Wix Open web page when uninstall completes

Question

I'm using Wix3. I need to open a web page when the user uninstalls the product.
Any ideas how it can be done?

Thanks.

Tomcat

Answer 1

Here's a sample of the code we use, we don't actually set the URL at compile time, but update properties in the MSI post-build so this might seem a little "over engineered". We use the WiXShellExec CA and have an additional condition so that the webpage is only displayed during uninstall, and not during a major upgrade.

<Fragment>
    <Property Id="MyURL"><![CDATA[http://www.blah.blah.blah/]]></Property>
    <CustomAction Id="SetOpenURL" Property="WixShellExecTarget" Value="[MyURL]" />
    <CustomAction Id="OpenURL" BinaryKey="WixCA" DllEntry="WixShellExec" Impersonate="yes" Return="ignore" />

    <InstallExecuteSequence>
        <!-- Launch webpage during full uninstall, but not upgrade -->
        <Custom Action="SetOpenURL" After="InstallFinalize"><![CDATA[REMOVE ~= "ALL" AND NOT UPGRADINGPRODUCTCODE]]></Custom>
        <Custom Action="OpenURL" After="SetOpenURL"><![CDATA[REMOVE ~= "ALL" AND NOT UPGRADINGPRODUCTCODE]]></Custom>
    </InstallExecuteSequence>
</Fragment>

Wishful

Answer 2

Add these XML elements somewhere under your <Product> element:

  <CustomAction Id="LaunchBrowser"
        ExeCommand="explorer.exe http://www.google.com"
        Directory="INSTALLDIR"
        Return="asyncNoWait" >
     REMOVE="ALL"
  </CustomAction>

  <InstallExecuteSequence>
     <Custom Action="LaunchBrowser" After="InstallValidate"/>
  </InstallExecuteSequence>

The REMOVE="ALL" condition will make sure the custom action is executed only if the product is being completely removed.

The After="InstallValidate" makes sure that the custom action is executed right after the REMOVE property value becomes known.

Behre

This solution is actually better than the one that got accepted because it will work with PushButtons. The only thing I'd advise is putting the " marks around the URL. – Evaporite

This is missing "AND NOT UPGRADINGPRODUCTCODE". – Coen

If you want to use the systems default browser (chrome, firefox, etc) you could use ExeCommand="cmd.exe /c start https://google.com" instead. – Mcdonald

@PhonicUK: for me the shown solution already uses the default browser, it's chrome on my system. Note the difference between explorer.exe (the file manager) and iexplore.exe (the IE browser). – Behre

Answer 3

The example provided by FireGiant Launch the Internet doesn't work for me but it inspire me to come out my own solution as below.

The condition NOT Installed mean new installation while Installed means it only trigger when uninstall.

<CustomAction Id="LaunchBrowser" Directory="INSTALLDIR" Return="asyncNoWait" ExeCommand="explorer.exe http://www.google.com/" />
<InstallExecuteSequence>
    <Custom Action="LaunchBrowser" After="InstallFinalize">Installed</Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>

Phlyctena

Answer 4

Here is what I did for both install and uninstall:

<Product>

...

<CustomAction Id="LaunchBrowserInstall" Directory="TARGETDIR" Execute="immediate" Impersonate="yes" Return="asyncNoWait" ExeCommand="explorer.exe https://www.example.com/post_install/" />

    <CustomAction Id="LaunchBrowserUninstall" Directory="TARGETDIR" Execute="immediate" Impersonate="yes" Return="asyncNoWait" ExeCommand="explorer.exe https://www.example.com/post_uninstall/" />

    <InstallExecuteSequence>
        <Custom Action="LaunchBrowserInstall" After="InstallFinalize">NOT Installed AND NOT REMOVE</Custom>
        <Custom Action="LaunchBrowserUninstall" After="InstallFinalize">REMOVE ~= "ALL"</Custom>
    </InstallExecuteSequence>

...

</Product>

Dashtilut