What is the largest size that a single .msi windows package installer file can be?

Question

We are doing some upload testing to the server, specifically taking in .msi package installer files. Currently I can create a 2GB total file size .msi with the limited knowledge and Visusl Studio tools that I have, but am wondering if I can create a larger one.

None of my googling has shown me a definitive answer, but I need to test the max file size that can be uploaded, which seems to be restricted by the max .msi file size, which I can't find or create. I assume it's larger than 2GB, anyone know or can point me to the right resource?

What is the max .msi file size? If greater than 2GB, how do I create one?

Pennyweight

Answer 1

The limit of 2 GB is for the CAB files included in the MSI package, not for the MSI database itself. To create a larger setup package you need to configure it to place the resources in multiple CAB files, next to the MSI package.

Trujillo

Answer 2

This article should answer all your questions about MSI size as well as warn about various other limitations related to the MSI packages with lots of files / components.

Additional links from MSDN:

• reduce the size of the MSI package
• authoring a large package

Hope this will bring you to the right solution.

Doit