Software Deployment

Hi all,

This is kind of related to another question I asked regarding code for detecting the application of a patch.

We have a little update utility that runs on Startup.  It looks for the need for a Windows Installer Major Upgrade by checking some versions in some .ini files.  If no upgrade is detected, it looks for and tries to apply any existing patch (.msp) file in the update share location.

The command line to call the patch is msiexec /qn /p "<path to>\MyPatch.msp".  Like I said, the utility runs on Startup so on one particular users XP systems, it seems are utility is running twice on startup.  A major upgrade is not needed so the patch is being fired.  It seems that Windows Installer is causing a reboot for what is listed as an unspecified reason in the Event Viewer.  We later determined from our log, which records the return code of the patch run as 1618, that another installation is in progress.  Why the reboot, we're still trying to determine.

Our typical log of the update process looks like this...

[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] ******************************************
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] My Application 8.0 Update Log Trace 3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM

[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Application Update INI Path: C:\ProgramData\MyApp\80\AppUpdate.ini
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Pre-8.2.1 PlugIn Path: C:\Users\John.Public\AppData\Roaming\MyApp\80\MyApp.ini
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Server Install Folder: \\WKST0622\MyAppUpdate\
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Installed Version: 8.7.542
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Server Update Folder: \\WKST####\MyAppUpdate\
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Server Update Version: 8.7.542
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Server MSI: ClientInstaller.msi
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Server Readme: Readme.rtf
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Server Avwin Version: 8.7.204
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Installed Avwin Version: 0.0.0
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Server AvwinPro Version: 8.7.204
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Installed AvwinPro Version: 0.0.0
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Enabled: 1
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] RetrieveServerPlugIns
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] RetrieveLocalPlugIns
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Start PlugIns Loop
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Checking if avwin viewer needs upgrading
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM]  Avwin is not currently installed.
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM]  AvwinPro is not currently installed.
[3/1/2013 4:37:26 PM] Running \\WKST####\MyAppUpdate\MyPatch.msp
[3/1/2013 4:37:57 PM]  Client Patch successfully or previously applied!
[3/1/2013 4:37:57 PM] ******************************************
[3/1/2013 4:37:57 PM] Log Trace ended 3/1/2013 4:37:57 PM

The log for this looping restart condition looks like this...

[2/27/2013 4:29:21 PM] ******************************************
[2/27/2013 4:29:21 PM] My Application 8.0 Update Log Trace 2/27/2013 4:29:21 PM

[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Application Update INI Path: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\MyApp\80\AppUpdate.ini
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Pre-8.2.1 PlugIn Path: C:\Documents and Settings\aderosia\Application Data\MyApp\80\MyApp.ini
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Server Install Folder: \\AS\MyAppUpdate\
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Installed Version: 8.7.542
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Server Update Folder: \\as\MyAppUpdate\
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Server Update Version: 8.7.542
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Server MSI: ClientInstaller.msi
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Server Readme: Readme.rtf
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Server Avwin Version: 8.7.204
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Installed Avwin Version: 8.7.204
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Server AvwinPro Version: 8.7.204
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Installed AvwinPro Version: 0.0.0
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] Enabled: 1
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] RetrieveServerPlugIns
[2/27/2013 4:29:30 PM] RetrieveLocalPlugIns
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM] Start PlugIns Loop
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM] Inside Loop
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM] PlugIn: PW  (Adt80PW.msi, {C7A1F888-7C5E-40F4-B450-547F292058C3}) to be INSTALLed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM]  Current version already installed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM] Inside Loop
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM] PlugIn: Outlook To MyApp (AP_OutlooktoMyApp.msi, {B4024489-BCFD-4D37-9786-4B90CE757A3A}) to be INSTALLed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM]  Current version already installed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM] Checking if avwin viewer needs upgrading
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM]  Current version already installed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM] No Viewer patch found in update location!
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM]  AvwinPro is not currently installed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:31 PM] Running \\as\MyAppUpdate\MyPatch.msp
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Application Update INI Path: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\MyApp\80\AppUpdate.ini
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Pre-8.2.1 PlugIn Path: C:\Documents and Settings\aderosia\Application Data\MyApp\80\MyApp.ini
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Server Install Folder: \\AS\MyAppUpdate\
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Installed Version: 8.7.542
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Server Update Folder: \\as\MyAppUpdate\
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Server Update Version: 8.7.542
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Server MSI: ClientInstaller.msi
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Server Readme: Readme.rtf
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Server Avwin Version: 8.7.204
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Installed Avwin Version: 8.7.204
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Server AvwinPro Version: 8.7.204
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Installed AvwinPro Version: 0.0.0
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Enabled: 1
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] RetrieveServerPlugIns
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] RetrieveLocalPlugIns
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Start PlugIns Loop
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Inside Loop
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] PlugIn: PW  (Adt80PW.msi, {C7A1F888-7C5E-40F4-B450-547F292058C3}) to be INSTALLed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM]  Current version already installed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Inside Loop
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] PlugIn: Outlook To MyApp (AP_OutlooktoMyApp.msi, {B4024489-BCFD-4D37-9786-4B90CE757A3A}) to be INSTALLed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM]  Current version already installed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Checking if avwin viewer needs upgrading
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM]  Current version already installed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] No Viewer patch found in update location!
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM]  AvwinPro is not currently installed.
[2/27/2013 4:29:33 PM] Running \\as\MyAppUpdate\MyPatch.msp
[2/27/2013 4:29:39 PM]  An error occurred while applying the Client patch: 1618!
[2/27/2013 4:29:39 PM]  Possible causes: Patch target not installed or patch no longer applicable.
[2/27/2013 4:29:39 PM] ******************************************
[2/27/2013 4:29:39 PM] Log Trace ended 2/27/2013 4:29:39 PM

The first log is just an example, but the second log is the actual log from the customers problematic run of the Startup update widget.  There are some additional PlugIn items in the second log, but unrelated.

If you notice in the later log, once the MyPatch from the first instance launches, it looks as though a second instance of the utility fires.  Why, I have no idea.  Then the system will reboot and continue in this loop until we disable the update mechanism at our Server app.

We checked the system's startup listings, which looked OK and I'm told there are no policies or scheduled logon tasks set to fire the update utility.

I wanted to ensure that two instances are firing so I removed the /qn from the command line so I can see the patch firing.  I would have expected the first patch to start, then another instance of the patch to fire and possibly display a message that another is alreay in progress, but guess what.  Everything seemed to work properly.  Only one patch process ran and there was no reboot and our update utility log appeared similar to that listed first above, normal.

So, I'm wondering if anyone could have any idea what is going on.  It seems that I have different behavior based on the command line options I pass to the patch run. ??

We can also run our update widget from a Program group shortcut and here, even with /qn for silence, everything runs properly.  I'm stumped on this one and don't know which way to turn next.

So, nothing seems to be in use at time of patch run that would cause a reboot because the manual start from the shortcut is fine.  If the Startup program runs, two instances of the utility and/or patch run and seemingly cause the restart.  If I remove the /qn and display the full patch interface, the Startup process works.

???  Anyone have any idea what else I can check.

If the user had some script in place to run a second instance of the update utility, the full UI patch would have been problamatic also I believe and that is not the case.

I'm stumped!