Is it still a bad idea to rename your MSI files?

[Adam Langley-5]

We are currently considering a convention for file-naming, to assist in
tracking our numerous installers, and the many versions thereof.

I recall some time ago being told that renaming an MSI will break some
features - and also read this:

http://blogs.adobe.com/simplicity/2007/05/dont_rename_that_msi.html

 

Is this still the case, and how are other people handling naming in
these situations?

 

Thanks

Adam Langley

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[Blair-2]

Any MSI with any arbitrary ProductCode needs a stable name.

If you always use Major Upgrades, the names don't matter, and you won't have
any issues with your names.

If you employ minor upgrades or small updates, and you distribute those via
MSI instead of MSPs, you will probably need a bootstrapper, and many
bootstrappers will allow you to embed the MSIs, so you can rename the EXE
files instead of the MSI files.

If you distribute MSP files and not MSI files for your minor/small updates,
you aren't storing the MSIs anyway (except for the shipped one(s)) and names
won't matter their either.

-----Original Message-----
From: Adam Langley [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Monday, October 26, 2009 7:16 PM
To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset.
Subject: [WiX-users] Is it still a bad idea to rename your MSI files?

We are currently considering a convention for file-naming, to assist in
tracking our numerous installers, and the many versions thereof.

I recall some time ago being told that renaming an MSI will break some
features - and also read this:

http://blogs.adobe.com/simplicity/2007/05/dont_rename_that_msi.html

 

Is this still the case, and how are other people handling naming in
these situations?

 

Thanks

Adam Langley

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[Rob Mensching-7]

This blog entry still holds true:
http://blogs.msdn.com/robmen/archive/2004/12/08/278746.aspx

On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 8:02 PM, Blair <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Any MSI with any arbitrary ProductCode needs a stable name.
>
> If you always use Major Upgrades, the names don't matter, and you won't
> have
> any issues with your names.
>
> If you employ minor upgrades or small updates, and you distribute those via
> MSI instead of MSPs, you will probably need a bootstrapper, and many
> bootstrappers will allow you to embed the MSIs, so you can rename the EXE
> files instead of the MSI files.
>
> If you distribute MSP files and not MSI files for your minor/small updates,
> you aren't storing the MSIs anyway (except for the shipped one(s)) and
> names
> won't matter their either.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Adam Langley [mailto:[hidden email]]
> Sent: Monday, October 26, 2009 7:16 PM
> To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset.
> Subject: [WiX-users] Is it still a bad idea to rename your MSI files?
>
> We are currently considering a convention for file-naming, to assist in
> tracking our numerous installers, and the many versions thereof.
>
> I recall some time ago being told that renaming an MSI will break some
> features - and also read this:
>
> http://blogs.adobe.com/simplicity/2007/05/dont_rename_that_msi.html
>
>
>
> Is this still the case, and how are other people handling naming in
> these situations?
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
> Adam Langley
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> Come build with us! The BlackBerry(R) Developer Conference in SF, CA
> is the only developer event you need to attend this year. Jumpstart your
> developing skills, take BlackBerry mobile applications to market and stay
> ahead of the curve. Join us from November 9 - 12, 2009. Register now!
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/devconference
> _______________________________________________
> WiX-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Come build with us! The BlackBerry(R) Developer Conference in SF, CA
> is the only developer event you need to attend this year. Jumpstart your
> developing skills, take BlackBerry mobile applications to market and stay
> ahead of the curve. Join us from November 9 - 12, 2009. Register now!
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> _______________________________________________
> WiX-users mailing list
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>
>

--
virtually, Rob Mensching - http://RobMensching.com LLC
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[JonathanDBrandmeyer]

I was not subscribed before, and this message is in reply to
http://n2.nabble.com/Is-it-still-a-bad-idea-to-rename-your-MSI-files-td3
896724.html

I'm trudging down the path of wrapping my MSI's in EXE's that unpack the
MSI to a consistent filename, just to avoid this bug in Windows
Installer.  There are only about a bajillion rather skudgy-looking
websites purporting to offer MSI->EXE converter utilities based around
an SFX wrapper.  I'm currently looking at using the 7-Zip Sfx for
installers wrapper, mostly because it comes from a reliable source.
Still, the wrapper adds about 100k of extra space and an additional
decompression step.  Is there a minimal Sfx (or other means) that just
fixes this issue?

Thanks,

Jonathan Brandmeyer
New Product Service Engineer - Software
EATON Powering Business Worldwide
Power Quality Service Organization
http://www.powerware.com/


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