[Libreoffice-bugs] [Bug 134103] Windows Installer MSI package can not install if \Windows\Installer path is a junction point or symbolic link to another folder location

Sat Jun 27 20:20:48 UTC 2020

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=134103

--- Comment #3 from João Paulo <joaopauloag-freedesktop at yahoo.com.br> ---
(In reply to Mike Kaganski from comment #2)
> I don't think that packaging our MSI (that btw hadn't changed between 6.4
> and 7.0) could affect the process that is not performed by LibreOffice, but
> by Windows Installer service, which itself decides if and how should it copy
> the MSI it operates right now.
> 
> I rather suspect some intermediate Windows Update that could had changed the
> Windows Installer operation. Could you please check if trying to install
> LibreOffice 6.4.4.2, which you know could be installed, succeeds after
> uninstalling it from system, and making sure that its MSI is not in
> Windows\Installer cache before the install attempt?

Hi, Mike!  Sorry for the late reply.

I did try installation using the following products and environment:

* LibreOffice 6.4.4.2, 7.0.0.0 Beta 1 and 7.0.0.0 Beta 2, all of them 64 bits;
* Windows 10, version 1909, 64 bits (AMD64);
* Volume C: is on a SSD;
* Volume D: is on a HDD;
* Volume Z: is on an external HDD;
* C:\Windows\Installer is a symbolic link to D:\Windows\Installer, a folder
path with exactly the same security permissions on each folder level as the
original C:\Windows\Installer folder path (even the D:\ folder has the same
security permissions as the C:\ folder);
* The environment variable %USERPROFILE% is "D:\Users\Administrator" (without
quotes);
* Anything else is not modified as the system was reset (opened Settings,
Update and Security, Recovery, Restore this PC) and, on the first login on the
machine, pressed CTRL+SHIFT+F3 to enter Windows Audit Mode (a special mode so
all software can be installed before anything else on the system is installed
after the first user first login);
* I put the arguments [/Passive /NoRestart] inside brackets to make clear that
they are to be used normally on my install scripts, but I did not use them and
just selected Next, Next, Install as if they were used so the error message
would be shown.

The commands I used when testing, on exact order, are (remove the asterisks and
don't use the lines starting with hyphens):

* On the first boot of Windows, I pressed CTRL+SHIFT+F3, then executed cmd.exe
and proceeded doing the following commands:
* RoboCopy.exe "%SystemRoot%" "D:\Windows" /Copy:ATSOU /R:0
* RoboCopy.exe "%SystemRoot%" "D:\Windows" /Copy:ATSOU /SecFix /R:0
* RoboCopy.exe "%SystemRoot%\Installer" "D:\Windows\Installer" /Copy:ATSOU /Mir
/MovE
-- These three commands creates an empty "D:\Windows" folder with the same
permissions as the "C:\Windows" folder, then moves the C:\Windows\Installer
folder, its contents, and copy the security permissions to its new location. 
It is important to run them all as RoboCopy does not copy the security
permissions from \Windows if it is not run again with the /SecFix argument, but
it works for the \Windows\Installer folder without using /SecFix.
* MkLink /j "%SystemRoot%\Installer" "D:\Windows\Installer"
-- This command creates a junction point from C:\Windows\Installer to
D:\Windows\Installer / to create a symbolic link, use "/d" instead of "/j".

For LibreOffice 6.4.4.2 64 bits installation, I run the following commands:

* MsiExec.exe /Package Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOffice_6.4.4_Win_x64.msi
/Passive /NoRestart
-- This command completed correctly and installed LibreOffice 6.4.4.2.  For
some unknown reason, Windows Installer (msiserver) service kept running.

* MsiExec.exe /Uninstall
Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOffice_6.4.4_Win_x64.msi /Passive /NoRestart
-- This command completely uninstalled LibreOffice 6.4.4.2.  Windows Installer
(msiserver) service still kept running.

* MsiExec.exe /A Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOffice_6.4.4_Win_x64.msi
TARGETDIR="D:\LO644" [/Passive /NoRestart -- this is the same as selecting
Next, Next, Next, Install]
-- This command is intended to extract the .msi contents to D:\LO644 folder,
which results in a smaller .msi package that will be cached at
C:\Windows\Installer folder (the drawback is it will ask for the source files
or the original full .msi package when doing repairs or installing extra
components -- which is rare after install).  Sometimes this command completes
as expected and sometimes it does not.  When it does not work, Windows
Installer throws the following error message "Error 1314. Specified path
C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi is unavailable" (translated from PT-BR to
EN-US).  After erasing the folder C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi **and**
C:\Config.Msi (running "rd /s /q C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi
C:\Config.Msi", without quotes), then the command completed correctly.  Maybe
erasing those two folders before trying to run this command will make it always
work.

* MsiExec.exe /Package "D:\LO644\LibreOffice_6.4.4_Win_x64.msi" [/Passive
/NoRestart -- this is the same as selecting Next, Next, Next, Install]
-- This command was supposed to install LibreOffice from the extracted sources
from the previous command, but it always did not complete and throw the same
error as the previous command may show.  After running "rd /s /q
C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi C:\Config.Msi", the .msi package was installed
correctly.

* MsiExec.exe /Uninstall
Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOffice_6.4.4_Win_x64.msi /Passive /NoRestart
-- This command uninstalls LibreOffice 6.4.4.2 so I could test the installation
of LibreOffice 7.0.0.0 Beta 1.

For LibreOffice 7.0.0.1 Beta 1 64 bits installation, I run the following
commands:

* MsiExec.exe /Package
Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOfficeDev_7.0.0.0.beta1_Win_x64.msi /Passive
/NoRestart
-- This command completed correctly and installed LibreOffice 7.0.0.0 Beta 1. 
For some unknown reason, Windows Installer (msiserver) service kept running.

* MsiExec.exe /Uninstall
Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOfficeDev_7.0.0.0.beta1_Win_x64.msi /Passive
/NoRestart
-- This command completely uninstalled LibreOffice 7.0.0.0 Beta 1.  Windows
Installer (msiserver) service still kept running.

* MsiExec.exe /A
Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOfficeDev_7.0.0.0.beta1_Win_x64.msi
TARGETDIR="D:\LO7B1" [/Passive /NoRestart -- this is the same as selecting
Next, Next, Next, Install]
-- This command is intended to extract the .msi contents to D:\LO7B1 folder
(the same reasoning as the equivalent command I did for version 6.4.4.2). 
Sometimes this command completes as expected and sometimes it does not.  When
it does not work, Windows Installer throws the following error message "Error
1314. Specified path C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi is unavailable"
(translated from PT-BR to EN-US).  After erasing the folder
C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi **and** C:\Config.Msi (running "rd /s /q
C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi C:\Config.Msi", without quotes), then the
command completed correctly.  Maybe erasing those two folders before trying to
run this command will make it always work.

* MsiExec.exe /Package D:\LO7B1\LibreOfficeDev_7.0.0.0.beta1_Win_x64.msi
[/Passive /NoRestart -- this is the same as selecting Next, Next, Next,
Install]
-- This command was supposed to install LibreOffice from the extracted sources
from the previous command, but it always did not complete and throw the same
error as the previous command may show.  After running "rd /s /q
C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi C:\Config.Msi", the .msi package was installed
correctly.

* MsiExec.exe /Uninstall
Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOfficeDev_7.0.0.0.beta1_Win_x64.msi /Passive
/NoRestart
-- This command uninstalls LibreOffice 6.4.4.2 so I could test the installation
of LibreOffice 7.0.0.0 Beta 2.

For LibreOffice 7.0.0.1 Beta 2 64 bits installation, I run the following
commands:

* MsiExec.exe /Package
Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOfficeDev_7.0.0.0.beta2_Win_x64.msi /Passive
/NoRestart
-- This command completed correctly and installed LibreOffice 7.0.0.0 Beta 2. 
For some unknown reason, Windows Installer (msiserver) service kept running.

* MsiExec.exe /Uninstall
Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOfficeDev_7.0.0.0.beta2_Win_x64.msi /Passive
/NoRestart
-- This command completely uninstalled LibreOffice 7.0.0.0 Beta 2.  Windows
Installer (msiserver) service still kept running.

* MsiExec.exe /A
Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOfficeDev_7.0.0.0.beta2_Win_x64.msi
TARGETDIR="D:\LO7B2" [/Passive /NoRestart -- this is the same as selecting
Next, Next, Next, Install]
-- This command is intended to extract the .msi contents to D:\LO7B2 folder
(the same reasoning as the equivalent command I did for the other versions). 
Sometimes this command completes as expected and sometimes it does not.  When
it does not work, Windows Installer throws the following error message "Error
1314. Specified path C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi is unavailable"
(translated from PT-BR to EN-US).  After erasing the folder
C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi **and** C:\Config.Msi (running "rd /s /q
C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi C:\Config.Msi", without quotes), then the
command completed correctly.  Maybe erasing those two folders before trying to
run this command will make it always work.

* MsiExec.exe /Package D:\LO7B2\LibreOfficeDev_7.0.0.0.beta2_Win_x64.msi
[/Passive /NoRestart -- this is the same as selecting Next, Next, Next,
Install]
-- This command was supposed to install LibreOffice from the extracted sources
from the previous command, but it always did not complete and throw the same
error as the previous command may show.  After running "rd /s /q
C:\Windows\Installer\Config.Msi C:\Config.Msi", the .msi package was installed
correctly.

* MsiExec.exe /Uninstall
Z:\Compartilhada\Torrents\LibreOfficeDev_7.0.0.0.beta2_Win_x64.msi /Passive
/NoRestart
-- I uninstalled LibreOffice 7.0.0.0 Beta 2 just for testing completeness.

After these testings, I suspect with you that it is not a bug on LibreOffice
side (there are, though, some .msi packages that don't accept
\Windows\Installer being a symbolic link to another folder), but some update to
Windows 10 that broke Windows Installers.  There is an easy workaround that is
erasing any Config.Msi folders on the system, be them located at the root of
the lettered volumes ([C|D|E|F|G|...]:\Config.Msi) or at C:\Windows\Installer.

However, as not all users that download and install LibreOffice knows how to
fix it, until Microsoft does not fix this bug (I will send them these
findings), I suggest considering to create a custom action into LibreOffice MSI
package to delete %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Config.Msi and
%SYSTEMROOT%\Installer\Config.Msi before and after doing any actual
installation steps.  What do you think?

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