Software Deployment

check this site for complete information on self healing
http://johnmcfadyen.spaces.live.com/

The below link gives some additional information
https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/blogs/advertised-shortcut-info

having a good foundation is the key
have a look at my pointers

in addition read about the diff b/w advertised and non advertised shortcuts
what is an entry point
read about features / components etc
read about self repair and how it is triggered

you will get lots of info if you google
cheers

guys guys guys.. My question is... "When u run an advertised shortcut, who is responsible for checking the keypaths and everything?"

mitrokin mitrokin mitrokin - stop being lazy. The guys have posted some good links above, but you've obviously not bothered to look at John McFadyen's blog which discusses self-healing: http://johnmcfadyen.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!9DD01136FC094724!123.entry

i did check that ....
i read everything.

I tried this following experiment.
I created a msi and an advertised shortcut in it. i installed my app, Disabled msiexec service. Application still works. Now who would be performing the checks for keypaths.. this is my question left unclear even after reading the blogs

Now who would be performing the checks for keypaths
The short version; it is the Windows Installer service (msiserver).
The Windows Installer resiliency feature (self-healing) cannot check for broken components if the service is disabled meaning; no repair will/can occur. It will still be possible to start the application.

Angel. You are wrong. If u disable this service.And then u run the advertised shortcut, the application starts (Provided that nothing is broken). If something is broken repair is triggered but since the service is disabled, repair fails. But how does the system come to a decision that repair should be triggered.

Splitting hairs, rather, aren't we? The result is the same: if the service is disabled, the repa\ir doesn't happen.how does the system come to a decision that repair should be triggered.You answered your own question earlier. If a key path is missing, repair takes place. As for the actual mechanics, a session with ProcMon [have you seen this mentioned here before?] will show you the process. The various registry entries for the product's features and components are read and key paths checked for their presence.

If u disable this service.And then u run the advertised shortcut, the application starts (Provided that nothing is broken). If something is broken repair is triggered but since the service is disabled, repair fails. But how does the system come to a decision that repair should be triggered.

Well, one thing you should realise is that an advertised shortcut doesn't actually point to the exe that gets started (unlike a normal shortcut), but instead points to one that is stored in C:\Windows\Installer\<Guid>\

if I'm not mistaken this provides a link to a component (GUID) that is the starting point for Windows Installer's search for things that need repairing.

EDIT: and that's only the mechanism for shortcuts, there's similar mechanisms for file associations, dll's. Here the link to the component is provided by something called a Darwin Descriptor ( something to Google [;)] ) embedded into the registration

PJ

PJ: "if I'm not mistaken this provides a link to a component (GUID) that is the starting point for Windows Installer's search for things that need repairing."

Now my scenario is that all my keypaths are present and msiexec service is disabled. In this scenario the application launches.
NOw since the windows installer service is disabled. who will search for things that need repairing?

who will search for things that need repairing?Nothing. Unless that falls to you to do it manually! :)

How do you plan to install anything, after the service is disabled?

NOw since the windows installer service is disabled. who will search for things that need repairing?
It's done by different API calls (provided mostly by advapi32.dll & msi.dll) which isn't dependent on the service.

Thanks Angel thanks very much.. Thanks all

If you want to take it further then do a search for "MsiProvideQualifiedComponent".

ya iread bout this function call before . thanks

You'll be able to sleep OK tonight now? [;)]

I dunno, May be yes.. I tend to get haywire a lot of tymes...