How to replace a file in a msi installer?

Question

I want to replace a single file inside a msi. How to do it?

Understanding

More explanation please. Do you mean all you have is the msi and you want to chan ge a file and have it work as normal? – Crawfish

Answer 1

Use msi2xml.

1. This command extracts the MSI files:

   msi2xml -c OutputDir TestMSI.MSI

2. Open OutputDir and modify the file.

3. To rebuild the MSI run:

   xml2msi.exe -m TestMSI.xml

You need the -m to ignore the 'MD5 checksum test' that fails when an MSIs file(s) are modified.

Margie

I also used blogs.technet.com/b/sateesh-arveti/archive/2010/11/21/… to find the actual name of the file I wanted to replace – Toluca

For me it keeps crashing during the xml2msi part. Although to be fair, the installer I'm trying to modify is huge and complicated. – Groth

how can we do this on Linux machine any idea? – Bordie

Good tool. Version 2.2.0 (not latest) worked for me though. The later reported some issues and repackaging was not passible – Syst

Please note that msi2xml requires a relative path to OutputDir instead of an absolute path. So, if you run "msi2xml -c C:\MyPath TestMSI.MSI" it will return an error saying that C:\MyPath isn't a valid path. But if you type "msi2xml -c . TestMSI.MSI" it will work as it should and will extract MSI to the current cmd path. – Slemmer

Updated link for the MSI Explorer tool referenced by @JoshDavis learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/sateesh-arveti/… I recommend using InstEd, though. – Slemmer

Somehow the OutputDir does not contain any files. when I run the command: msi2xml.exe -c DIR <MsiName>.msi – Carmarthenshire

Answer 2

You need to extract the CAB file stream from your msi using MsiDB.exe (supplied with the Windows Installer SDK). Run it from the command line with the -x option and specify the name of the cab file - this is listed in the Media table in the msi database.

Alternatively you can skip this part if you specify the "Package Files as:" option in the VSI options to "Compresses in Cabinet Files" to have the cab file left out of the msi when it's built (it will be created in the same directory as the msi).

Once extracted you can change the specified file in the cab folder - its name has been mangled so you need to find out what msi name for the file is in the file table and then rename your new file to that.

Once done you can pop it back in with the MsiDB utility using the -a option.

Before you add with -a you need to use msidb -k to remove the cab from the MSI.

Lepidus

msidb -d test.msi -x Data1.cab Is is not working? After executing this command, no error no success message. I don't know how to proceed. – Chronological

You should use the name of cab shown in _Streams table instead. – Slemmer

Answer 3

Try InstEd - an installer editor at http://www.instedit.com/. It has a 30 day trial, and it works for me. You extract the files to a folder, edit, rebuild the cab, and then save the MSI. Everything but the edit of your files is done in the GUI.

Not a great program but I paid my $30 to be able to quickly edit files in the MSI.

I don't work for InstEd or related in any way other than paying for and using the application.

Tentacle

My requirement is the same. But I am unable to make this Instedit work. It would be great if you can tell me what steps to follow. I need to replace a pdf file inside the msi package that I is created using Visual Studio 2010. – Donetsk

@ShaktiPrakashSingh This is two years too late, but I just successfully used InstEdit to replace item in my MSI using InstEdit. I wrote it up at : https://mcmap.net/q/501359/-replace-a-file-from-msi/… – Vetchling

Answer 4

Very simple example code to replace a file inside an MSI. This does not stream the new file/CAB back into the MSI but requires the CAB to be in the same directory as the MSI for installation to succeed. I'm sure with a little more effort you could alter the code to stream the CAB back in.

Const MSI_SOURCE = "application.msi"
Const FILE_REPLACE = "config.xml"

Dim filesys, installer, database, view
Dim objFile, size, result, objCab

Set filesys=CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set installer = CreateObject("WindowsInstaller.Installer")
Set database = installer.OpenDatabase (MSI_SOURCE, 1)

Set objFile = filesys.GetFile(FILE_REPLACE)
size = objFile.Size

Set objCab = CreateObject("MakeCab.MakeCab.1")
objCab.CreateCab "config.cab", False, False, False
objCab.AddFile FILE_REPLACE, filesys.GetFileName(FILE_REPLACE)
objCab.CloseCab

Set view = database.OpenView ("SELECT LastSequence FROM Media WHERE DiskId = 1")
view.Execute

Set result = view.Fetch
seq = result.StringData(1) + 1 ' Sequence for new configuration file

Set view = database.OpenView ("INSERT INTO Media (DiskId, LastSequence, Cabinet) VALUES ('2', '" & seq & "', 'config.cab')")
view.Execute

Set view = database.OpenView ("UPDATE File SET FileSize = " & size & ", Sequence = " & seq & " WHERE File = '" & LCase(FILE_REPLACE) & "'")
view.Execute

Bloodstream

Could you elaborate on streaming the cab file into the msi? Also, if I'm understanding correctly you aren't replacing a file in the msi, you are adding it. Correct? IOW, if 'config.xml' already exists then there will now be two of them. – Whipsaw

objCab is created like so, Set objCab = CreateObject( "MakeCab.MakeCab.1" ). Correct? – Whipsaw

Correct, I'm adding a new file and then updating the file table to reference the newly added file instead of the original. Regarding streaming, an MSI can contain extra files, such as CAB files, embedded in (I think) the binary table. Although if you push the CAB back into the MSI you'll destroy any digital signatures - hence why I leave the CAB separate. – Bloodstream

Answer 5

This code has only been tested on 1 file, where the name is excactly the same as the file being replaced..

but it should implement Christopher Painters answer in C#, with DTF (from WIX)

/**
 * this is a bastard class, as it is not really a part of building an installer package, 
 * however, we need to be able to modify a prebuild package, and add user specific files, post build, to save memory on server, and have a fast execution time.
 * 
 * \author Henrik Dalsager
 */

//I'm using everything...
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using Microsoft.Deployment.Compression.Cab;
using Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller;
using Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller.Package;

namespace MSIFileManipulator
{
/**
 * \brief updates an existing MSI, I.E. add new files
 * 
 */
class updateMSI
{
    //everything revolves around this package..
    InstallPackage pkg = null;

    //the destruction should close connection with the database, just in case we forgot..
    ~updateMSI()
    {
        if (pkg != null)
        {
            try
            {
                pkg.Close();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                //rollback?

                //do nothing.. we just don't want to break anything if database was already closed, but not dereffered.
            }
        }
    }

    /**
     * \brief compresses a list of files, in a workdir, to a cabinet file, in the same workdir.
     * \param workdir path to the workdir
     * \param filesToArchive a list of filenames, of the files to include in the cabinet file.
     * \return filename of the created cab file
     */
    public string createCabinetFileForMSI(string workdir, List<string> filesToArchive)
    {
        //create temporary cabinet file at this path:
        string GUID = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
        string cabFile = GUID + ".cab";
        string cabFilePath = Path.Combine(workdir, cabFile);

        //create a instance of Microsoft.Deployment.Compression.Cab.CabInfo
        //which provides file-based operations on the cabinet file
        CabInfo cab = new CabInfo(cabFilePath);

        //create a list with files and add them to a cab file
        //now an argument, but previously this was used as test:
        //List<string> filesToArchive = new List<string>() { @"C:\file1", @"C:\file2" };
        cab.PackFiles(workdir, filesToArchive, filesToArchive);

        //we will ned the path for this file, when adding it to an msi..
        return cabFile;
    }

    /**
     * \brief embeds a cabinet file into an MSI into the "stream" table, and adds it as a new media in the media table
     *  This does not install the files on a clients computer, if he runs the installer,
     *  as none of the files in the cabinet, is defined in the MSI File Table (that informs msiexec where to place mentioned files.)
     *  It simply allows cabinet files to piggypack within a package, so that they may be extracted again at clients computer.
     *  
     * \param pathToCabFile full absolute path to the cabinet file
     * \return media number of the new cabinet file wihtin the MSI
     */
    public int insertCabFileAsNewMediaInMSI(string cabFilePath, int numberOfFilesInCabinet = -1)
    {
        if (pkg == null)
        {
            throw new Exception("Cannot insert cabinet file into non-existing MSI package. Please Supply a path to the MSI package");
        }

        int numberOfFilesToAdd = numberOfFilesInCabinet;
        if (numberOfFilesInCabinet < 0)
        {
            CabInfo cab = new CabInfo(cabFilePath);
            numberOfFilesToAdd = cab.GetFiles().Count;
        }

        //create a cab file record as a stream (embeddable into an MSI)
        Record cabRec = new Record(1);
        cabRec.SetStream(1, cabFilePath);

        /*The Media table describes the set of disks that make up the source media for the installation.
          we want to add one, after all the others
          DiskId - Determines the sort order for the table. This number must be equal to or greater than 1,
          for out new cab file, it must be > than the existing ones...
        */
        //the baby SQL service in the MSI does not support "ORDER BY `` DESC" but does support order by..
        IList<int> mediaIDs = pkg.ExecuteIntegerQuery("SELECT `DiskId` FROM `Media` ORDER BY `DiskId`");
        int lastIndex = mediaIDs.Count - 1;
        int DiskId = mediaIDs.ElementAt(lastIndex) + 1;

        //wix name conventions of embedded cab files is "#cab" + DiskId + ".cab"
        string mediaCabinet = "cab" + DiskId.ToString() + ".cab";

        //The _Streams table lists embedded OLE data streams.
        //This is a temporary table, created only when referenced by a SQL statement.
        string query = "INSERT INTO `_Streams` (`Name`, `Data`) VALUES ('" + mediaCabinet + "', ?)";
        pkg.Execute(query, cabRec);
        Console.WriteLine(query);

        /*LastSequence - File sequence number for the last file for this new media.
          The numbers in the LastSequence column specify which of the files in the File table
          are found on a particular source disk.

          Each source disk contains all files with sequence numbers (as shown in the Sequence column of the File table)
          less than or equal to the value in the LastSequence column, and greater than the LastSequence value of the previous disk
          (or greater than 0, for the first entry in the Media table).
          This number must be non-negative; the maximum limit is 32767 files.
          /MSDN
         */
        IList<int> sequences = pkg.ExecuteIntegerQuery("SELECT `LastSequence` FROM `Media` ORDER BY `LastSequence`");
        lastIndex = sequences.Count - 1;
        int LastSequence = sequences.ElementAt(lastIndex) + numberOfFilesToAdd;

        query = "INSERT INTO `Media` (`DiskId`, `LastSequence`, `Cabinet`) VALUES (" + DiskId.ToString() + "," + LastSequence.ToString() + ",'#" + mediaCabinet + "')";
        Console.WriteLine(query);
        pkg.Execute(query);

        return DiskId;

    }

    /**
     * \brief embeds a cabinet file into an MSI into the "stream" table, and adds it as a new media in the media table
     *  This does not install the files on a clients computer, if he runs the installer,
     *  as none of the files in the cabinet, is defined in the MSI File Table (that informs msiexec where to place mentioned files.)
     *  It simply allows cabinet files to piggypack within a package, so that they may be extracted again at clients computer.
     *  
     * \param pathToCabFile full absolute path to the cabinet file
     * \param pathToMSIFile full absolute path to the msi file
     * \return media number of the new cabinet file wihtin the MSI
     */
    public int insertCabFileAsNewMediaInMSI(string cabFilePath, string pathToMSIFile, int numberOfFilesInCabinet = -1)
    {
        //open the MSI package for editing
        pkg = new InstallPackage(pathToMSIFile, DatabaseOpenMode.Direct); //have also tried direct, while database was corrupted when writing.
        return insertCabFileAsNewMediaInMSI(cabFilePath, numberOfFilesInCabinet);
    }

    /**
     * \brief overloaded method, that embeds a cabinet file into an MSI into the "stream" table, and adds it as a new media in the media table
     *  This does not install the files on a clients computer, if he runs the installer,
     *  as none of the files in the cabinet, is defined in the MSI File Table (that informs msiexec where to place mentioned files.)
     *  It simply allows cabinet files to piggypack within a package, so that they may be extracted again at clients computer.
     *
     * \param workdir absolute path to the cabinet files location
     * \param cabFile is the filename of the cabinet file
     * \param pathToMSIFile full absolute path to the msi file
     * \return media number of the new cabinet file wihtin the MSI
     */
    public int insertCabFileAsNewMediaInMSI(string workdir, string cabFile, string pathToMSIFile, int numberOfFilesInCabinet = -1)
    {
        string absPathToCabFile = Path.Combine(workdir, cabFile);
        string absPathToMSIFile = Path.Combine(workdir, pathToMSIFile);
        return insertCabFileAsNewMediaInMSI(absPathToCabFile, absPathToMSIFile, numberOfFilesInCabinet);
    }

    /**
     * \brief reconfigures the MSI, so that a file pointer is "replaced" by a file pointer to another cabinets version of said file...
     * The original file will not be removed from the MSI, but simply orphaned (no component refers to it). It will not be installed, but will remain in the package.
     * 
     * \param OriginalFileName (this is the files target name at the clients computer after installation. It is our only way to locate the file in the file table. If two or more files have the same target name, we cannot reorient the pointer to that file!)
     * \param FileNameInCabinet (In case you did not have the excact same filename for the new file, as the original file, you can specify the name of the file, as it is known in the cabinet, here.)
     * \param DiskIdOfCabinetFile - Very important information. This is the Id of the new cabinet file, it is the only way to know where the new source data is within the MSI cabinet stream. This function extracts the data it needs from there, like sequence numbers
     */
    public void PointAPreviouslyConfiguredComponentsFileToBeFetchedFromAnotherCabinet(string OriginalFileName, string FileNameInCabinet, string newFileSizeInBytes, int DiskIdOfCabinetFile)
    {
        //retrieve the range of sequence numbers for this cabinet file. 
        string query = "SELECT `DiskId` FROM `Media` ORDER BY `LastSequence`";
        Console.WriteLine(query);
        IList<int> medias = pkg.ExecuteIntegerQuery("SELECT `DiskId` FROM `Media` ORDER BY `LastSequence`");

        query = "SELECT `LastSequence` FROM `Media` ORDER BY `LastSequence`";
        Console.WriteLine(query); 
        IList<int> mediaLastSequences = pkg.ExecuteIntegerQuery("SELECT `LastSequence` FROM `Media` ORDER BY `LastSequence`");

        if(medias.Count != mediaLastSequences.Count)
        {
            throw new Exception("there is something wrong with the Media Table, There is a different number of DiskId and LastSequence rows");
        }

        if(medias.Count <= 0)
        {
            throw new Exception("there is something wrong with the Media Table, There are no rows with medias available..");
        }

        int FirstSequence = -1;
        int LastSequence = -1;
        int lastIndex = medias.Count - 1;

        for (int index = lastIndex; index >= 0; index--)
        {
            int rowLastSequence = mediaLastSequences.ElementAt(index);
            int rowDiskId = medias.ElementAt(index);

            if (rowDiskId == DiskIdOfCabinetFile)
            {
                LastSequence = rowLastSequence;
                if (index < lastIndex)
                {
                    //the next cabinet files last sequence number + 1,  is this ones first..
                    FirstSequence = mediaLastSequences.ElementAt(index + 1) + 1;
                    break;
                }
                else
                {
                    //all files from the first, to this last sequence number, are found in this cabinet
                    FirstSequence = mediaLastSequences.ElementAt(lastIndex);
                    break;
                }
            }
        }

        //now we will look in the file table to get a vacant sequence number in the new cabinet (if available - first run will return empty, and thus default to FirstSequence)
        int Sequence = FirstSequence;
        query = "SELECT `Sequence` FROM `File` WHERE `Sequence` >= " + FirstSequence.ToString() + " AND `Sequence` <= " + LastSequence.ToString() + " ORDER BY `Sequence`";
        Console.WriteLine(query);

        IList<int> SequencesInRange = pkg.ExecuteIntegerQuery(query);
        for (int index = 0; index < SequencesInRange.Count; index++)
        {
            if (FirstSequence + index != SequencesInRange.ElementAt(index))
            {
                Sequence = FirstSequence + index;
                break;
            }
        }

        //now we set this in the file table, to re-point this file to the new media..
        //File.FileName = FileNameInCabinet;
        //File.FileSize = newFileSizeInBytes;
        //File.Sequence = sequence;
        query = "UPDATE `File` SET `File`.`FileName`='" + FileNameInCabinet + "' WHERE `File`='" + OriginalFileName + "'";
        Console.WriteLine(query);
        pkg.Execute(query);
        query = "UPDATE `File` SET `File`.`FileSize`=" + newFileSizeInBytes + " WHERE `File`='" + OriginalFileName + "'";
        Console.WriteLine(query);
        pkg.Execute(query);
        query = "UPDATE `File` SET `File`.`Sequence`=" + Sequence.ToString() + " WHERE `File`='" + OriginalFileName + "'";
        Console.WriteLine(query);
        pkg.Execute(query);
    }        
}
}

demonstration usage:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace MSIFileManipulator
{
class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string workdir = @"C:\Users\Me\MyDevFolder\tests";
        string msiFile = "replace_test_copy.msi";
        string fileName = "REPLACE_THIS_IMAGE.png";

        List<string> filesToInclude = new List<string>();
        System.IO.FileInfo fileInfo = new System.IO.FileInfo(System.IO.Path.Combine(workdir, fileName));
        if (fileInfo.Exists)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("now adding: " + fileName + " to cabinet");
            filesToInclude.Add(fileName);

            updateMSI myMSI = new updateMSI();
            string cabfileName = myMSI.createCabinetFileForMSI(workdir, filesToInclude);
            Console.WriteLine("cabinet file saved as: " + cabfileName);

            int diskID = myMSI.insertCabFileAsNewMediaInMSI(workdir, cabfileName, msiFile);
            Console.WriteLine("new media added with disk ID: " + diskID.ToString());
            myMSI.PointAPreviouslyConfiguredComponentsFileToBeFetchedFromAnotherCabinet(fileName, fileName, fileInfo.Length.ToString(), diskID);
            Console.WriteLine("Done");

        }
        else
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Could not locate the replacement file:" + fileName);
        }
        Console.WriteLine("press any key to exit");
        Console.ReadKey();
    }
}
}

I am aware that my test does not clean up after it self..

Adios

Answer 6

The easiest way to do it is to repackage MSI:

1. Open MSI file in Wise for Windows Installer. Choose an option to to extract files.
2. Locate the file on disk and replace it.
3. Build MSI.

These steps should also work for InstallShield.

Walkway

A valid solution for someone who has access to commercial repackaging tools I guess... but if that was the case I doubt the question would be asked ;) – Bloodstream