.net-based setup project fails at installation

Question

I have create a setup project using Visual Studio 2008. When installing on a different machine, i get the following error:

The installer was interrupted before MyApplication could be installed. You need to restart the installer to try again.

the log file shows the following

MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:020]: Executing op: ComponentUnregister(ComponentId={533BAFA2-3A54-B4D7-B625-38EB0DB9BBB7},ProductKey={B10107EF-3C57-451E-9080-40FB1F4A8B95},BinaryType=0,)
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:020]: Executing op: ComponentUnregister(ComponentId={B55DBDAF-0BCB-061A-9EA2-5AC798377ABA},ProductKey={B10107EF-3C57-451E-9080-40FB1F4A8B95},BinaryType=0,)
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:020]: Executing op: End(Checksum=0,ProgressTotalHDWord=0,ProgressTotalLDWord=0)
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:020]: Error in rollback skipped.  Return: 5
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:030]: No System Restore sequence number for this installation.
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:030]: Unlocking Server
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:030]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Deleting UpdateStarted property. Its current value is '1'.
Action ended 14:06:01: INSTALL. Return value 3.
MSI (s) (D8:20) [14:06:01:060]: MainEngineThread is returning 1603
MSI (s) (D8:40) [14:06:01:060]: Destroying RemoteAPI object.
MSI (s) (D8:B8) [14:06:01:060]: Custom Action Manager thread ending.
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:01:130]: Back from server. Return value: 1603
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:01:140]: Decrementing counter to disable shutdown. If counter >= 0, shutdown will be denied.  Counter after decrement: -1
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:01:140]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Deleting SECONDSEQUENCE property. Its current value is '1'.
Action ended 14:06:01: ExecuteAction. Return value 3.
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:01:150]: Doing action: FatalErrorForm
Action start 14:06:01: FatalErrorForm.
DEBUG: Error 2826:  Control Line1 on dialog FatalErrorForm extends beyond the boundaries of the dialog to the right by 3 pixels
The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2826. The arguments are: FatalErrorForm, Line1, to the right
DEBUG: Error 2826:  Control Line2 on dialog FatalErrorForm extends beyond the boundaries of the dialog to the right by 3 pixels
The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2826. The arguments are: FatalErrorForm, Line2, to the right
DEBUG: Error 2826:  Control BannerBmp on dialog FatalErrorForm extends beyond the boundaries of the dialog to the right by 3 pixels
The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2826. The arguments are: FatalErrorForm, BannerBmp, to the right
Action ended 14:06:04: FatalErrorForm. Return value 1.
Action ended 14:06:04: INSTALL. Return value 3.
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:475]: Destroying RemoteAPI object.
MSI (c) (10:F4) [14:06:04:485]: Custom Action Manager thread ending.
=== Logging stopped: 5/12/2009  14:06:04 ===
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:495]: Note: 1: 1708 
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:505]: Product: CMS -- Installation failed.

MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:515]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:525]: Cleaning up uninstalled install packages, if any exist
MSI (c) (10:80) [14:06:04:545]: MainEngineThread is returning 1603
=== Verbose logging stopped: 5/12/2009  14:06:04 ===

Answer 1

Trying installing via the command line to get a log file. That should contain the error information.

msiexec /i program_name /lv mylogfile.log

You can use Wilogutl to make analyzing the log file easier.

Answer 2

The Visual Studio setup project will create two files for you: an MSI file and a setup.exe bootstrapper. The latter installs any pre-requisites of your application and then launches the MSI file.

When launching the setup.exe bootstrapper, a log file will be created in a subfolder of your %TMP% folder. Check for any error messages in this file.

You can also start the MSI file directly and have it create a log file:

msiexec /i mySetup.msi /l*vx log.txt

Analyzing the log should help you to find the problem. If you need any help with the error message you could edit your question and add the error message.

Answer 3

We had a similar problem and found a useful tip at the MSDN forums:

The answer was to install the "IIS Management Compatibility" server role.