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How to Interpret Windows Installer Logs

 If you have a problem with the Windows Installer or an MSI package you're installing, it's a sure bet that you will be told by some smart person to "enable logging".

That's great advice, except ... what do you do with the log once you get it?  Well, find out by popping over to my blog, where I walk through the contents of a typical Installer Log:

 

How to Interpret Windows Installer Logs

 

 

[Author: Richard Macdonald]          

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm.

Published Tuesday, April 03, 2007 7:23 AM by Windows Installer Team
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Comments

# Link to article describing how to interpret Windows Installer log files

Wednesday, April 04, 2007 11:14 PM by Aaron Stebner's WebLog

I often get asked questions about how to read, interpret and find error information in verbose Windows

# re: How to Interpret Windows Installer Logs

Thursday, April 19, 2007 2:40 PM by The HAB Group

Where can I find a list of default MSI Registry keys?

# re: How to Interpret Windows Installer Logs

Wednesday, May 02, 2007 11:26 AM by Installer-Hoschi

The information about "How... InstallerLogs" is very helpfully.   But, where i can find information about the retunrncodes in the logfile?  as example in  the following line, i've create a envrionment value (MSI was created by WISE)

"MSI (s) (CC:30) [17:21:54:359]: Executing op: UpdateEnvironmentStrings(Name=Environment_SchnellStart,,Delimiter=[~],Action=1,)"

The Action have the Value 1. Iv i change the installation mode, eg: the einvironment is aviable on system, the value Action change to 536870913.

An other example by creating INI Files.

Executing op: IniWriteRemoveValue(Section=SHARES,Key=DevApps,Value=\\hcwe91,Mode=0)

The Mode have the value 0

where can I find out or reread which this worth to mean?

Regards Hoschi

# re: How to Interpret Windows Installer Logs

Wednesday, May 09, 2007 5:04 AM by Windows Installer Team

"Where can I find a list of default MSI Registry keys?"

"where i can find information about the retunrncodes in the logfile?"

Unfortunately, these things are not documented.  it wasn't the purpose of this blog post to explain every possible thing you could see in an Installer log, just to highlight the common information.  Some of these are a bit too detailed for this discussion.

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