Msi Doesnt run from within c#

Question

Hi all,

I am trying to run an msi from c# using the Proces.Start method. the Msi is fine because i can run that normally. but when i try and run the msi within some c# code i receive the following error.

"This installation package could not be opened. Verify that the package exists, and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid windows installer package"

below is the code that i am using to run the msi...

Process p = Process.StartApplication.StartupPath  "/Packages/Name.msi");

p.WaitForExit();   

Any ideas?

Thanks

Answer 1

msi files cannot run on their own. If you double click on them, Windows will start

msiexec /i PathToYour.msi

Did you try to do that explicitly?

Answer 2

Addition to question poster's comment on Benjamin's answer:

Process p = new Process();
p.StartInfo.FileName = "msiexec";
p.StartInfo.Arguments = "/i PathToYour.msi";
p.Start();

Answer 3

ok i got it now. having one of those blue days i guess... i just changed it to run the setup.exe that is generated with the msi, instead of the running the msi...

thanks for the help tho :)

Answer 4

It is also possible to execute the .msi file directly with the associated application. This happens when you set UseShellExecute to true:

Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo() 
    { 
        FileName = @"c:\somepath\mySetup.msi", 
        UseShellExecute = true 
    });