c# - Wix Service Installer sometimes fails to install or start

Question

Sometimes when i am running my installer (build with wix) it fails to install or start the service. But the problem doesn't always appear, so most of the time it works and but now and then it fails. My solutions until now are:

1. Retrying by pressing the retry button.
2. Retrying by closing the installer and opening it again.
3. Retrying by closing the installer and the windows file explorer and the reopening both.
4. Disconnecting external drive and the reconnecting it and retrying the installer.

But i am looking for how i can permanently solve it. Since i want to have a reliable installer.

The following devices are used:

1. Windows tablet with Windows 8.1
2. Windows tablet with Windows 10
3. Windows pc with Windows 10
4. VirtualBox instance with Windows Server 2016
5. VMWare instance with Windows 7

Project specs:

• .NET 4.7.1
• Wix 3.11.1.2318

Answer 1

Verbose, Debug Logging: Maybe try to do verbose logging with extra debugging information and direct write without buffering (to prevent loss of log buffer due to crashes - the latter not really needed for your case, but leave it in) and see if you get more information about the runtime error:

msiexec.exe /i C:PathYour.msi /L*vx! C:Your.log

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Some questions:

• Are you running any custom actions related to the service installation?
• What does your service actually do? Does it involve any database connections?
• Does the error happen on specific machines only - or on all machines? Is the machine in question a virtual machine?
• Is it accurate that retrying makes the service eventually start?
• What language is the service written in? Managed code? (yes, looks like it is)
• This service is not a binary automatically converted to run as a service, is it? (guess not)
• What does it say in the event viewer? (Windows + R eventvwr and OK)