RePost - Windows Installer Hang

*Update*

Repost from Windows Update Group... Hoping for a little help with this. We
have been running the system with verbose logging and flushing enabed, and
have not been able to reproduce the issue.

*Original Description*

We are encountering an issue regarding the usage of Windows Installer. Our
system is Windows XP SP3 with updates applied. The version of Windows
Installer is 3.01.4002.5512.

We have an automated installer that processes msi files. The msis are
invoked via command line usage of msiexec using CreateProcess(). There is a
random issue where
msiexec is not exiting and is thus causing our installation processing
application to hang waiting for it to return.

Our application is creating an instance of msiexec via command line usage.
Using ProcessExplorer to do some diagnosis, there are also two additional
instances of msiexec being created outside of our application. So, there are
a total of three instances created. One is the instance we create ourself,
one is the Windows Installer service, and the third is a child instance
created by Windows Installer service.

The interesting thing is that the specific install/msi that is hanging...
If looking at the application event log there is an event that says the
installation was successful. However, if we inspect the log file that we are
creating for the msi, some of the entries in the log are missing towards the
end as if something is hanging in whatever instance of msiexec is
responsible for writing to the log file.

Our installation processing app is waiting for msiexec to return, so it can
continue to the next msi to be installed, but because the msiexec never
exits, our app hangs.

Are there any known issues with this version of Windows Installer that might
cause this issue?

Thank you.

You should post the last part of the log. I've not seen a hang like this, so
what do you have in the setup after the InstallFinalize action?
--
Phil Wilson
The Definitive Guide to Windows Installer
http://www.apress.com/book/view/1590592972

"AJ" <AJ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EF166AB2-8B8D-4C9E-877A-D67D5F2C47FC@microsoft.com...
> *Update*
>
> Repost from Windows Update Group... Hoping for a little help with this.
> We
> have been running the system with verbose logging and flushing enabed, and
> have not been able to reproduce the issue.
>
> *Original Description*
>
> We are encountering an issue regarding the usage of Windows Installer.
> Our
> system is Windows XP SP3 with updates applied. The version of Windows
> Installer is 3.01.4002.5512.
>
> We have an automated installer that processes msi files. The msis are
> invoked via command line usage of msiexec using CreateProcess(). There is
> a
> random issue where
> msiexec is not exiting and is thus causing our installation processing
> application to hang waiting for it to return.
>
> Our application is creating an instance of msiexec via command line usage.
> Using ProcessExplorer to do some diagnosis, there are also two additional
> instances of msiexec being created outside of our application. So, there
> are
> a total of three instances created. One is the instance we create
> ourself,
> one is the Windows Installer service, and the third is a child instance
> created by Windows Installer service.
>
> The interesting thing is that the specific install/msi that is hanging...
> If looking at the application event log there is an event that says the
> installation was successful. However, if we inspect the log file that we
> are
> creating for the msi, some of the entries in the log are missing towards
> the
> end as if something is hanging in whatever instance of msiexec is
> responsible for writing to the log file.
>
> Our installation processing app is waiting for msiexec to return, so it
> can
> continue to the next msi to be installed, but because the msiexec never
> exits, our app hangs.
>
> Are there any known issues with this version of Windows Installer that
> might
> cause this issue?
>
> Thank you.
>

Phil,

What is missing is basically the last few lines in the log file. Have a
look at the snippets below, but the "...Installation operation completed
successfully." and the "...Logging stopped..." are missing.

*Good*

....
Property(S): PackagecodeChanging = 1
Property(S): ProductState = -1
Property(S): PackageCode = {0256F341-6C68-4B8B-85BB-01AE7A27A20E}
MSI (s) (9C:B0) [12:53:52:406]: Product: MyProduct -- Installation operation
completed successfully.

=== Logging stopped: 4/21/2010 12:53:52 ===

*Bad*

....
Property(S): PackagecodeChanging = 1
Property(S): ProductState = -1
Property(S): PackageCode = {0256F341-6C68-4B8B-85BB-01AE7A27A20E}


Thank you for the help.

"Wilson, Phil" wrote:

> You should post the last part of the log. I've not seen a hang like this, so
> what do you have in the setup after the InstallFinalize action?
> --
> Phil Wilson
> The Definitive Guide to Windows Installer
> http://www.apress.com/book/view/1590592972
>
> "AJ" <AJ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:EF166AB2-8B8D-4C9E-877A-D67D5F2C47FC@microsoft.com...
> > *Update*
> >
> > Repost from Windows Update Group... Hoping for a little help with this.
> > We
> > have been running the system with verbose logging and flushing enabed, and
> > have not been able to reproduce the issue.
> >
> > *Original Description*
> >
> > We are encountering an issue regarding the usage of Windows Installer.
> > Our
> > system is Windows XP SP3 with updates applied. The version of Windows
> > Installer is 3.01.4002.5512.
> >
> > We have an automated installer that processes msi files. The msis are
> > invoked via command line usage of msiexec using CreateProcess(). There is
> > a
> > random issue where
> > msiexec is not exiting and is thus causing our installation processing
> > application to hang waiting for it to return.
> >
> > Our application is creating an instance of msiexec via command line usage.
> > Using ProcessExplorer to do some diagnosis, there are also two additional
> > instances of msiexec being created outside of our application. So, there
> > are
> > a total of three instances created. One is the instance we create
> > ourself,
> > one is the Windows Installer service, and the third is a child instance
> > created by Windows Installer service.
> >
> > The interesting thing is that the specific install/msi that is hanging...
> > If looking at the application event log there is an event that says the
> > installation was successful. However, if we inspect the log file that we
> > are
> > creating for the msi, some of the entries in the log are missing towards
> > the
> > end as if something is hanging in whatever instance of msiexec is
> > responsible for writing to the log file.
> >
> > Our installation processing app is waiting for msiexec to return, so it
> > can
> > continue to the next msi to be installed, but because the msiexec never
> > exits, our app hangs.
> >
> > Are there any known issues with this version of Windows Installer that
> > might
> > cause this issue?
> >
> > Thank you.
> >
>

What I mean is whether you have any custom actions after InstallFinalize,
whether you have RemoveExistingProducts after there because it's an upgrade.
InstallFinalize puts the entry in ARP, so it makes sense to see what actions
are there after it.
--
Phil Wilson
The Definitive Guide to Windows Installer
http://www.apress.com/book/view/1590592972

"AJ" <AJ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E95C9303-2210-4760-8A02-A2F93C520762@microsoft.com...
> Phil,
>
> What is missing is basically the last few lines in the log file. Have a
> look at the snippets below, but the "...Installation operation completed
> successfully." and the "...Logging stopped..." are missing.
>
> *Good*
>
> ...
> Property(S): PackagecodeChanging = 1
> Property(S): ProductState = -1
> Property(S): PackageCode = {0256F341-6C68-4B8B-85BB-01AE7A27A20E}
> MSI (s) (9C:B0) [12:53:52:406]: Product: MyProduct -- Installation
> operation
> completed successfully.
>
> === Logging stopped: 4/21/2010 12:53:52 ===
>
> *Bad*
>
> ...
> Property(S): PackagecodeChanging = 1
> Property(S): ProductState = -1
> Property(S): PackageCode = {0256F341-6C68-4B8B-85BB-01AE7A27A20E}
>
>
> Thank you for the help.
>
> "Wilson, Phil" wrote:
>
>> You should post the last part of the log. I've not seen a hang like this,
>> so
>> what do you have in the setup after the InstallFinalize action?
>> --
>> Phil Wilson
>> The Definitive Guide to Windows Installer
>> http://www.apress.com/book/view/1590592972
>>
>> "AJ" <AJ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:EF166AB2-8B8D-4C9E-877A-D67D5F2C47FC@microsoft.com...
>> > *Update*
>> >
>> > Repost from Windows Update Group... Hoping for a little help with
>> > this.
>> > We
>> > have been running the system with verbose logging and flushing enabed,
>> > and
>> > have not been able to reproduce the issue.
>> >
>> > *Original Description*
>> >
>> > We are encountering an issue regarding the usage of Windows Installer.
>> > Our
>> > system is Windows XP SP3 with updates applied. The version of Windows
>> > Installer is 3.01.4002.5512.
>> >
>> > We have an automated installer that processes msi files. The msis are
>> > invoked via command line usage of msiexec using CreateProcess(). There
>> > is
>> > a
>> > random issue where
>> > msiexec is not exiting and is thus causing our installation processing
>> > application to hang waiting for it to return.
>> >
>> > Our application is creating an instance of msiexec via command line
>> > usage.
>> > Using ProcessExplorer to do some diagnosis, there are also two
>> > additional
>> > instances of msiexec being created outside of our application. So,
>> > there
>> > are
>> > a total of three instances created. One is the instance we create
>> > ourself,
>> > one is the Windows Installer service, and the third is a child instance
>> > created by Windows Installer service.
>> >
>> > The interesting thing is that the specific install/msi that is
>> > hanging...
>> > If looking at the application event log there is an event that says the
>> > installation was successful. However, if we inspect the log file that
>> > we
>> > are
>> > creating for the msi, some of the entries in the log are missing
>> > towards
>> > the
>> > end as if something is hanging in whatever instance of msiexec is
>> > responsible for writing to the log file.
>> >
>> > Our installation processing app is waiting for msiexec to return, so it
>> > can
>> > continue to the next msi to be installed, but because the msiexec never
>> > exits, our app hangs.
>> >
>> > Are there any known issues with this version of Windows Installer that
>> > might
>> > cause this issue?
>> >
>> > Thank you.
>> >
>>