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I have an Inno Setup v5.5.9 file shown below;

[Languages]
Name: english; MessagesFile: compiler:Default.isl

[Files]
Source: "Setups\SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe"; DestDir: {tmp}\Setups; Flags: nocompression;

[UninstallRun]
Filename: {tmp}\Setups\SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe; Parameters: "/QS /ACTION=unInstall /FEATURES=SQLENGINE /INSTANCENAME=CASSQL"; 

[Run]
Filename: {tmp}\Setups\SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe; Parameters: "/QS /ACTION=Install /FEATURES=SQLENGINE /INSTANCENAME=CASSQL /INSTANCEDIR=""{pf}\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.CASSQL"" /SQLSVCACCOUNT=""NT Authority\Network Service"" /TCPENABLED=1 /SECURITYMODE=SQL /ADDCURRENTUSERASSQLADMIN /SAPWD=sapassword /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS";

The install works just fine, but once installed, if I go to Control Panel and right-click on the installer and select Uninstall, the uninstall will remove the installer from control panel but it doesn't actually run the SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe or uninstall the SQL Server Express named instance.

I read that Inno Setup would automatically handle uninstall, so I removed the [UninstallRun] section, but had the same result.

I can run the following :

SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe /QS /ACTION=unInstall /FEATURES=SQLENGINE /INSTANCENAME=CASSQL

From the command line and it works as expected.

[UPDATE #1 7/23/19] I added SetupLogging=yes to the [Setup] section, hoping to see something useful in a log file. Inno Setup created the log file when I ran the install, but did not create any log file when I ran the Uninstall by right-clicking on the Inno Setup generated installer in Control Panel.

What am I missing here?

whiskytangofoxtrot
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1 Answers1

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The files installed to {tmp} exist only for a duration of the installation:

Temporary directory used by Setup or Uninstall. This is not the value of the user's TEMP environment variable. It is a subdirectory of the user's temporary directory which is created by Setup or Uninstall at startup (with a name like "C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\IS-xxxxx.tmp"). All files and subdirectories in this directory are deleted when Setup or Uninstall exits. During Setup, this is primarily useful for extracting files that are to be executed in the [Run] section but aren't needed after the installation.

So at the time you run the uninstaller, the {tmp}\Setups\SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe does not exist anymore.

If you run the uninstaller manually from command-line and add /log=C:\some\path\uninstall.log switch, you wil find something like this in the log:

2019-07-24 08:46:04.614   Running Exec filename: C:\Users\marti\AppData\Local\Temp\is-K316U.tmp\Setups\SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe
2019-07-24 08:46:04.614   Running Exec parameters: /QS /ACTION=unInstall /FEATURES=SQLENGINE /INSTANCENAME=CASSQL
2019-07-24 08:46:04.615   CreateProcess failed (2).

If you want to be able to run SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe during uninstallation, you have to deploy it to a different folder, like to {app}.

You can can also embed the file into the uninstaller itself, if it is not too large (what it possibly is):
How keep uninstall files inside uninstaller?

Martin Prikryl
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