EDIT: Perhaps look at the answer currently immediately below. This topic has been a headache for long time. I finally figured it out. There are some solutions online, but none of them really works. And of course there is no documentation. So in the chart below there are several properties that are suggested to use … Read more
Deferred custom actions can not directly access installer properties (reference). In fact, only CustomActionData property session.CustomActionData and other methods and properties listed here are available on the session object. Therefore, for a deferred custom action to retrieve a property such as the INSTALLLOCATION, you have to use a type 51 custom action — i.e. a … Read more
Use RemoveFile element with On=”uninstall“. Here’s an example: <Directory Id=”CommonAppDataFolder” Name=”CommonAppDataFolder”> <Directory Id=”MyAppFolder” Name=”My”> <Component Id=”MyAppFolder” Guid=”*”> <CreateFolder /> <RemoveFile Id=”PurgeAppFolder” Name=”*.*” On=”uninstall” /> </Component> </Directory> </Directory> Update It didn’t work 100%. It removed the files, however none of the additional directories – the ones created after the installation – were removed. Any thoughts on … Read more
This is a common question. I don’t do it with just a custom action. The only way I know, is to modify the .msi after it has been generated. I run a Javascript script as a post-build event to do exactly that. It inserts a new dialog in the installer wizard, with a checkbox that … Read more
Core: Essentially custom actions are complex to get right because of complexity arising from: Sequencing-, Conditioning- (when it runs – in what installation mode: install, repair, modify, uninstall, etc…) and Impersonation-issues (security context it runs in). It results in overall poor debugability – very hard hard work to test in all permutations. Application Launch: Solution? … Read more