Summary
Sometimes an MSI won't install despite the fact that privileges have been elevated and regardless of the deployment mechanism that is being used.
You have tried to package a MSI several different ways, including elevating privileges and deploying the package in the machine and user context but the install still fails.
A review of the launcher log file may show MSI return codes such as:
- 1603 - Fatal error during installation.
- 1605 - This action is only valid for products that are currently installed.
- 1619 - This installation package could not be opened. Verify that the package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer package.
This may be caused because the MSI has not been appropriately authored for packaging. To confirm if this is the case do the following:
- Open up the MSI in an MSI viewing tool.
- View the LaunchCondition table.
Does the table contain any rows with the following condition:- AdminUser OR ACTION~="ADMIN"
- (VersionNT AND AdminUser=1) or (Version9x)
- Version9X > 400 OR AdminUser
- Version9X > 400 OR VersionNT >= 400
- The LaunchCondition table for the description cell may also conain the following messages which indicate the MSI may not install:
- You must be logged in as an administrator to work with this installation program.
- This version of <software product> is designed for Windows NT 4.0 or later and cannot be installed on Windows NT 3.51 or Windows 95.
This problem may be resolved by:
- Contacting the supplier of the package and asking them to make an MSI available that doesn't have such conditions.
- Backing up a copy of the old MSI and creating a new MSI that changes the LaunchCondition table so that the MSI will install.
Additional Information
For more information on the MSI LaunchCondition table see the following:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa369752(v=vs.85).aspx
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