Problems running MSI file

[olluz]

Hi there,

anybody else having problems executing msi files in Total Commander ?

The file opens fine in Windows Explorer, so it is not related to the file itself.
The msi extension is associtated with Windows Installer. I believe this is how it is supposed to be.

Running latest TC and Windows 11 (both 64bit)

Any ideas what's wrong ?

Thanks!

[Horst.Epp]

Use the context menu and the first entry with the name to execute it.

[white]

anybody else having problems executing msi files in Total Commander ?

No, what problems do you encounter?

[olluz]

sorry, for not providing enough information about the problem.

So, when I try to execute a msi file in TC, either be pressing enter (when the file is selected), by double clicking the file or by selecting the first entry in the context menu) I get this error message from "Windows Installer":
This installation package could not be opened. Contact the application vendor to verify this is a valid Windows installer package.

Again: The same file executed or double clicked in Windows Explorer works fine.

[Horst.Epp]

Again: The same file executed or double clicked in Windows Explorer works fine.

That only means that Explorer finishes some setting in the background but doesn't store the result.
Something is wrong with your OS settings, as TC has no problems to start msi packages.
The context menu way is only necessary when you have a plugin installed that handles msi files as archives.

[Dalai]

The context menu way is only necessary when you have a plugin installed that handles msi files as archives.

I use Shift+Enter in such cases.

Regards
Dalai

[olluz]

That only means that Explorer finishes some setting in the background but doesn't store the result.
Something is wrong with your OS settings, as TC has no problems to start msi packages.

Thanks a lot. Any hint what OS setting needs to be tweaked to make it work in TC or what Explorer is doing in the background to make it actually run ?

[olluz]

Ok, I finally found out what the problem is and I'm leaving it here for future reference:
it's related to symbolic links. TC can't execute MSI files in a relative path (symbolic link, junction), the same applies for e.g. the command prompt.
Windows Explorer seems to do some magic in the background so that it also works in relative paths, but I don't know what kind of magic.

[white]

TC can't execute MSI files in a relative path (symbolic link, junction), the same applies for e.g. the command prompt.

I created a symbolic link with relative path to an msi file and I cannot confirm that.

Windows Explorer seems to do some magic in the background so that it also works in relative paths, but I don't know what kind of magic.

Perhaps the magic is in the msi file?

[olluz]

So, I have created a symbolic link (Directory Junction) to the Downloads folder. When I try to execute a MSI file from within that symbolically linked directory I get the error message. When I execute the same file from within the "real" directory the MSI runs normally.
Does it then that also work ?
Btw. I am on Windows 11 if that matters somehow.

The magic is definitely not in the MSI file as Windows Explorer can execute the file in the relative and real path, whereas TC or Command prompt) can only execute the file in the real path, but the symbolic one.

[Dalai]

So, I have created a symbolic link (Directory Junction) to the Downloads folder.

A symbolic link is NOT the same as a junction! Junctions always have a full path to their target while symlinks can also have a relative path. Furthermore, symlinks can have a file as their target while junctions can only link to directories. There are also some differences when it comes to network locations (client vs. server resolving the link), but I don't want to make it even more complicated.

Not sure if this is relevant in this specific case, but I wanted to get the facts straight nonetheless.

How did you create that link? mklink? Something else? Which switches were used? There are subtle differences that lead to weird behavior.

Regards
Dalai

[olluz]

As stated above this problem is related to executing MSI files from within a directory junction.
And yes, the directory junction was created using mklink (with the /J switch for directory junction)

[olluz]

And just tested: A directory symbolic link (created with mklink /D) doesn't work either

[Dalai]

I just tested this and have not encountered any problem whatsoever. Here's what I tested:

1. I created a junction via mklink /J pointing from E:\7z to H:\Installs\7zip, the latter being the real directory, of course.
2. Launched TC 32-bit, navigated to E:\7z\23.01 and pressed Shift+Enter on 7z2301.msi - the setup wizard appeared as expected. Shift+Enter was used because I have the msi-plus plugin installed which makes TC open MSI files as archives.
3. Launched TC 64-bit, navigated to E:\7z\23.01 and pressed Enter (no MSI archive plugin here) - the setup wizard appeared as expected.
4. Created several more junctions pointing to other targets containing MSI files of other software and repeated my tests with those. I also used NTFSLinks Maker to create junctions a different way, just for good measure. No issues in either case.

So the question is, where does the link point exactly to in your case? How do the link's permissions look like?

Regards
Dalai

[olluz]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to test this.

Are you on Windows 11 ? Could it be related to the OS version ?

The directory junction to ANY other folder will not work:
Let's say I create a folder D:\A and then create a directory junction D:\B [D:\A]. Executing the MSI file from D:\A will work but when executing from D:\B it won't.

I'm not tinkering with any folder or file permissions, I've just created the directory and junction