Debugging a Windows-Based Installer

InstallAnywhere 2021

To view or capture the debug output from a Windows-based installer, hold down the CTRL key immediately after launching the installer until a console window opens. Before exiting the installer, copy the console output to a text file for later review.

On some Windows-based systems, run the installer once while holding the CTRL key down, resetting the scroll-back buffer for the console window, and then quit and run the installation again.

If you encounter problems while capturing the console output, try a slightly more convoluted method. (This often is the case on Windows 9x systems because of the limited ability of the console to capture output). First launch the installer and allow it to extract the necessary files. Once it reaches the Preparing to Install panel, when given the opportunity to choose a language or to go to the Windows temp directory, look for a temp folder that starts with a vertical bar (I), followed by many numeric digits (for example—I1063988642). Be sure it is the most recent directory by sorting the directories by their modified date. Open the directory; it should contain a file called sea_loc. Delete this file. Now return to the installer, click OK. At the first opportunity, cancel the installation.

Now go back to the directory inside the temp directory, where the file sea_loc was deleted. There should be another directory called Windows; open it. There should be an .exe file (most likely install.exe). There should also be another file with the same name except it will have a .lax extension. Open it in a text editor and set the lax.stderr.redirect and lax.stdout.redirect properties:

lax.stderr.redirect=output.txt

lax.stdout.redirect=output.txt

After these changes have been made, save the file and launch the .exe. When the installation is complete, the same directory that contains the .lax file should contain an output.txt file. The output.txt file contains the same information that was sent to the console.