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I have a WiX project, and it installs some executables and libraries on a folder located at ProgramFiles.

The problem comes when running one of these executables. Some of them need to be executed as Administrator to do all the tasks it should do. If I right click on it, and run it as administrator, it works well. But I want WiX to elevate that permissions for my files by itself.

Is there any way?

I tried doing this:

<Package Id="$(var.GUID_Package)"
         InstallPrivileges="elevated"
         InstallScope="perMachine" ...>

And:

<Property Id="MSIUSEREALADMINDETECTION" Value="1" />

But these two options only work for the .msi package (not for the installed files).

NOTE: I think I didn't explain myself correctly... My problems came on permissions with my installed files. I couldn't execute them correctly because of permissions. When I run them as administrator, obviously, all permissions are correct for execution. So what I had to do was change that permissions for each file I had trouble with.

Sonhja
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3 Answers3

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This can't be fixed by anything you do in the installer.

If the exe is doing one-time setup, e.g. Modifying files/folders in the Prog files directory, consider moving that into the wix installer.

If it is something that is happening on every run, you will need to identify what it is doing and try and change so that it does it in a way that doesn't require elevation. If it's not possible you will be stuck with having to elevate I'm afraid. The only other way to help this is to set the local machine policy to automatically elevate for administrators.

caveman_dick
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  • The exe is modifying files on Prog files directory, but in the folder I created. And I need to keep my program installed at the ProgramFiles folder, so I need, in someway, to elevate run permissions for some files when I execute them. – Sonhja Mar 21 '13 at 17:20
  • The proper thing to do is to put your user-modifiable files in a user-controlled folder, not in Program Files. In Win7, that is C:\Users\\AppData\... . Other versions of Windows have their own user data locations. They're referrable by standard environment variable %APPDATA%, iirc. – DaveE Mar 21 '13 at 22:23
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You can go with option of converting your msi to exe and when user executes exe, it will prompt user to run as administrator.

I am using dontnetinstaller for same and it works perfect.

Sunil Agarwal
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For those who might be interested, I found a solution.

At first, I added at my .wxs project a reference to WixUtilExtension, that you can find at the WiX folder.

You can also add it as an external reference like this:

xmlns:util="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/UtilExtension"

After that, I could use locally PermissionEx:

   <File Id="$(var.productFamily)$(var.productSummary)"
      Name="$(var.productFamily)$(var.productSummary).exe"
      DiskId="1" KeyPath="yes"
      Source="$(var.release)$(var.productFamily)$(var.productSummary).exe" >
      <util:PermissionEx User="Everyone" GenericAll="yes" ChangePermission="yes" />
  </File>

And with that I could elevate their permissions.

Sonhja
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    This does not fix the problem. This just grants access to everyone to edit your executable, including deleting it. This defeats the purpose of the protection in the first place. (Note: I didn't give you the negative vote but I tend to agree with the person). – Rob Mensching Mar 21 '13 at 18:52
  • But actually it solves the problem. I had read/write permissions problems, and with that, I could read/write, and then execute it correctly. That was my problem, and it solved it. – Sonhja Mar 22 '13 at 08:22
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    Then, I expect most would argue your application is not designed to work on Windows Vista+. What you've done is opened your application up for hacking. Most corporate andmistrators would be unhappy. :) – Rob Mensching Mar 22 '13 at 14:01