Wix 5.0.2: Upgrade fails to remove previous version of application - failed to elevate.

[kerrywicks]

This seems to be related to the issue under discussion here: https://github.com/orgs/wixtoolset/discussions/8818#discussioncomment-11628654. I'm opening up a new discussion, as it was beginning to feel like my issue was slightly different from the other issue.

Major upgrades are being detected properly, and the correct paths are being followed. However, once the installer gets into the stage of needing to uninstall the previous version, the silent installer fails because the process cannot be elevated. I then need to manually run the old installer to fully remove the old version from ARP, as I end up in a state with 2 entries in there.

I've trawled over the example code at https://github.com/wixtoolset/wix/tree/HEAD/src/test/burn/WixToolset.WixBA, and I'm completely stumped. I'm not sure if I need to open up an issue about this, or if it's just me doing something wrong.

I've attempted various things to make sure I'm getting the correct window handle, though this is making no difference. This seems to be an issue with the out of proc changes when the installer is called as part of an upgrade or via ARP.

Has anyone else encountered this, or have any ideas on what I can try next? I've attached a couple of log files - 1 showing the upgrade process, and another showing the uninstall called via the upgrade process failing.

Designer_100_Upgrade.log
Designer_100_Uninstall_Previous_Version.log

[bevanweiss]

If you believe there is a bug in the WiX handling, then you would really need to create an E2E test (in line with existing E2E tests within the WiX repository) that shows this bug occurring.
There's potentially (likely) some gaps in the current E2E tests around certain more niche operations of combined upgrade and elevation.

You should probably start by producing the minimum reproducible example of your issue. If you base the bundle and package on those already existing within the E2E tests (https://github.com/wixtoolset/wix/tree/main/src/test/burn/TestData) that's probably the easiest to then convert it into an E2E test for inclusion.

[kerrywicks]

At the moment, I'm not 100% sure that there is a bug in the wix handling - and admittedly, I'm struggling finding my way through such a large code base and figuring out unit tests for an ARP scenario. While I'm happy to try and take a look at the source code and give a unit test a crack if I find a spare moment, I would appreciate someone maybe pointing me in the right direction for where to even start? i.e. is there a specific method that deals with elevating the calling pipe referenced in the log files, for example?

[robmen]

Error messages are your breadcrumbs. Start by searching for the error message, or rather the part of the error message that is generic. Often, you'll find the message is associated with an "error identifier" (sometimes an internal error id, sometimes an internal error method). Use that "error identifier" to find where in the code the error happens. 99% of the time, you are 1 to 3 lines from the code that returned the error message. Then the investigation really starts.

Alternatively, I'm contractually obligated to note 😜, you can offload the root cause investigation to FireGiant with a support contract. These sorts of cases when you don't have (or want to spend) "a spare moment" to track down the problem (whether in your code or WiX) are one of the key reasons we offer support at FireGiant. I can confidently say that FireGiant makes teams way more efficient with our deep expertise in setup (generally) and WiX (specifically). It's a matter of trading your time for money (which pays for FireGiant time).

[wmanning]

@kerrywicks @MatthiasRInst dug into the code and commented in the link in your original post. I just added a comment to that discussion.

Also seems like you are missing a log file. There should be an elevated log file as well (to Designer_100_Uninstall_Previous_Version.log).

[kerrywicks]

Ah! I don't have that log file any more - it was very similar to the elevated log file posted here though: https://github.com/orgs/wixtoolset/discussions/8818