Prerequisite is not installed silently

[Zsolt Kollarits]

Dear Advanced Installer,

We found an install screnario in which one of our prerequisites is not installed. Here is the step-by-step reproduction:

1. We have a VM where ODBC 18.1.2.1 is pre-installed + an earlier version of our product. TheReplicationFeature feature is installed.
2. Our goal is upgrading our product to a newer version. The new version contains 18.5.2.1 as a features based prerequisite, belonging to the TheReplicationFeature feature.
3. So we would expect if we trigger a product upgrade, then the ODBC prerequisite will be also upgraded.
4. We open up an admin cmd
5. We run this commad "TheClient.exe /exenoui /exelog C:\Test\Setup\log.log /quiet"
6. After the installation ODBC is not upgraded to version 18.5.2.1

I will send some files with WeTransfer, could you please check?

Best regards,
Zsolt

[Catalin]

Hello Zsolt,

From what I can see in your project, the "Replication" feature has it's default state to "Not installed".

Screenshot_109.png (21.32 KiB) Viewed 6723 times

During a full UI installation, the user can (and most likely does) choose to install that specific component. However, during a silent installation, the state of the feature is set to "Not installed" and therefore it does not install.

If you set the default to "Installed", does it change the behavior during a silent installation?

Best regards,
Catalin

[Zsolt Kollarits]

Dear Catalin,

We can test that. We can set the default installation behavior to "Installed", but on purpose we do not want to install that feature. Only if a user explicitly selecting that, then he should have it on his PC.

So for a test we could do that, but otherwise we cannot.

Would it be possible the following:
If the user is installed that feature in the older version of our product, then in case of a silent installation is being triggered then the feature is kept of course, plus its child feature (the feature based prereq) is also installed?
This is somehow logical, what do you think?

We totally understand our customers that their report it as a bug.

Best regards,
Zsolt

[Catalin]

Hello Zsolt,

We can test that. We can set the default installation behavior to "Installed", but on purpose we do not want to install that feature. Only if a user explicitly selecting that, then he should have it on his PC.

Totally understandable. This is exactly why you can choose, at install time, which features to be installed via the ADDLOCAL property - this property can be set via command line when you install your MSI.

The value of the ADDLOCAL property is a list of features that are delimited by commas, and are to be installed locally. The features must be present in the Feature column of the Feature Table. To install all features locally, use ADDLOCAL=ALL on the command line. Do not enter ADDLOCAL=ALL into the Property Table, because this generates a locally installed package that cannot be correctly removed.

Would it be possible the following:
If the user is installed that feature in the older version of our product, then in case of a silent installation is being triggered then the feature is kept of course, plus its child feature (the feature based prereq) is also installed?
This is somehow logical, what do you think?

This could have been achieved, if I understand this correctly, via the "Use parent feature installation settings" option.

You recently had an issue with this option, I'm aware - we have just fixed that and it should be available in our next release (which is scheduled in a few days). If waiting for a few days is no problem, we can wait for the fix and then test this scenario using that option.

How does that sound?

Best regards,
Catalin

[Zsolt Kollarits]

Hi Catalin,

That would be perfect, please test it with your latest bugfix and let us know. If a newer version of AI would fix this, it would be highly appreciated!

Best regards,
Zsolt

[Catalin]

Hello Zsolt,

Sure thing, once the version is out, I will run a quick test.

However, considering your setup is much more complex, it's advised for you to also run a quick test.

Best regards,
Catalin

[Zsolt Kollarits]

Dear Catalin,

Do you have any progress here? Did you release a new version of AI that is fixing this issue?

Best regards,
Zsolt

[Catalin]

Hello Zsolt,

The version that fixed the "Use parent feature installation settings" option has been released.

Could you please give this a go and see if it helps with your latest scenario?

Best regards,
Catalin