Installer with custom UI, then NSIS bootstrapper then upgrades

[PaulH-HBK]

Hi

We developed an MSI installer with a custom UI page. We then bundled this into a bootstrapper but this would not show the custom UI page when exposing the UI. The advice for this was to switch to an NsisBootstrapper which we did. Now while seeing the custom UI page, you don't seem to be able to set the BundleUpgradeCode for an NsisBootstrapper and thus it doesn't see any previous versions. This is tremendously frustrating as now the new installer appears as a separate entry in control panel rather than recognising the old version. Is there any way you can do this please?

[oleg-shilo]

I agree. It's extremely frustrating. The WiX bootstrapper does not show msi own UI unless it is a stock MSI UI.
This problem has existed in WiX3 since 2009. I logged it as a defect then. WiX team planned to fix it in WiX4. Now it's WiX5...

I cannot get the framework team to fix it. I gave up. You can try to log it with WiX project. Maybe you will have better luck.

When I gave up I created this work around. You can try it but likely it also creates multiple entries in ARP.

@TigranAnchorfree also contributed his wonderful binding for Nsis installer which eliminated the most painful experiences of Burn. Unfortunately, I am not familiar enough with NSIS to even tell you if it is possible to achieve what you are trying to do.
But if you can find that NSIS supports it then we can definitely adjust your solution for that.

[geghamyan]

The NSIS bootstrapper is a fire-and-forget bootstrapper. Unlike the Burn bootstrapper, it does not register itself in the system and lacks a BundleUpgradeCode. Instead, it simply executes the embedded MSI using msiexec.exe /i, relying entirely on the MSI to handle major upgrades. https://wixtoolset.org/docs/v3/howtos/updates/major_upgrade/

Suggestions:

• Validate MSI Upgrade Logic Without Bootstrapper. Try to run the MSI files directly (without embedding them in the NSIS bootstrapper) to confirm that the upgrade logic in the MSI is functioning correctly.
• Install version 1 of your MSI.
• Then, run version 2 to ensure it properly detects and upgrades the older version.
• Only the latest version should appear in the Control Panel after the upgrade.

All upgrade and versioning functionality must be handled within the MSI itself. Duplicate entries in the Control Panel are likely caused by improper configuration of the MSI for major upgrades.

I hope this helps!

Regards,
Tigran