WIX (remove all previous versions)

Question

Under "Add or remove programs" i can see five versions:

- ApplicationName v3.0.4.0
- ApplicationName v3.0.4.18
- ApplicationName v3.0.5.27
- ApplicationName v3.0.5.28
- ApplicationName v3.0.5.29

when trying to install ApplicationName v3.0.5.30 all previous versions are NOT deleted. Versions that stays are:

- ApplicationName v3.0.4.0
- ApplicationName v3.0.4.18

I already read all about on How to implement WiX installer upgrade?

Code that i use is:

<Product Id="*"
   UpgradeCode="$(var.UpgradeCode)"
   Version="$(var.Version)"
   Language="1033"
   Name="$(var.ProductDisplayName) (v$(var.Version))"
   Manufacturer="Unknown">
<Package InstallerVersion="380" Compressed="yes"/>
<Media Id="1" Cabinet="IileServer.cab" EmbedCab="yes" />

<Property Id="PREVIOUSVERSIONSINSTALLED" Secure="yes" />
<Upgrade Id="$(var.UpgradeCode)">
  <UpgradeVersion
  Minimum="0.0.0.0" Maximum="99.0.0.0"
  Property="PREVIOUSVERSIONSINSTALLED"
  IncludeMinimum="yes" IncludeMaximum="no" />
</Upgrade>

<InstallExecuteSequence>
  <RemoveExistingProducts Before="InstallInitialize" />
</InstallExecuteSequence> 

What i am doing wrong?

I also tryed to build version v3.0.6.0 and after install i got the same result.

Versions v3.0.5.X was removed
Versions v3.0.4.X was not uninstalled

UpgradeCode is the same for all versions, i looked with Orca image

Last UpgradeCode on image is for version 3.0.6.0

Answer 1

Ignoring Digits: Extract from the MSI SDK documentation for the ProductVersion property:

"Note that Windows Installer uses only the first three fields of the product version. If you include a fourth field in your product version, the installer ignores the fourth field...At least one of the three fields of ProductVersion must change for an upgrade using the Upgrade table."

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In order to get rid of installations in the wild, there are a few approaches.

Uninstall By Product Code: I would just get a list of product codes and uninstall corporate-wide if you are delivering an in-house application: How can I find the product GUID of an installed MSI setup? The list of product codes you assemble can then be passed to msiexec.exe /x {productcode} as explained in section 3 here. Just a simple batch file. Or you can try WMI, or one of the other approaches.

Uninstall By Upgrade Code: You can check if all your setup versions share the same upgrade code by using the code from here: How can I find the Upgrade Code for an installed MSI file? (they probably do). There is even a VBScript version here. Throwing in a link to an answer where I link to several other ways to uninstall, such as by uninstalling all setups that share the same upgrade code. And a direct link to actual code to do so (uninstall by upgrade code).

Uninstall By Product Name: You can uninstall by product name matching as well. Some samples here (VBScript): Is there an alternative to GUID when using msiexec to uninstall an application?. And here is a .NET DTF uninstall function: Uninstalling program (distinctively simplistic, needs tweaking for real-world use).

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Some Links:

• Wix MajorUpgrade will not detect last position of product version
• http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2010/08/wix-users-exceeding-version-limits.html (here be exotic workaround)
• Powershell: Uninstall application by UpgradeCode
• Wix MajorUpgrade problems (the AllowSameVersionUpgrades WiX concept)