Closed Bug 1663391 Opened 4 years ago Closed 3 years ago

Thunderbird: install option `/RemoveDistributionDir=false` fails for setup.exe (and REMOVE_DISTRIBUTION_DIR wrapper via MSI)

Categories

(Thunderbird :: Installer, defect, P3)

Tracking

(thunderbird_esr78 fixed, thunderbird86 affected)

RESOLVED FIXED
87 Branch
Tracking Status
thunderbird_esr78 --- fixed
thunderbird86 --- affected

People

(Reporter: guser, Assigned: rjl)

References

(Blocks 1 open bug, )

Details

Attachments

(1 file)

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/68.0

Steps to reproduce:

Run msiexec /i "Thunderbird Setup 78.2.1.msi" REMOVE_DISTRIBUTION_DIR=false

Actual results:

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\distribution folder is removed.

Expected results:

Do not remove existing C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\distribution folder.

It did not do this for version 68?

Flags: needinfo?(guser)

Reporter appears to be gone. I have not verified steps, nor whether this should work.

Flags: needinfo?(guser) → needinfo?(bugzilla2007)

(In reply to Wayne Mery (:wsmwk) from comment #2)

Reporter appears to be gone. I have not verified steps, nor whether this should work.

This should work in Thunderbird.

Would be nice to have a Thunderbird-branded copy of that support document, will look into that.

Flags: needinfo?(bugzilla2007)
Flags: needinfo?(bugzilla2007)

(In reply to Thomas D. (:thomas8) from comment #3)

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/deploy-firefox-msi-installers#w_firefox-custom-msi-options

Would be nice to have a Thunderbird-branded copy of that support document, will look into that.

I've recently created a completely overhauled edition for Thunderbird@work:

https://app.gitbook.com/@thunderbird/s/enterprise-docs/deploy/deploy-thunderbird-with-msi-installers

Flags: needinfo?(bugzilla2007)

From my own tests, confirming this bug exactly as described.
This will be an annoying fallout for enterprise admins deploying Thunderbird using /distribution subfolder with policies.json configuration file.

Rob, would you be able to look into this?

  • The MSI option gets internally translated to an option for the full installer (setup.exe):
    https://searchfox.org/comm-central/search?path=&q=REMOVE_DISTRIBUTION_DIR
    setup.exe... /RemoveDistributionDir=[REMOVE_DISTRIBUTION_DIR]

  • The setup.exe command line option of full installer fails:
    "Thunderbird Setup 78.7.1.en.64.exe" /RemoveDistributionDir=false /s
    I verified that the /distribution subfolder folder inside TB app folder gets removed anyway.

  • So the MSI wrapper option is also bound to fail (and so it does):
    msiexec /i "Thunderbird Setup 78.7.1.msi" REMOVE_DISTRIBUTION_DIR=false

Pertinent documentation:
Thunderbird: Deploy Thunderbird with MSI installers, which lists the options for MSI install.
Firefox: Full Installer Configuration, which lists the command line options for setup.exe (by analogy for TB).

Severity: -- → S3
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true
Flags: needinfo?(rob)
OS: Unspecified → All
Priority: -- → P3
Hardware: Unspecified → All
Summary: REMOVE_DISTRIBUTION_DIR does not work → Thunderbird: install option `/RemoveDistributionDir=false` fails for setup.exe (and REMOVE_DISTRIBUTION_DIR wrapper via MSI)

The block of code in the installer that looks for that argument is missing. Was added to the Firefox installer in bug 1425468.

Here's a try build with a fixed installer. I'm crossing fingers that I don't need to update the self-extract stub as well. I'm pretty sure we've updated ours between then and now.

https://treeherder.mozilla.org/jobs?repo=try-comm-central&revision=d68e1211387396039a9edf397d68ce02ae461ab8

Flags: needinfo?(rob)
Assignee: nobody → rob
Status: NEW → ASSIGNED
See Also: → 1425468
Target Milestone: --- → 87 Branch

Pushed by mkmelin@iki.fi:
https://hg.mozilla.org/comm-central/rev/3f1c2fbab3bd
Add missing commandline arguments to Windows installer. r=Paenglab

Status: ASSIGNED → RESOLVED
Closed: 3 years ago
Resolution: --- → FIXED

Verified this works on nightly 20210217180538. Used the MSI installer with REMOVE_DISTRIBUTION_DIR=false for testing purposes.

Comment on attachment 9202978 [details]
Bug 1663391 - Add missing commandline arguments to Windows installer. r=Paenglab

[Approval Request Comment]
Regression caused by (bug #):
User impact if declined: This mostly affects enterprise users who want to keep the distribution directory in tact when upgrading. Without this fix, the installer option to preserve the distribution directory has no effect.
Testing completed (on c-c, etc.): on nightly
Risk to taking this patch (and alternatives if risky):
Code was copied from the Firefox installer code and has been in use there for some time. It only adds the additional arguments to the installer and will not affect most users as the defaults do not change.

Attachment #9202978 - Flags: approval-comm-esr78?

Comment on attachment 9202978 [details]
Bug 1663391 - Add missing commandline arguments to Windows installer. r=Paenglab

[Triage Comment]
Approved for esr

Attachment #9202978 - Flags: approval-comm-esr78? → approval-comm-esr78+

Thank you very much Rob for fixing this!

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