The target file 'XXXX' is installed in 'YYYY' by two different components on an LFN system

Question

We recently upgraded DevExpress. Since we have a custom theme, we had to upgrade the custom theme too.

That was the easy part. Now I'm trying to upgrade the setup to match the new file. So basically, I'm changing the <File .../> of one <Component .../>:

From

  <Component Id="Lib_Various_Files" Guid="9C621EB0-12E6-4D1D-8B5B-4150A76E33AA" KeyPath="yes" SharedDllRefCount="yes">
    ...
    <File Id="DevExpress.Xpf.Themes.PreviousTheme.v17.1.dll" Name="DevExpress.Xpf.Themes.PreviousTheme.v17.1.dll" ReadOnly="yes" Vital="no" Compressed="default" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirLib)\PreviousTheme\DevExpress.Xpf.Themes.PreviousTheme.v17.1.dll" />
  </Component>

To:

  <Component Id="Lib_Various_Files" Guid="9C621EB0-12E6-4D1D-8B5B-4150A76E33AA" KeyPath="yes" SharedDllRefCount="yes">
    ...
    <File Id="DevExpress.Xpf.Themes.OurTheme.v17.2.dll" Name="DevExpress.Xpf.Themes.OurTheme.v17.2.dll" ReadOnly="yes" Vital="no" Compressed="default" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirLib)\OurTheme\.td\Publish\DevExpress.Xpf.Themes.OurTheme.v17.2.dll" />
  </Component>

Now I've an error in the setup, which seems to have no links to this line:

error LGHT0204: ICE30: The target file 'qgikh9i6.dll|System.Windows.Interactivity.dll' is installed in '[TARGETDIR]\OurProduct\Bin\' by two different components on an LFN system: 'cmpF5730C92213BA3272DDA3A5657DFF782' and 'Lib_Prism'. This breaks component reference counting. [D:\ws\OurProduct-Nightly\SetupWix\SetupWix\SetupWix.wixproj]

We do reference this library, in the Lib_Prism component(which is then in another Lib_Various component, that reference Lib_Prism and Lib_Various_Files, but nowhere else.

Any idea what could be the issue?

So here is the complete components list of this file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
  <Fragment>
    <?include ..\Common.wxi?>

    <DirectoryRef Id="BIN">
      <Component Id="Lib_Various_Files" Guid="9C621EB0-12E6-4D1D-8B5B-4150A76E33AA" KeyPath="yes" SharedDllRefCount="yes">
        ...
        <File Id="DevExpress.Xpf.Themes.OurTheme.v17.2.dll" Name="DevExpress.Xpf.Themes.OurTheme.v17.2.dll" ReadOnly="yes" Vital="no" Compressed="default" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirLib)\OurTheme\.td\Publish\DevExpress.Xpf.Themes.OurTheme.v17.2.dll" />
      </Component>
      <Component Id="Lib_MicrosoftPractices" Guid="780097FD-40C9-417A-A2C3-7C2B44567BEC" KeyPath="yes" SharedDllRefCount="yes">
        <File ReadOnly="yes" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirPackages)\CommonServiceLocator.1.3\lib\portable-net4+sl5+netcore45+wpa81+wp8\Microsoft.Practices.ServiceLocation.dll" />
        <File ReadOnly="yes" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirPackages)\Unity.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Practices.Unity.Configuration.dll" />
        <File ReadOnly="yes" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirPackages)\Unity.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Practices.Unity.RegistrationByConvention.dll" />
        <File ReadOnly="yes" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirPackages)\Unity.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Practices.Unity.dll" />
      </Component>
      <Component Id="Lib_Prism" Guid="0F937515-2248-4CD2-B2E9-3E121FA9D743" KeyPath="yes" SharedDllRefCount="yes">
        <File ReadOnly="yes" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirPackages)\Prism.Core.6.3.0\lib\net45\Prism.dll" />
        <File ReadOnly="yes" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirPackages)\Prism.Unity.6.3.0\lib\net45\Prism.Unity.Wpf.dll" />
        <File ReadOnly="yes" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirPackages)\Prism.Wpf.6.3.0\lib\net45\Prism.Wpf.dll" />
        <File ReadOnly="yes" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirPackages)\Prism.Wpf.6.3.0\lib\net45\System.Windows.Interactivity.dll" />
      </Component>
      <Component Id="Lib_MvvmValidation" Guid="8681DBA1-F83D-475B-BCB8-A54A1F05FF0A" KeyPath="yes" SharedDllRefCount="yes">
        <File ReadOnly="yes" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirPackages)\MvvmValidation.3.1.0\lib\netstandard1.0\MvvmValidation.dll" />
      </Component>
      <Component Id="Lib_Protobuf_Net" Guid="AEE6F4EB-78E3-4EC5-AA88-D5CC29D683D0" KeyPath="yes" SharedDllRefCount="yes">
        <File ReadOnly="yes" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.DirDotfuscated)\ProtobufNet.dll" />
      </Component>
    </DirectoryRef>

    <ComponentGroup Id="Lib_Various" >
      <ComponentRef Id="Lib_MicrosoftPractices" />
      <ComponentRef Id="Lib_Prism" />
      <ComponentRef Id="Lib_Various_Files" />
      <ComponentRef Id="Lib_MvvmValidation" />
      <ComponentRef Id="Lib_Protobuf_Net" />
    </ComponentGroup>

  </Fragment>
</Wix>

@harper Yes, I in the same file, I added the code (almost) the full component. — J4N, Mar 06 '18 at 08:19
And you find `cmpF5730C92213BA3272DDA3A5657DFF782` somewhere? The light error message tells you that you should have the file only once. — harper, Mar 06 '18 at 08:21
I see you reverted my GUID changes. I removed them to eliminate the risk of them being copied and used by others. That would cause unnecessary problems if packages with identical component GUIDs hit the same box (or God forbid identical product or upgrade GUIDs). My two cents: not worth the risk, no matter how small it is. **Please eliminate GUIDs in your sources**. That being said, the risk of copy / pasting is higher if your markup demonstrates something unusual - which your markup doesn't. — Stein Åsmul, Mar 08 '18 at 17:13
@SteinÅsmul Well if I was the one having this same issue and coming on this page, I would have tought it doesn't apply to me due to the * Guid. Also I don't see why anybody would copy those specific DLL from this question(and even if it was the case, since it's the same DLL, it's not a big deal they have the same GUID as mine). — J4N, Mar 08 '18 at 20:54
GUIDs are supposed to be unique. If they are not, problems may result. That's the essence. The whole story is complicated. For limited release-scope the risk is minimal, for global release I'd say the risk is actual. Just trying to help alert you to risk that is hard to deal with once "realized". Files can be missing after other applications are maintained. Your product could unexpectedly be uninstalled during another product's upgrade process, your product could fail to install at all due to clashes with another installed product, etc... A bit theoretical, yet we see it happen now and then. — Stein Åsmul, Mar 10 '18 at 00:13

Stein Åsmul · Answer 1 · 2018-03-06T23:52:45.270

Looking at your source file there are several problems with your component reference counting outright. You should never install several binaries with one component - it is a direct violation of the component rules. This causes exactly the kind of problems the error message indicates.

I recommend using a single file per component because that solves a plethora of possible reference count issues and upgrade problems. The shared-dll ref counters can also cause some blues I think. Do you have a legacy installer that you are trying to be compatible with? If not, then there is no reason to enable this component option - it increments the legacy SharedDLL ref-counter used by older, non-MSI installer technologies.

Now, for the issue where you change a file name in an existing component. This is also a violation of the component rules. You can not change the absolute file name of a component's key path and keep the same component GUID - this breaks component referencing. There must be a 1-to-1 correspondence between an absolute installation path and a component GUID.

The component GUID doesn't follow the file around if it moves, and the file "moves" when you change its file name (its absolute installation path has changed). There is an explanation here with an example: Change my component GUID in wix? (recommended read - decode this MSI peculiarity and things will be clearer going forward).

If you change a file name you can either:

Set your component GUIDs to auto-generate by deleting the whole GUID section in your source. The GUID will then be generated to be stable as long as the installation target path remains the same, and when you change the file name - for example - a new GUID will be generated for you auto-magically by WiX. See this answer for sample: Syntax for guids in WIX?
Set a new, hard-coded GUID yourself for the components where you change the file name that is being installed. This can be easy to forget - hence the recommended auto-magic described in point 1.
What you should actually do when file names change is to remove the old component and add a new one with the new file name. However, changing the GUID of an existing component and changing the file name has the same effect (same as deleting the old component and adding a new one).

With that said, there are bigger problems with this source as explained above. For future reliability you must split these components into one file per component. This causes interference between your old and new version and in order to clean this up, you can:

Set a totally new installation path for your project and use a single component per file from now on and you can use WiX's auto-magic component generation feature as explained above. This will work. Setting a new main installation folder "breaks the link" to "past component referencing sins".
Or you can uninstall the existing installation early during your major upgrade by moving RemoveExistingProducts early in the InstallExecuteSequence of your newest MSI version. This also wipes the slate clean of any component referencing issues and you can change your source to use one file per component going forward. If you use the MajorUpgrade element this change is easy - just set Schedule="afterInstallValidate". That should work (no time to test).

That should be it - if I have understood your scenario correctly.

Sample WiX extract for the proposed, new version:

<DirectoryRef Id="BIN">
  <Component Feature="Product"> 
    <File Source="$(var.DirLib)\OurTheme\.td\Publish\DevExpress.Xpf.Themes.OurTheme.v17.2.dll" />
  </Component>      
  <Component Feature="Product"> 
    <File Source="$(var.DirPackages)\CommonServiceLocator.1.3\lib\portable-net4+sl5+netcore45+wpa81+wp8\Microsoft.Practices.ServiceLocation.dll" />
  </Component>      
  <Component Feature="Product"> 
    <File Source="$(var.DirPackages)\Unity.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Practices.Unity.Configuration.dll" />
  </Component>
  <Component Feature="Product"> 
    <File Source="$(var.DirPackages)\Unity.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Practices.Unity.RegistrationByConvention.dll" />
  </Component>
  <...>
</DirectoryRef>

Notice the tersified source with all attributes that can be auto-generated left out and all components now containing a single file. There is also direct specification of what feature each component belongs to as an attribute of the Component element. I find that this yields the least complicated and most flexible WiX source files. Preferences vary - obviously.

I would not roll with your current "multiple binaries per component" setup going forward. There will be more trouble if you do - almost guaranteed. MSI bites back - sorry to say - there are many bear traps. MSI has aspects that border on anti-patterns. The problems are faced by almost everyone. There is a section towards the bottom here on potential anti-patterns and also on the great benefits MSI yields for corporate deployment (just for reference): How to make better use of MSI files.

I am not particularly keen on this chaotic write-up of common MSI problems, but here it is: How do I avoid common design flaws in my WiX / MSI deployment solution? Maybe it can help to avoid some very common problems.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 07 '18 at 05:59

I finally found the issue:

It appears that DevExpress bin directory packs the System.Windows.Interactivity.dll library. So before we were not copying it and we didn't had it in our Lib\DevExpress folder.

It appears that we generate a componet with all Dll contained in the Lib\DevExpress folder, and therefore the System.WIndows.Interactivity.dll was contained in 2 differents packages.

I removed it from the DevExpress folder and now everything works fine. Sorry for the trouble.

The target file 'XXXX' is installed in 'YYYY' by two different components on an LFN system

2 Answers2