WiX v3.9 released • Joy of Setup

Update: WiX v3.9 R2 has been released.

WiX v3.9 was officially released on Hallowe’en 2014. The release build is the same as RC4: v3.9.1006.0. Download the release here.

For Rob’s take, see his blog post.

The following people contributed to WiX v3.9 over the 11 months since WiX v3.8 was released:

It’s great to see the list of contributors growing release after release!

The major features of WiX v3.9 are:

@rseanhall lets you run a post-install configuration tool that requires elevated priveleges after a bundle is installed. WIP / Bug / Pull request
@jchoover added update detection to the Burn engine. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall added support for multiple managed-BA pre-requisite packages. WIP / Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall added support for secure string variables in Burn. WIP / Bug / Pull request

Minor features include:

@jchoover updated the WiX installer to use the new update feature. Pull request
@heaths added the Windows “Threshold” compatibility GUID to Burn. Pull request
@FernandoNunes contributed localizations for Portuguese for WixSqlExtension. Pull request
@robmen updated the WiX release feed for the update functionality in the WiX installer. Bug / Pull request
@barnson changed the WiX installer to install the native-code WiX SDK for Visual Studio Express editions. Pull request
@robmen marked deprecated command-line switches that are removed from WiX v4.0. Bug / Pull request / Pull request
@barnson added a verbose message that reveals how much time was spent running ICE validation. Pull request
@barnson made a few updates that made the WiX build faster on many-core machines. Pull request / Pull request
@heaths added support for temporary object columns in DTF. Pull request
@flcdrg added support in DTF custom action builds to include COM interop reference assemblies. Pull request
@heaths added support for Visual Studio “Dev14” in WixVSExtension detection properties. Pull request
@heaths added support for user creation in WixUtilExtension to be non-vital (i.e., fail without causing rolling back). Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall added a blocker to prevent .NET 4.5.2 from being used as a pre-req package on Windows 7 RTM because .NET 4.5.2 requires Windows 7 SP1. Bug / Pull request
@heaths added policy support to move the Burn package cache to a non-default folder. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall added the WixBundleExecutePackageCacheFolder bundle variable. Bug / Pull request
@robmen defaulted Burn to using hashes to verify payloads rather than digital signature. Bug / Pull request
@barnson added the ProcessorArchitecture, WixBundleOriginalSourceFolder, and WixBundleFileVersion bundle variables. Bug / Bug / Pull request / Pull request / Pull request / Pull request
@gordonmcshane added .NET 4.5.2 package groups to WixNetFxExtension. Pull request
@johnbuuck added support for MSBuild v12.0 in project harvesting. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall added the @Cache=“always” value to force a bundle’s package to be cached even if the package won’t be installed. Bug / Bug / Pull request
@heaths added a number of features and fixes to better support ref-counting and patching in Burn. Bug / Bug / Pull request / Pull request
@mavxg added User/@LogonAsBatchJob to WixUtilExtension. Pull request
@barnson added the -sextract switch to Melt.exe to not extract MSI package payloads but still update the .wixpdb. / Bug / Pull request

Fixes include:

@robmen fixed a long-standing bug in WixStdBA that caused a hang when installing as local system on Windows Vista and Server 2008. Bug / Pull request
@robmen fixed a bug dating from WiX v2.0(!) that caused bad modularization when keywords like OR were part of property names. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall fixed a nitty-gritty bug in DTF tools that created custom action DLLs that didn’t exactly follow an arcane spec. Bug / Pull request
@barnson fixed a bug in Burn that caused command lines to replicate like gray goo when a BA called Plan multiple times. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall added a missing extension to the binaries .zip.

Pull request
@rseanhall made sure that that a bundle’s bootstrapper application is the first payload in the UX container so Burn doesn’t try to execute an arbitrary file. Bug / Pull request
@jchoover tweaked the WiX installer to skip checking for updates when it doesn’t make sense. Bug / Bug / Pull request
@barnson fixed Burn so it resumes after rebooting. Bug / Pull request
@barnson fixed Burn so it didn’t ignore a rollback of a related bundle. Bug / Pull request
@jchoover fixed some memory leaks in Burn. Also fixed some memory leaks in Burn. Pull request
@barnson fixed DTF so that it doesn’t exclusively lock icons when reading them. Bug / Pull request
@barnson solved the case of the mysteriously missing native-code SDK files. Bug / Bug / Pull request / Pull request
@barnson fixed Wix.sln by removing an obsolete file. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall made sure Burn cleans up a downloaded update when appropriate. Bug / Pull request
@barnson made sure the WiX installer doesn’t crash when you don’t have a browser installed that knows about .html files. Bug / Pull request
@barnson added a warning to the doc about a limitation with PerfCounterManifest. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall ensured that you can use LaunchTarget without LaunchArguments. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall changed DTF so it sets the working directory for a custom action. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall decided that Burn should decrypt files coming from an encrypted folder. Bug / Pull request
@heaths converted, enhanced, and cleaned up some duplication in the WiX tests. Pull request / Pull request / Pull request / Pull request
@heaths let you have an unreal table with way too many columns. Bug / Pull request
@heaths optimized away the repair of dependent bundles of uninstalling a bundle is a no-op. Bug / Pull request
@heaths showed progress in Burn when waiting on BITS to download. Bug / Pull request
@heaths supported long command lines after rebooting in a bundle. Bug / Bug / Pull request
@heaths optimized some Burn patch detection. Bug / Bug / Pull request
@barnson validated MsiPackage product versions are legal for Burn (when using .msi packages built with something other than WiX, which apparently sometimes still happens). Bug / Pull request
@barnson fixed a problem with a particular CustomTable definition. Bug / Pull request
@champloo convinced tools to show an error rather than throw an exception when they can’t set file attributes. Bug / Pull request
@firegiantco made it possible to use any legal exit code in ExePackage/ExitCode/@Value. Bug / Pull request
@barnson updated the list of tables that prevent patch uninstall. Bug / Pull request
@sryze fixed the layout of a WixUI dialog when localized into Russian. Pull request
@rseanhall added verification to the VersionVariables for managed BAs. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall prevented Burn from entering an endless loop with a malformed command line. Bug / Pull request
@robmen made sure error codes are reported during cache checking in Burn. Bug / Pull request
@robmen pointed to new documentation on wixtoolset.org for error 0217. Bug / Pull request
@barnson added a check of file size when determining whether a cabinet needs to be rebuilt in the linker. Bug / Pull request
@barnson fixed the layout of a WixUI dialog for Portuguese. Bug / Pull request
@barnson fixed a crash in Dark.exe. Bug / Pull request
@barnson added some documentation about output type in Votive property pages. Bug / Pull request
@barnson plugged a memory leak in Burn and removed some dead code. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall fixed Burn to ensure progress isn’t above 100 percent. Bug / Pull request
@barnson fixed compression level when set with MediaTemplate. Bug / Pull request
@barnson added some documentation to clarify the things that change “bitness” when using the -arch switch. Bug / Pull request
@barnson prevented infinite recursion of include files by enforcing a maximum depth. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall wielded the red pencil and improved the documentation. Pull request / Pull request
@barnson restored MsuPackage’s ability to set RemotePayload. Bug / Pull request
@rseanhall supported DTF being installed into the GAC. Bug / Pull request
@barnson clarified an error message about quotes in filenames. Bug / Pull request
@ericschultz ensured that VsizPackage ids that contain spaces are quoted when passed to VsixInstaller. Bug / Pull request
@barnson fixed a crash in Heat. Bug / Pull request

Like WiX v3.8, v3.9 took about 11 months. We’d aimed for a shorter cycle but missed. I’m not going to lose any sleep over that; we did good work and v3.9 looks to be a great release.

Next up: We know WiX v3.10 is about Visual Studio “Dev14” and Windows 10. What else? The conversation happens on the wix-devs mailing list.