We use the downgrade / AMUS pattern a lot at my day job. Not every installer ( as Blair points out ) but if it's a basic application that is privately deployed with no overlapping footprints, we do it. Most of these installers are relatively small so repair isn't a concern. The primary reason we do it is that it's easier from an operations perspective if you want to perform a backout. It's easier to deactivate the newer advertisement and reactivate the older advertisement without having to promote any additional changes or first do an uninstall.
In other words, it's OK to break the rules as long as you know you are doing it and completely understand the consequences. ---------------------------------------- From: "Blair Murri" <os...@live.com> Sent: Friday, August 02, 2013 11:19 PM To: "General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset." <wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net> Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Adding Downgrade support to MSI The primary problem with amus is when it is used with anything shared (e.g. the VC merge modules). A secondary problem exists with large MSIs where it causes repairs (and patches) to take longer to run, or where custom actions that use component states are needlessly rerun in patches and repairs. The point is that you need to be certain of every possible contingency and every single scenario, including knowing what scenarios you must exclude from future versions of your product. > From: surya6...@hotmail.com > To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net > Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2013 09:00:17 +0530 > Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Adding Downgrade support to MSI > > No, the binaries are specific to a product only and will never be distributed by any other product. > > > From: os...@live.com > > To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2013 20:05:21 -0700 > > Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Adding Downgrade support to MSI > > > > Are/will any of the binaries you distribute in this product (or ever intend to distribute) ever [be] distributed by any other product? > > > > > From: surya6...@hotmail.com > > > To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > > Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2013 04:39:26 +0530 > > > Subject: [WiX-users] Adding Downgrade support to MSI > > > > > > Hi, > > > I have been trying to add "Downgrade" support to our MSI. I know Uninstall/Re-install is preferred over this, but this is needed for automated deployments and is specially helpful for our zero-downtime product upgrades across multiple machines. So the requirement is that any version can be installed over any other version which is different. > > > I am using the AllowDowngrades="yes" option with MajorUpgrade element i.e.<Product Id="*" ..... UpgradeCode="<GUID>" > > > > <MajorUpgrade Schedule="afterInstallInitialize" AllowDowngrades="yes" /> > > > However, I see a few issues while testing downgrade (say installing v1.9 while 2.0 is already installed) - > > > 1. Our wxs file contains one file per component, however all the components are skipped during the installation of v1.9.2. As a result, Custom action execution fails with this error - > > > The File 'File_xxxx' is not marked for installation.MSI (s) (A4:E4) [15:45:47:544]: The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2753. The arguments are: File_xxxx, , > > > I would like to know possible ways to solve this problem.Please note that versions of all our files will change across releases. > > > P.S - I read about using REINSTALLMODE=amus to force reinstallation of all files. I also saw comments saying that this is okay for dev testing and is NOT RECOMMENDED for production systems. > > > Regards,Surya > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > > > Get your SQL database under version control now! > > > Version control is standard for application code, but databases havent > > > caught up. So what steps can you take to put your SQL databases under > > > version control? Why should you start doing it? Read more to find out. > > > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=49501711&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk > > > _______________________________________________ > > > WiX-users mailing list > > > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > > Get your SQL database under version control now! > > Version control is standard for application code, but databases havent > > caught up. So what steps can you take to put your SQL databases under > > version control? Why should you start doing it? Read more to find out. > > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=49501711&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk > > _______________________________________________ > > WiX-users mailing list > > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > Get your SQL database under version control now! > Version control is standard for application code, but databases havent > caught up. So what steps can you take to put your SQL databases under > version control? Why should you start doing it? Read more to find out. > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=49501711&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Get your SQL database under version control now! Version control is standard for application code, but databases havent caught up. So what steps can you take to put your SQL databases under version control? Why should you start doing it? Read more to find out. http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=49501711&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get your SQL database under version control now! Version control is standard for application code, but databases havent caught up. So what steps can you take to put your SQL databases under version control? Why should you start doing it? Read more to find out. http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=49501711&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
