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I'm looking to add a log file to our installer. Is there something built in to either the CustomActions or Wix maybe?

I'd like to debug installer issues by viewing a log file and maybe writing progress and errors to that file.

learnerplates
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Windows Installer will create a log file if you want one, and that contains everything you're likely to need to know about the progress of the install. See the MsiLogging property and the command line msiexec options /l*vx

Unless there is something specific you think is missing from that log, it's not clear what else to say. If you have an issue with custom action logging, you can use MsiProcessMessage() or session.Message and equivalents to add your logging data to the standard MSI log. Note that a custom action is a call into your code from the running install, and you can log what you want to log, but custom actions can't monitor the entire install.

PhilDW
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  • FWIW I don't recommend the MsiLogging property. There's a bug in Windows 7 that crashes uninstall and restarts explorer.exe. – Christopher Painter Apr 15 '15 at 19:32
  • Is the only way to turn on the Logging through a commandline switch? Our clients want to double click the msi or the boostrap .exe! – learnerplates Apr 16 '15 at 08:13
  • The bootstrapper can use a logging command when it launches the MSI I believe, otherwise look at the MsiLogging property I mentioned https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370322(v=vs.85).aspx – PhilDW Apr 16 '15 at 16:52