InstallAware

I am trying to install the SQL 2008 Native Client - which was working previously for the native client in 2005. Anyways, my line of code:

Define File Bag : #IADIR#\\runtimes\\sqlncli2008_x64\\*.*, get runtime location of files into variable SQLNCLIFILES2008_x64

Looks good - but I get an error when the setup is running to install the runtime: The system cannot find the path specified


The variable SQLNCLIFILES2008_X64 in the debugger shows the path resolving to C:\\Program Files (x86)\\InstallAware\\InstallAware 9\\Plug-Ins\\File Bag\\bagOf course, that is NOT where the runtime files is located. Can anyone tell me how to resolve this? I am unable to install any runtimes now. Very freaky.

=-Chris

Bump. Anyone? I'm going to uninstall / reinstall and see if that fixes the problem.

Ok, I uninstalled version 9 and reinstalled. Still the same problem.

Can anyone please help me out? I do not know if it matters or not, but I am running Windows Server 2008 R2 as a developers workstation.

=-Chris

Ok, I had to get this out the door, but I ended up putting the files LITERALLY in the C:\\Program Files (x86)\\InstallAware\\InstallAware 9\\Plug-Ins\\File Bag\\bag directory. I had to create the bag folder under the File Bag directory. I realize that something is completely wrong here.

I hope to hear from you forum folks tomorrow.

=-Chris

I noticed that I was unable to resolve #IADIR# or IADIR, or even $IADIR$. I plugged them into the watch window and they did not resolve to anything. Is this a bug in 9.06?

I'm about to get kicked in the nuts if I don't get this resolved. I am using Windows Server 2008 R2 as a development workstation.

I've build a new project from scratch, it will not even install the MSXML 4.0 SP2 runtime since it cannot resolve the #IADIR# directory properly - see above posts from me.

What should I do? Install IA 9 on Windows Vista or Windows 7?

=-Chris

You better off switching to another OS.
I had strange Script Load Error with Win server 2008 R2 x64 when tried to build project with .net 2.0 runtime. Reported it here but nobody responded.
Maybe Installaware just doesn't work well with x64 2008 R2 server.
When your car starts making funny noises, just turn radio volume up and problem solved.
It just seems to be installaware's policy to stay silent when problem like this comes.
If we don't see it maybe it will go away.

Ok, I got another development workstation (Windows 2008 x64) and I built a package successfully and it also installed MSXML 4.0 SP2 successfully.

Next, I added the VC runtimes, and guess what?

They installed just fine.

BUT!

You cannot (at least for me), it turns out, during DEBUG, see the #IADIR#\\runtimes folder be resolved to the variable "correctly" - (watch the variable) since it will point to the file bag folder automatically. Why this is the case, I don't know. So when the installer goes to "install" the msi package, such as for me the SQL Native Client 2008, it returns with an error "FILE NOT FOUND" - ARRGH!

Then it occurred to me that maybe there is something else wrong with my script for deploying SQL server. I am not having a problem deploying .NET runtimes - but then again I didnt' test that yet. I'll have to let you know.

How am I supposed to debug my scripts if I can't see the stuff get deployed during debugging? Anything that uses the FILE BAG plug in, simply will not install during debugging when I call the install MSI Package.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I am truly sorry for your frustration. Yes, with debug builds, File Bag will not be able to return the proper location for files. This is a known limitation with all plug-ins in debug mode - their source media access will not properly resolve with debug builds.

How to work around this? Use an uncompressed build layout. This will let you run setups inside the IDE even WITHOUT the debug build option set. And all media should resolve properly.

Thanks for the quick reply Michael.

I didn't think you could run the setup inside the IDE without debugging. So even with uncompressed mode, I cannot put a breakpoint / or watch variables correct since debugging cannot be enabled right?

Actually, you can.

The debug mode is primarily intended to make compressed setups debuggable inside the IDE.

That way, you can simulate downloading web media blocks etc. - if you have a need to.

Otherwise really, just running an uncompressed setup is the best way to go. It'll also save you significant time during builds too! Waiting for your files to compress over and over with compressed setups during development gets intolerable after a while, doesn't it?

Hell yeah! Just waiting for that compression to finish is torture. Just kidding - but it isn't fun.

Thanks.

I am running InstallAware 10 Studio Admin Trial, and when I try to build my package I get this error:

WARNING!

No files matching wildcard pattern #IADIR#\runtimes\net20sp2bin_x64\*.*

Debug mode checkbox is unchecked.
#IADIR# is pointing to C:\PROGRA~1\INSTAL~2\INSTAL~1

I verified that files exist inside C:\PROGRA~1\INSTAL~2\INSTAL~1\runtimes\net20sp2bin_x64
in fact they are:

net20sp2bin_x64.7zip and vista.7zip

Any suggestions on what I can do to fix this?

Please try clearing your %temp% folder and performing a restart.
If that doesn't work and you are still certain that there is a file in the pointed directory consider reinstalling InstallAware.