Summary

Synopsis

Discussion

1. Verify that the application policy, publisher policy,machine policy, or security configuration file references the correct dependencies and that the dependencies are located in the appropriate probing paths. Publisher policy overrides application policy, machine policy overrides publisher policy, and enterprise policy overrides machine policy.
2. Verify that the assemblies are being installed correctly. See problem: The assembly will not install to the Global Assembly Cache (GAC).
3. Verify that COM Interop data is being registered correctly. See problem: Registry entries are not created after installing the assembly.
4. Verify that any Installer_Class methods that need to be called during installation are being called. See problem: Installer_Class methods within the assembly are not being executed.
5. When the application runs, assemblies in the GAC are verified for tampering prior to loading and executing the assembly. If an assembly has been tampered with, it will not be loaded successfully.

1. Verify the following information for the assembly:
   • The assembly must be strong named. Scroll down to the General Information on .NET Assemblies section under Additional Information for more information on what defines a strong-named assembly.
   • The user running the installation must have administrative privileges to install and uninstall.
2. After verifying this information, use Gobal Assembly Cache Tool to install the assembly and verify that this works. Use gacutil /i MyAssembly.dll to install the assembly. Verify that the assembly was installed with the Assembly Cache Viewer.
   1. If gacutil installs the file successfully, attempt the following:
   2. Open a new Basic MSI project.
   3. Add one feature and one component to that feature.
   4. In the component's File view, add your assembly.
   5. Right-click the assembly and select Set Key File.
   6. Select the component and set its Destination property to [Global Assembly Cache].
   7. Verify that the component's .NET Application File property is set to [GlobalAssemblyCache]\MyAssembly.dll.
   8. Set the component's .NET Scan at Build property to Properties Only or Dependencies and Properties.
   9. Build and run the release.
3. If the assembly does not install successfully with the sample project, use the same sample project created in the previous troubleshooting step and make the following modifications.
   1. Set the component's .NET Scan at Build property to None.
   2. Navigate to the Advanced Settings > Assembly view.
   3. Right-click the Assembly view and select New .Net Assembly.
   4. In the File Application field, select Global Assembly Cache.
   5. Enter the Value data for the assembly, e.g., Name, Version, Public Token Key.
   6. Rebuild and run the release.

1. Verify that the component is not marked as permanent.
   1. Open the InstallShield project.
   2. Navigate to the component that installs the assembly in the Components view.
   3. Select the Permanent property and set it to No.
   4. Build and run the release.
2. Verify that there is no assembly reference count.
   1. Use gacutil /lr, which will list the assemblies and their corresponding reference counts.
   2. Use gacutil /ur to remove the reference to a specific assembly.

1. Verify that the guidelines have been followed in Updating Assemblies.
2. The assembly may have been installed to the GAC by a per-machine installation. These assemblies are protected by Windows File Protection. Note that assemblies installed to the GAC by a per-user installation are not protected by Windows File Protection.
3. When an assembly is installed to the GAC, the installer does not use the same file version rules it uses when installing regular Windows Installer components. Assemblies can exist only once in the assembly cache, and the files comprising an assembly are always installed or removed together. However, more than one version of the same file can exist side by side.

1. .NET Assemblies do not use the registry so assemblies themselves are not registered. However, there are some registry keys used by Windows Installer. See Assembly Registry Key Written by the Windows Installer.
2. If the application needs to interoperate with COM, set the COM Interop property.
   1. Open the InstallShield project.
   2. Navigate to the component that installs the assembly in the Components view.
   3. Select the .NET COM Interop component property and set it to Yes.
   4. Build and run the release.
3. The application may need to interoperate with COM, and it is possible that there is a type library (.tlb) that needs to be imported into the assembly. Use Tlbimp.exe to add COM type data to the assembly. Always use Primary Interop Assemblies (PIA) when available. A PIA is a assembly signed by the same company that produced that original type library. This ensures type compatibility between applications that share the types in the PIA. Types are imported for you and are ready to activate and call from managed code. If the assembly is signed by another company, then it's an alternate interop assembly.
4. If COM Interop registry entries still are not being created, use Regasm.exe. Once they are created successfully with Regasm.exe, try the InstallShield project again.

1. Set the .NET Installer Class property.
   1. Open the InstallShield project.
   2. Navigate to the component that installs the assembly in the Components view.
   3. Select the .NET Installer Class component property and set it to Yes.
   4. Build and run the release.
2. If the Installer Class methods are still not invoked, verify that the RunInstallerAttribute.RunInstaller Property is set to True within the Installer code of the assembly.
3. Use InstallUtil.exe to verify that the Installer class methods work when invoked. Once it works with this tool, try the InstallShield project again.

Additional Information

• Are Installed within the same directory structure as the application (.exe).
• Private assemblies cannot be installed to the GAC.
• Are referenced by the simple name to find the assembly.

• Simple text name
• Version number
• Culture information
• Public key
• Digital signature