msi in a Windows Service

[Fei]

Hi,

I got a strange problem. I use Macrovision installshield x express
edition to build a simple MSI file. I can install this mis silently, i.e
using /qn. It has no problem to run either in the command prompt or in a
windows application. However when I put the same code to run this msi in a
small windows service, it does NOTHING !!! It only starts the thread, but it
does not do installation.Why?

Here are codes:

Dim psi As New ProcessStartInfo
psi.WorkingDirectory = MY_WORKING_FOLDER
psi.FileName = MY_FILE_NAME
psi.Arguments = "/qn"
Dim p As New Process
p.StartInfo = psi
p.Start()

Thanks in advance.

fei

 

[Vadym Stetsyak]

Hi,

I got a strange problem. I use Macrovision installshield x express
edition to build a simple MSI file. I can install this mis silently, i.e
using /qn. It has no problem to run either in the command prompt or in a
windows application. However when I put the same code to run this msi in a
small windows service, it does NOTHING !!! It only starts the thread, but
it does not do installation.Why?

Here are codes:

Dim psi As New ProcessStartInfo
psi.WorkingDirectory = MY_WORKING_FOLDER
psi.FileName = MY_FILE_NAME
psi.Arguments = "/qn"
Dim p As New Process
p.StartInfo = psi
p.Start()

what's in the installer log?

to add logging - add following command-line parameter:

psi.Arguments = "/qn /l*v logFile.txt"

logFile.txt - will contain verbose log of the msiexec, where you can see
what is happening

 

[Greg Young]

My guess would be a security issue, your service is running in a completely
different security context.

Cheers,

Greg Young
MVP - C#
http://codebetter.com/blogs/gregyoung

 

[Fei]

I turn on the logging of Installer in OS. It doesn't generate any log files.
So my guess is that somehow install is never started although the process is
started.

 

[Fei]

This is my guess too. But I have no documents/links for this help. Please
let me know if you have any clues/documents/links about this security issue.

Thanks!

Fei