Languages — All other things being equal, preserve the file that supports multiple languages regardless of whether it is already on the machine or is being installed.


Non-versioned Files Are User Data — All other things being equal, if the Modified date is later than the Create date for the file on the machine, do not install the file because user customizations would be wiped out. If the Modified and Create dates are the same, install the file. If the Create date is later than the Modified date, the file is considered unmodified, install the file.


Non-versioned Files Using Companion — All other things being equal, a non-versioned file that is associated with a versioned file using the companion mechanism abides by the rules for the versioned file. The only exception is if the versioned file on the machine and the versioned file being installed have the same version and language but the companion file is missing on the machine. In this case the companion file being installed is used even though the versioned file on the machine is used.


Rules Are Global — The rules for determining when to install a file reside in one place within the installer and are global, meaning they apply to all files equally.

What are MergeModules

Merge modules provide a standard method by which developers deliver shared Microsoft® Windows® Installer components and setup logic to their applications. Merge modules are used to deliver shared code, files, resources, Registry entries, and setup logic to applications as a single compound file. Developers authoring new merge modules, or using existing merge modules, should follow the standard outlined in this section.


A merge module is similar in structure to a simplified Windows Installer .msi file. However, a merge module cannot be installed alone, it must be merged into an installation package using a merge tool. Developers wanting to use merge modules must obtain one of the freely distributed merge tools, such as Mergemod.dll, or purchase a merge tool from an independent software vendor. Developers can create new merge modules by using many of the same software tools used to create a Windows Installer installation package, such as the database table editor Orca provided with the Windows Installer SDK.


When a merge module is merged into the .msi file of an application, all the information and resources required to install the components delivered by the merge module are incorporated into the application's .msi file. The merge module is then no longer required to install these components and the merge module does not need to be accessible to a user. Because all the information needed to install the components is delivered as a single file, the use of merge modules can eliminate many instances of version conflicts, missing Registry entries, and improperly installed files.

Advantages of MSI Packaging

Following are the advantages over legacy setup


Transaction based operation: All installation operations are transactional. For each operation that Windows Installer performs, it generates an equivalent undo operation that would undo the change made to the system. If a failure occurs during the middle of an installation, Windows Installer can roll back the machine to its original state.


Self-healing: Windows Installer supports "self-healing" abilities for applications. Applications can detect common installation problems at launch, like missing files or registry keys, and automatically repair themselves.


Installation on demand: Windows Installer supports on-demand installations of application features. For example, the spelling checker in Microsoft Office Word may not be installed by default, but a user can trigger an on-demand installation of this feature.


Installation in locked-down environments: In fully locked-down environments, users don't generally have permission or the ability to install applications. In most cases, they don't have write-access to the Program Files folder of their computers or to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry location. If an administrator approves an installation package by means of Group Policy, for instance, Windows Installer can perform an installation on the user's behalf.





Managed Application: Windows Installer provides a set of standard Win32® application programming interfaces (APIs) and automation interfaces for applications and administrators to use for querying the installation state on the machine. The APIs allow querying of the current state, verification of the existing state, repair of a corrupted state, and transition from one state to another.

ActiveSetup Implementation

If you are using Windows Installer for per-machine-based installations, it could be the case that your setup contains components with user-related resources that have no entry-points to initiate the install-on-demand/self healing function of MSI. This, of course, will mean that when deployed the package will not install the user resources required to run the application properly.


But wait, don’t lose hope! In such a case you can use the Active Setup for a self healing on demand. It needs just one registry key in your msi file.







This registry key can be assigned to any Component that installs per-machine resources or you can create one component just for this key.


How it works:
The value in the StubPath key will be executed at a special time during which the Active Setup tasks are running and no other Windows Installer processes are running in the background that could cause the repair not to run (which would be the case if you attempted to run this command in the Run-Once registry key).
The command will thereby perform a repair for HKCU registry keys and missing files.


If this command runs successfully, it will create a registry key in HKCU and the command will not run again. However, if you wish to trigger this command again, because of a small update, then use the Version Key and increment its value each time you wish to run this command again when a user logs in.


Important Note:
Remember to use this command only if your setup does not contain any entry-point that would not allow the repair on demand, because this repair will run when a user on the target workstation logs in after the installation has been run. That means, even if the user doesn’t use the installed application, it will run the repair. And as you may already know, those repairs can take some time depending on the workstation’s hardware configuration and the size of the package.

SetACL Permissions Examples

Using SetACL to provide permissions

Command1: Providing registry permissions to Authenticated Users group


1.  setacl.exe "MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AHouse\GEPUIS ORBIX" /registry /grant "Authenticated Users" /full /i:cont_obj_inh /p:yes /r:cont_obj /silent


OR using S-ID


"MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AHouse\GEPUIS ORBIX" /registry /set "S-1-5-11" /full /sid /silent



Command2: Providing Folder permissions to Authenticated Users group


setacl.exe "c:\AudioTools\GIMP" /dir /set "S-1-5-11" /change /sid /silent



Change the group name / S-ID according to your requirement

VBScript to Check 32bit or 64bit Operating System

VBScript to check if Operating Systems is 32bit or 64bit

Dim WshShell
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Bits = GetObject("winmgmts:root\cimv2:Win32_Processor='cpu0'").AddressWidth
msgbox Bits

Hide ARP entry of an MSI

VBScript to hide ARP entry of an MSI. In place of [ProductCode] give the product code of the msi for which you want to hide the ARP entry.

Dim WSHShell,strRegKey 
Set WSHShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") 
WSHShell.Regwrite "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\[ProductCode]\SystemComponent","1","REG_DWORD"

SendKeys using VBScript

Following script is an example of how to use SendKeys function available in VBScript to pass automated clicks to an application.


Application Window Name should be changed in the script according to application that you are working on.

On Error Resume Next

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
strWindowNameEN = "Application Window Name"

successEN = False
Do

successEN = WshShell.AppActivate(strWindowNameEN)
Loop Until (successEN = True)

If (successEN) Then
WshShell.AppActivate strWindowNameEN
End IF

WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{ENTER}"