The Without VM Installer Fails To Launch Using Java 8 Update 60 On Windows

Title

Summary

As a result of Issue# IOJ-1737900, the Without VM installer fails to launch with Java 8 Update 60 on Windows.

Symptoms

As a result of Issue# IOJ-1737900, the Without VM installer fails to launch with Java 8 Update 60 on Windows. However, this issue does not affect With VM installers.

When this issue occurs, the user receives this error in the screenshot:

LaunchAnywhere launcher error

Note: If you are using InstallAnywhere 2015 Service Pack 1 and still see this error please reference the additional information section below for information specific to your version of InstallAnywhere.

Cause

The installer is using the Java location specified in the PATH environment variable, specifically:

C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath

Then, the installer is appending \bin\java.exe to that directory path. But:

C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath\bin\java.exe

does not exist. Hence, the installer fails to launch and instead displays this error in the screenshot:

LaunchAnywhere launcher error

The root cause is the File version notation of java executable (java.exe) from Java 8 Update 60 has changed. For instance, the File version of java.exe for earlier versions of java 8 such as Java 8 Update 45 is the following:
8.0.45.15

Similarly, the File version of java.exe for Java 8 Update 51 is the following:
8.0.51.16

This has changed starting from Java 8 Update 60. The File version of java.exe for Java 8 Update 60 is the following:
8.0.600.27

Notice the third number is a 3 digit number (600) in case of Java 8 Update 60 whereas the same is a 2 digit number for earlier Java 8 updates.

The InstallAnywhere launcher code uses the java file version in order to determine and pick up a valid JVM path for the installer to use. The above change in the java file version is causing the launcher to fail and not use the valid JVM path.

Steps To Reproduce

Steps to Reproduce:

Install Java 8 Update 60 on a clean machine without any other copies of Java installed.
Create a Java 8 Update 60 VM Pack.
Create a project.
Add a Windows Build Target.
Configure the Windows Build Target to include a With VM installer for the created VM Pack and a Without VM installer.
Build the project.
Launch the With VM installer.
Launch the Without VM installer.

Expected Result:

Both the With VM installer and Without VM installer should launch successfully.

Actual Result:

The With VM installer launches successfully, but the Without VM installer fails to launch with the
following error message displayed instead:

Windows error 2 occured while loading the Java VM

Resolution

This issue has been reproduced and determined to be an issue with our software. A hotfix for this issue is available in the following Knowledge Base article: HOTFIX: InstallAnywhere HotFix for Windows Launchers

Workaround

1. Bundle a JVM with the installer.

2. Use the LAX_VM parameter when launching the installer from the command-line:

install.exe LAX_VM C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_60\bin\java.exe

where C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_60\bin is the absolute directory path to Java.

3. Reference a JVM Spec file in the Windows Build Target settings:

To use a JVM Spec file, please follow these steps:

A. Close the InstallAnywhere IDE.
B. Create a JVM Spec file for java 8.
C. Place the JVM Spec file in the resource/jvms/windows subdirectory of the InstallAnywhere installation directory.
D. Open the InstallAnywhere IDE.
E. Navigate to Build > Build Installers > Windows.
F. Under JVM Search Settings, click the Add button.
G. Select the appropriate jvm spec option.
H. Click the OK button.
I. Save the project.
J. Build the project.
K. Re-test this issue.

4. Remove the directory path C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath from the value of the PATH environment variable.

Additional Information

A sample jvm spec file has been attached, however, please note that this is just a sample and should be changed accordingly.

More information on jvm spec file can be found in here.

If you are using InstallAnywhere 2015 SP1 and are seeing the reported behavior, please see this knowledge-base article which can provide a resolution specific to InstallAnywhere 2015 SP1.

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