How to Chain Multiple MSI Installations

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Summary

The following article discusses how to chain multiple MSI installations in your InstallShield project.

Synopsis

The following article discusses how to chain multiple MSI installations in your InstallShield project. Starting with InstallShield 2012 the Suite project type can be used to combine multiple packages into a single setup. For more information about Suite project types please refer to the following HelpNet article, Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI Projects. For versions of InstallShield prior to 2012 following the steps in this article.

Discussion

To add an .msi package as a chained package:

Select the Installation designer tab -> Media and click on Releases
Right click the Chained .msi Packages and than click New Chained Package. InstallShield adds a new item with a default name.
Enter a new name, or right-click it later and click Rename to give it a new name.
Select the new chained package item. InstallShield displays its settings in the right pane.
For the Installation (run-time path) setting, click the Browse button. The Browse for File dialog box opens.
Select the Windows Installer package (.msi file) that you would like to add, and then click Open. The package that you select must be an .msi package that can be installed through MsiInstallProduct. Note that it cannot be an InstallScript MSI package.
To configure any of the other settings, the following HelpNet article further describes the settings for the chained .msi packages.

When you build and execute the parent installer, the chained setups are run near the end of the parent?s run, at the user interface level specified for each setup. Windows Installer 4.5 needs to be present on the target systems where the multiple packages are chained together and processed as a single transaction. If one or more of the packages in the transaction cannot be installed successfully or if the end user cancels the installation, the Windows Installer initiates rollback for all of the packages to restore the system to its earlier state.

Additional Information

Information regarding Windows Installer 4.5 can be found on the Microsoft website.

For more information, see the help topic ?Configuring Multiple Packages for Installation Using Transaction Processing?.

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Case id: 00001065