Thread: Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0

Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0

From
Tony Caduto
Date:
Hi,
I installed beta 2 a couple of months ago, and today I installed RC 5
and it seems there is no way to tell the installer where to actually
install, so I could not re use my data cluster from the beta 2(with out
renaming the directory to the same name as what the installer would
install).

I am not sure it this is a limitation of the MSI installer or it was
just overlooked.

Also why do all the PG projects insist on using M$ installer
technology?  A better choice would be Inno Setup at
http://www.jrsoftware.org.  It's a ton easier to use and would be a
better choice than msi.


Re: Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0

From
Tzahi Fadida
Date:
I had this problem too, I am not sure why it happens.
I am just guessing but I think its because of XP sp2.
If you want to use the latest ms installer, at least at this point,
you must install sp2.
Anyway, what I did is something very funny. I opened the pg installer
many times and then opened the task manager and started randomly
closing msi processes and somehow the installation continues and
opens the next frame and you can continue the install.

Regards,
    tzahi.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org
> [mailto:pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of Tony Caduto
> Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 1:52 AM
> To: pgsql-general@postgresql.org
> Subject: [GENERAL] Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0
>
>
> Hi,
> I installed beta 2 a couple of months ago, and today I installed RC 5
> and it seems there is no way to tell the installer where to actually
> install, so I could not re use my data cluster from the beta
> 2(with out
> renaming the directory to the same name as what the installer would
> install).
>
> I am not sure it this is a limitation of the MSI installer or it was
> just overlooked.
>
> Also why do all the PG projects insist on using M$ installer
> technology?  A better choice would be Inno Setup at
> http://www.jrsoftware.org.  It's a ton easier to use and would be a
> better choice than msi.
>
>
> ---------------------------(end of
> broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster
>
>



Re: Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0

From
"Magnus Hagander"
Date:
> Hi,
> I installed beta 2 a couple of months ago, and today I
> installed RC 5 and it seems there is no way to tell the
> installer where to actually install, so I could not re use my
> data cluster from the beta 2(with out renaming the directory
> to the same name as what the installer would install).
>
> I am not sure it this is a limitation of the MSI installer or
> it was just overlooked.

The releasenotes clearly state that you need to do a dump/reload if you
are upgrading from a version prior to beta5.

As for telling it where to install, please see the FAQ. It is certainly
possible, and always has been. Only the default has changed.


> Also why do all the PG projects insist on using M$ installer
> technology?  A better choice would be Inno Setup at
> http://www.jrsoftware.org.  It's a ton easier to use and
> would be a better choice than msi.

You are clearly not administering a large environment... In such an
environment, you generally do not prefer innosetup or any other
homebrewn setup. MSIs support for shared components, rollbacks,
uninstallations, plugin into management systems etc is a clear win
there.
(And I, and a lot of ppl I've spoken to, certainly prefer MSI by far for
my personal machine as well)

In what way would this be easier to use and a better choice than MSI?

//Magnus

Re: Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0

From
"Magnus Hagander"
Date:
If you o this, don't expect your installation to work later. There is a
reason for the safeguards in the system.

//Magnus

> -----Original Message-----
> From: pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org
> [mailto:pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of Tzahi Fadida
> Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 1:35 AM
> To: tony.caduto@amsoftwaredesign.com; pgsql-general@postgresql.org
> Subject: Re: [GENERAL] Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0
>
> I had this problem too, I am not sure why it happens.
> I am just guessing but I think its because of XP sp2.
> If you want to use the latest ms installer, at least at this
> point, you must install sp2.
> Anyway, what I did is something very funny. I opened the pg
> installer many times and then opened the task manager and
> started randomly closing msi processes and somehow the
> installation continues and opens the next frame and you can
> continue the install.
>
> Regards,
>     tzahi.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org
> > [mailto:pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of Tony Caduto
> > Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 1:52 AM
> > To: pgsql-general@postgresql.org
> > Subject: [GENERAL] Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0
> >
> >
> > Hi,
> > I installed beta 2 a couple of months ago, and today I
> installed RC 5
> > and it seems there is no way to tell the installer where to
> actually
> > install, so I could not re use my data cluster from the beta 2(with
> > out renaming the directory to the same name as what the installer
> > would install).
> >
> > I am not sure it this is a limitation of the MSI installer
> or it was
> > just overlooked.
> >
> > Also why do all the PG projects insist on using M$ installer
> > technology?  A better choice would be Inno Setup at
> > http://www.jrsoftware.org.  It's a ton easier to use and would be a
> > better choice than msi.
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------(end of
> > broadcast)---------------------------
> > TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster
> >
> >
>
>
>
> ---------------------------(end of
> broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 7: don't forget to increase your free space map settings
>

Re: Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0

From
"Frank D. Engel, Jr."
Date:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Given that I'm using Inno Setup for the project I am doing, I have a
comment here.  Inno Setup is easier to develop with than are any of the
"free" or inexpensive MSI installation tools I've looked at.  However,
if someone wants to put the extra time/effort or $$$ into building an
MSI installation, the MSI will provide more in the way of integration
with enterprise management tools, which would be difficult if not
impossible to do in Inno Setup.  My own project involves PostgreSQL as
well, for example, and I hope to wrap a silent install of PostgreSQL
into the installation, which overall will be built with Inno Setup.

Oh, and as for uninstalls and silent installations, Inno Setup also
provides that functionality automatically.  It can wrap the
installation into a single EXE file, it can do disk spanning, custom
install types, compressed data in the install file, creation of
desktop/start menu shortcuts, registry entries, multilingual installs,
etc. -- it's actually quite powerful, and it's free.

Another advantage: you can only run one MSI installer at a time, but
Inno Setup does not have that limitation.  To embed a silent install of
an MSI program into my installer, I couldn't very well use an MSI file
(even if I really wanted to), could I?


On Jan 17, 2005, at 4:03 AM, Magnus Hagander wrote:

>> Hi,
>> I installed beta 2 a couple of months ago, and today I
>> installed RC 5 and it seems there is no way to tell the
>> installer where to actually install, so I could not re use my
>> data cluster from the beta 2(with out renaming the directory
>> to the same name as what the installer would install).
>>
>> I am not sure it this is a limitation of the MSI installer or
>> it was just overlooked.
>
> The releasenotes clearly state that you need to do a dump/reload if you
> are upgrading from a version prior to beta5.
>
> As for telling it where to install, please see the FAQ. It is certainly
> possible, and always has been. Only the default has changed.
>
>
>> Also why do all the PG projects insist on using M$ installer
>> technology?  A better choice would be Inno Setup at
>> http://www.jrsoftware.org.  It's a ton easier to use and
>> would be a better choice than msi.
>
> You are clearly not administering a large environment... In such an
> environment, you generally do not prefer innosetup or any other
> homebrewn setup. MSIs support for shared components, rollbacks,
> uninstallations, plugin into management systems etc is a clear win
> there.
> (And I, and a lot of ppl I've spoken to, certainly prefer MSI by far
> for
> my personal machine as well)
>
> In what way would this be easier to use and a better choice than MSI?
>
> //Magnus
>
> ---------------------------(end of
> broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 3: if posting/reading through Usenet, please send an appropriate
>       subscribe-nomail command to majordomo@postgresql.org so that your
>       message can get through to the mailing list cleanly
>
>
- -----------------------------------------------------------
Frank D. Engel, Jr.  <fde101@fjrhome.net>

$ ln -s /usr/share/kjvbible /usr/manual
$ true | cat /usr/manual | grep "John 3:16"
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
$
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Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (Darwin)

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=6xks
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----



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Re: Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0

From
"Magnus Hagander"
Date:
> Oh, and as for uninstalls and silent installations, Inno
> Setup also provides that functionality automatically.  It can
> wrap the installation into a single EXE file, it can do disk
> spanning, custom install types, compressed data in the
> install file, creation of desktop/start menu shortcuts,
> registry entries, multilingual installs, etc. -- it's
> actually quite powerful, and it's free.

I'm sure it provides this - otherwise, it'd be unusable ;-) But how well
does it deal with other installatio programs that stuff files all over
the place? MSI contains a central database of your installed files
(assuming ppl use MSI, of course). InnoSetup might have that for it's
own installs, but it can't very well have it for others.. And the trend
is that everybody moves to MSI (InstallShield and Wise both go with MSI
now, which is by far the majority of the market)


> Another advantage: you can only run one MSI installer at a
> time, but Inno Setup does not have that limitation.  To embed
> a silent install of an MSI program into my installer, I
> couldn't very well use an MSI file (even if I really wanted
> to), could I?

AFAIK, you can. This is exactly how we do the language wrapper - one MSI
launching another.

//Magnus

Re: Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0

From
Jasper Potts
Date:
I am trying to do something similar with a silent install of postgres
embedded in another install. What tools are being used to generate the
Postgres MSI installer? is the source for the installer around? This is
the first time I have ever tried making an installer so any tips very
welcome. I am currently looking at using the Nullsoft installer maker
NSIS as its free and has a nice gui to get me started.

Thanks Jasper

Magnus Hagander wrote:

>>Oh, and as for uninstalls and silent installations, Inno
>>Setup also provides that functionality automatically.  It can
>>wrap the installation into a single EXE file, it can do disk
>>spanning, custom install types, compressed data in the
>>install file, creation of desktop/start menu shortcuts,
>>registry entries, multilingual installs, etc. -- it's
>>actually quite powerful, and it's free.
>>
>>
>
>I'm sure it provides this - otherwise, it'd be unusable ;-) But how well
>does it deal with other installatio programs that stuff files all over
>the place? MSI contains a central database of your installed files
>(assuming ppl use MSI, of course). InnoSetup might have that for it's
>own installs, but it can't very well have it for others.. And the trend
>is that everybody moves to MSI (InstallShield and Wise both go with MSI
>now, which is by far the majority of the market)
>
>
>
>
>>Another advantage: you can only run one MSI installer at a
>>time, but Inno Setup does not have that limitation.  To embed
>>a silent install of an MSI program into my installer, I
>>couldn't very well use an MSI file (even if I really wanted
>>to), could I?
>>
>>
>
>AFAIK, you can. This is exactly how we do the language wrapper - one MSI
>launching another.
>
>//Magnus
>
>---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
>TIP 8: explain analyze is your friend
>
>

Re: Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0

From
"Magnus Hagander"
Date:
We're using the WiX toolset from http://wix.sf.net, along with MingW
from http://www.mingw.org.
You can find the complete source for the installer on the pgFoundry page
at http://pgfoundry.org/projects/pginstaller/

//Magnus

>-----Original Message-----
>From: pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org
>[mailto:pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of Jasper Potts
>Sent: den 17 januari 2005 19:04
>To: Postgres general mailing list
>Subject: Re: [GENERAL] Problem with win32 installer for PG 8.0
>
>
>I am trying to do something similar with a silent install of postgres
>embedded in another install. What tools are being used to generate the
>Postgres MSI installer? is the source for the installer
>around? This is
>the first time I have ever tried making an installer so any tips very
>welcome. I am currently looking at using the Nullsoft installer maker
>NSIS as its free and has a nice gui to get me started.
>
>Thanks Jasper
>
>Magnus Hagander wrote:
>
>>>Oh, and as for uninstalls and silent installations, Inno
>>>Setup also provides that functionality automatically.  It can
>>>wrap the installation into a single EXE file, it can do disk
>>>spanning, custom install types, compressed data in the
>>>install file, creation of desktop/start menu shortcuts,
>>>registry entries, multilingual installs, etc. -- it's
>>>actually quite powerful, and it's free.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>I'm sure it provides this - otherwise, it'd be unusable ;-)
>But how well
>>does it deal with other installatio programs that stuff files all over
>>the place? MSI contains a central database of your installed files
>>(assuming ppl use MSI, of course). InnoSetup might have that for it's
>>own installs, but it can't very well have it for others.. And
>the trend
>>is that everybody moves to MSI (InstallShield and Wise both
>go with MSI
>>now, which is by far the majority of the market)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>Another advantage: you can only run one MSI installer at a
>>>time, but Inno Setup does not have that limitation.  To embed
>>>a silent install of an MSI program into my installer, I
>>>couldn't very well use an MSI file (even if I really wanted
>>>to), could I?
>>>
>>>
>>
>>AFAIK, you can. This is exactly how we do the language
>wrapper - one MSI
>>launching another.
>>
>>//Magnus