Prerequisite installation along with main package using advanced installer version 22.2

[akshayk]

Dear Advanced Installer Support Team,

I hope this message finds you well.

We have been using Advanced Installer for the past few years, and we have successfully installed prerequisite packages (.msi) during the installation of our main package (.exe). This process has been functioning correctly with versions up to 20.8.

Currently, we are using Advanced Installer version 22.2 and are facing an issue while installing the main package along with the prerequisite after updating Advanced Installer.

We have a prerequisite (.msi) package that needs to be installed alongside the main package (.exe). The installation of the main package is initiated via command line, but we are encountering a failure during this process, resulting in the error message: "MainPackage setup failed."

Requirement:
We have a main package (.exe) in which we have added a child project (.msi) as a prerequisite that we would like to install during the main package installation.

For your reference, I have attached the sample AIP project files for both the main package and the child package. Additionally, I have generated a log file detailing the error and attached it to this ticket.
I would appreciate it if you could review this information and provide your insights regarding this issue. We are looking forward to your prompt response.

Thank you for your assistance.

Best regards,
Akshay

[Liviu]

Hello,

We've received your email.

We will reply to your email as soon as we have a conclusive answer.

Best regards,
Liviu

[Catalin]

Hello Akshay,

Please note I have tested this using our latest version 22.3 and everything worked as expected.

Both the prerequisite and the main package were installed as expected.

Could you please also try our latest version and let me know how that goes?

Best regards,
Catalin

[akshayk]

Dear Catalin,

Thanks for the reply.

I agree with your comment, But currently we are using advanced installer 22.2 version.
Could you please also test the project sent by me using advanced installer 22.2 and let me know your view on this.

Thanks
Akshay

[Catalin]

Hello Akshay,

If there was a problem with this and it does not reproduce with version 22.3, it means it was fixed in the meantime.

I would suggest trying to test with that version.

Best regards,
Catalin

[akshayk]

Hello Catalin,

I hope this message finds you well.

I am writing to bring to your attention an issue we are experiencing after upgrading our Advanced Installer from version 20.8 to the latest version, 22.3.
In version 20.8, we successfully installed prerequisite.msi files using our main executable package by passing the installation folder for the prerequisites via command line. This approach worked as expected, and we were able to extract the necessary files to the specified location.
To achieve this, we use command-line options, which are,
Full UI: /qn LICENSE_SERVER=[LICENSE_SERVER] APPDIR="[APPDIR]\Kernels\2024 IR7"
Basic UI: /qn LICENSE_SERVER=[LICENSE_SERVER] APPDIR="[APPDIR]\Kernels\2024 IR7"
Silent (no UI): /qn LICENSE_SERVER=[LICENSE_SERVER] APPDIR="[APPDIR]\Kernels\2024 IR7"

However, after migrating to version 22.3, we are attempting to implement the same method by providing the prerequisite installation folder as input through the command line, as illustrated in the attached screenshot.

Unfortunately, we have encountered a problem: while the application appears to be installed in the installed applications section, the folders are not being extracted to the designated path.

Scenario:
1. Using User Interface (UI):
It is working fine. It installs both pre-requisites along with the main package.

2. Using silent installation (no UI):
Installation gets complete, and also in the installed apps section it shows both pre-requisit and main package, but it is not extracting the pre-requisite files and folders under the installation folder path provided using the command line as shown in the attached screen shot.

Observation:
While testing, I observed that for advanced installer version below 20.8, we are able to pass [APPDIR] value as input parameter to Install Command Lines option of Feature-based pre-requisite. But, advanced installer version 20.9 and above it is not accepting it as paramter it is treating it as a string and extracting files and folders under that directory.
example,
/qn APPDIR="[APPDIR]\Kernel\2024 IR9"
It pre-requisites extracts files and folder under "C:\APPDIR\Kernel\2024 IR9"

Requirement:
We want to install both pre-requisite.msi and main package.exe using both the user interface (UI) and silent installation (no UI).

We would greatly appreciate your assistance in resolving this issue. If there are any changes or additional configurations required or changed way to pass APPDIR value to prerequisite in version 22.3 that we should be aware of, please let us know.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your prompt response.

Thanks and Regards!
Akshay

[Liviu]

Hello Akshay,

Just a quick note to let you know that I’ve responded to your email.

Let’s continue the conversation over email.

Best regards,
Liviu

[akshayk]

Hello Liviu,

We got a fix for this issue but need your support for chained prerequisite configuration in AIP project.

If we select "Chained" check box for prerequisite and build AIP project, then bootstrapper installs successfully along with prerequisite. Please refer to given snap.

Chained setting.jpg (53.9 KiB) Viewed 16821 times

The thing is that we need to check this box manually and we would like to have it dynamically through command.

Can you please let us know how to add prerequisite package as a Chained package using command line?

If we achieve to add prerequisite type as a Chained using command line, then we are able to resolve this issue.

Cheers!
Akshay

[Liviu]

Hello Akshay,

I'm afraid we do not have command line support to check the Chained option for a prerequisite.

I have added on our TODO list this improvement and hopefully it will be implemented in a future version of Advanced Installer. 

As soon as this improvement will be available we will notify you.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Best regards,
Liviu

[Catalin]

Hello Akshay,

This improvement has been added in version 22.6 of Advanced Installer, released on April 8th, 2025.

Best regards,
Catalin

[akshayk]

Hello Catalin,
Thank you for considering the request.
I have gone through the updates and able to locate the improvements. But, I haven't got any assistance regarding command line option.
Could you please assist me to achieve the same using command line?

Best Regards,
Akshay

[Liviu]

Hello Akshay,

We added the -chained and -framework parameters to /NewPrerequisite and /UpdatePrerequisite commands.

Please mention that:

• chained option is supported only for MSI packages stored on disk and the FeatureBased type.
• framework option is only supported with the PreInstall type.
• -no_chained and -no_framework parameters are added for /UpdatePrerequisite

Can you please let us know how to add prerequisite package as a Chained package using command line?

You just need to pass the -chained parameter.

You can find the parameters on the New Prerequisite Option
article.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Best regards,
Liviu