InstallSite Blog

New Advanced Installer 6.4 brings support for transactions in SQL scripts and 64-bit Java

On June 16th, 2008 Caphyon Ltd. announced the latest edition of its Windows Installer authoring tool. The new Advanced Installer enables developers and system administrators to easily build and repackage complex applications into reliable, ready to deploy MSI and EXE installers, patches and on-line updates.

The 6.4 version adds full transaction support for SQL scripts and the ability to automatically discover and display Microsoft SQL Servers available on the network at install time.

Collaboration of multiple developers on different computers is even easier with the addition of custom, per-machine configurable project path Variables. A friendly wizard automates the conversion process.

Full 64-bit support for Java programs is provided with a native 64-bit version of the Java launcher which can load your application into a discovered (or optionally bundled) 64-bit Java Runtime Environment.

Other improvements in this version:

• Full transaction support for running SQL Scripts
• Auto-discovery and browse of MS SQL Servers available on the network at install
• Ability to use custom, configurable Variables in project paths
• Wizard for auto-conversion of project paths to Path Variables
• Smart cabbing eliminates duplication of content from cabinets
• Native 64-bit version of Java launcher
• Optional 64-bit JRE bundle
• Native Unicode version of EXE bootstrapper
• Synchronizing information extracted from a COM files

Advanced Installer is available in four editions, starting with the Freeware community edition and offering a 30-day trial period for the other editions.

For more information about Advanced Installer please see:
www.installsite.biz/advancedinstaller.htm

(Text based on a press release from Caphyon Ltd.)

Service Pack 1 for InstallShield 2009 available [Update]

Only two weeks after the inital release of InstallShield 2009 Acresso published a service pack. The main purpose of SP1 is to add support for the release version of Windows Installer 4.5. The inital release only supported MSI 4.5 Beta 2.

SP1 also fixes some issues that had been reported shortly after the initial release.

SP1 for InstallShield 2009 Premier and Professional is currently available only in English. The German and Japanese versions will be released later.
[Update 2008-06-27] SP1 for InstallShield 2009 Premier and Professional is now available in English, German and Japanese. [/Update]

You can obtain SP1 either using InstallShield's update functionality or from the knowledge base article below:

• Q200241: InstallShield 2009 Service Pack 1 (download SP1)
• Q200150: InstallShield 2009/InstallShield 2009 SP1 Release Notes (lists the issues fixed in SP1)

ScriptLogic released MSI Studio for SCCM, supporting WiX format

One more TechEd announcement (actually it's already 10 days old but I haven't had the chance to post it yet):

On June 10, 2008 ScriptLogic® Corporation, a leading provider of systems lifecycle management solutions for Microsoft® Windows®-based networks, announced the availability of MSI Studio for Systems Center Configuration Manager.

MSI Studio for Systems Center Configuration Manager features enhancements to allow administrators to exchange information with other MSI utilities and users. The solution now includes support for importing and exporting MSI packages in the WIX format, an industry standard XML file format that was developed by Microsoft and is now widely used in the open source software community, as well as support for Windows Server® 2008. Additionally, a new stand-alone Run Wizard helps IT administrators ensure successful installs by creating MSI command lines that apply the correct transforms and options.

MSI Studio for Systems Center Configuration Manager is the latest addition to ScriptLogic’s MSI Studio product line, which includes Standard and Professional versions. The product combines package capture, re-packaging of existing installers, an intuitive MSI editor and improved MSI property support.

Desktop Authority MSI Studio originates from the product MaSaI Installer which was acquired by ScriptLogic Corp. in December 2005.

• Press release
• MSI Studio web site

(This article is based on a press release from ScriptLogic)

InstallShield 2009 Upgrade Caveats

There are many great new features, improvements and bug fixes in InstallShield 2009, as detailed in the release notes. But if you consider upgrading to the new version you also should be aware of some changes that might be a problem for your projects. I'd like to highlight the following issues, but please also review knowledge base article Q200151.

Stand Alone Build engine (SAB) is only available for owners of the Premier edition. It was removed from the Professional edition with the release of InstallShield 12, but users upgrading from InstallShield Professional 10.x or 11.x which included the SAB could get the current version free of charge. With InstallShield 2009 this is no longer possible. If you need the Stand Alone Build you must buy Premier.

FLEXnet Connect (formerly InstallShield Update Service) support is only available in MSI projects. If you are using pure InstallScript projects you can no longer add this update notification tool to your setup. For InstallScript MSI it is still available but some script functions related to FLEXnet Connect have been removed. For Basic MSI projects FLEXnet Connect continues to be supported as usual. (FLEXnet Connect is an add-on to InstallShield that is charged separately.)

For more information:

• Q200151: Upgrading Projects to InstallShield 2009
• InstallShield 2009 EULA (PDF)
• Q200150: InstallShield 2009 Release Notes

InstEd 1.5.2.3 released

InstEd is a freeware MSI editor, formerly known as appEditor. The new release adds back/forward navigation, huge performance improvements, Windows Installer 4.5 support and several other enhancements and fixes.

• InstEd 1.5.2.3 release notes
• InstEd download

InstallShield 2009 released

Here's another TechEd announcement:

InstallShield 2009 is available

InstallShield 2009 - which is internally version 15.0 - is the first InstallShield release under the new company name Acresso. New features in this version include:

• Managed Code Custom Actions - now you can write your custom actions in .NET languages like C#
• Multiple Instance Installs - let users install multiple copies of your product side by side
• Installation Chaining - use the new multi-package transaction support in MSI 4.5
• Setup Prerequisites based on feature selection
• Visual Studio 2008 support
• New and improved MSI tools
• MSI 4.5 Support (based on the beta version of MSI 4.5)
• Hebrew and Arabic language support (in Premier Edition only)
• Value Added Service - you can (optionally) install the Yahoo! Toolbar with your setup, which might be useful if your product is ad-funded.

A remark about the "Value Added Services": Please consider carefully if you really want to install things like the Yahoo! Toolbar with your software. Your customers may not appreciate it. Personally, I get annoyed if a program tries to install unrelated software or browser add-ons. On the other hand, you'd be in the company of Adobe (Adobe Reader wants to install Google Toolbar) and Apple (QuickTime wants to install iTunes, and iTunes wants to install Safari during update). InstallShield expert Christopher Painter seems to have similar objections.

Fortunately, you don't have to use the Value Added Services (they are opt-in), and there are plenty other new features that make InstallShield 2009 a very interesting release.

InstallShield 2009 Premier and Professional are available today in English, German and Japanese. The Express edition is on a different release schedule and stays at version 2008.

• More information at Acresso.com
• Buy InstallShield from the InstallSite Shop

MSI 4.5 Released

[updated 2008-06-04 with additional links]

Today TechEd North America started, and many companies use TechEd to announce new products and releases. So here's the first announcement that caught my attention:

Windows Installer 4.5 has been released

Version 4.5 of the MSI engine brings new features such as

• Multi-Package Transactions that enable developers to seamlessly chain multiple Windows Installer packages
• Embedded Custom UI, so a setup.exe launcher is no longer required as had been the case with the "external UI" functionality
• Patch Uninstall Custom Actions

and several other enhancements.

While MSI 4.0 was only available for (and as part of) Windows Vista, the MSI 4.5 runtime can be redistributed to Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1, or above.

More information:

• Windows Installer 4.5 is now available! (Windows Installer Team Blog)
• What's New in Windows Installer 4.5 (MSDN documentation)
• Windows Installer 4.5 SDK
• Windows Installer 4.5 Redistributable
• Windows Installer 4.5 is available (Microsoft Knowledge Base article 942288)

VMware Update fixes Security Vulnerabilities

On May 30 VMware Inc. announced updates to VMware Workstation, VMware Player, VMware ACE and VMware Fusion to resolve critical security issues.

A heap buffer overflow could allow a process to break out of the guest VM and execute code on the host. In the Windows versions there's an additional vulnerability in the VMCI component.

The vulnerability affects Windows and Linux versions of VMware Workstation 6 and VMware Player 2.x, the Windows version of VMware ACE 2.x and VMware Fusion 1.x for Mac OS/X.

Additional details and download information:

• Security announcement from VMware