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Title
Expand Archive (TAR) Action Does Not Wait for Tar Command to Complete

Summary

The Expand Archive (TAR) action fails to wait for the tar command to complete extracting files

Symptoms

When using an Expand Archive (TAR) action in the Install sequence on Linux or Mac target machines, the installation continues to the next task before the Expand Archive (TAR) action has completed extracting all of its files. This becomes more apparent with larger tar files, and the installation can finish while the tar extraction continues in the background.

Cause

This problem has been reproduced and determined to be an issue in our software. This issue has been submitted to our Engineering team as Issue# IOA-000073384. Our Engineering team is investigating this issue, but at this moment, there is no estimated time frame for when it will be fixed. There is a potential workaround available below.

Steps To Reproduce

  1. Create a new project
  2. Add an Expand Archive (TAR) action to the Install sequence
  3. Specify a large tar file (~2GB) for either Selected Archive or Existing Archive (This is reproducible with smaller tar files, but is easier to see with a larger tar file)
  4. Build an installer for Linux (or Mac) bundled with or without VM
  5. Run the installer and as the product is installing, periodically do a directory listing on $USER_INSTALL_DIR$
  6. When the Post-Install Summary panel displays, repeatedly do a directory listing on $USER_INSTALL_DIR$
  7. Notice that files are still being extracted from the tar file to $USER_INSTALL_DIR$

Workaround

Using a 'sleep <number>' command in an Execute Batch/Script action can be used to delay the installation long enough for the extraction to complete. If the installation requires that a specific file from the tar has been extracted before continuing, you can set a Check File/Folder Attributes rule that detects the existence of that specific file on a Jump To Target action in the Post-Install phase. You would then add a Jump Label action right before the 'sleep' command. This will keep the installation suspended until the specific file exists. To avoid a potential infinite loop, implementing a max counter or timeout is recommended.

Additional Information

Expand Archive (TAR) Action
Jump Label Action and Jump To Action
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Expand Archive (TAR) Action Does Not Wait for Tar Command to Complete