Hi,

I am creating an .msi that will do the following:

a) Install SQL Server 2005 express edition

b) Create a database

To do this I created a Class Library project and added an installer class. I also created a Setup project and added the SQL Server 2005 msi to this.

In my installer class I override the install method and run the following:

.....

base.Install(stateServer); //this copies the SQL Server 2005.msito the "Program Files" directory.

System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(strBatchFile);

//where strBatchFile contains the following:

//misiexec /i C:\Program Files\......\SQL Server 2005.msi

//now run code to create the database within the newly installed SQL Server 2005

.....

When I try and run the .msi I get the message:

"Another installation is in progress. You must complete that installation before continuing this one."

This suggests that I cannot install SQL Server 2005 within my .msi. Is there any way around this?

Thanks in advance,

Kabir

The usual way is to use the Prerequisites button in your setup project to create a setup.exe that will install SQL Express plus a bunch of other optional prerequisites.

You cannot install an MSI-based setup from within a Visual Studio custom action. That's why SQL Express, .NET framework, VC redist etc are installed withbootstrap programs (like Visual Studio's setup.exe).

You can't do it like that.
Check this link: http://www.installsite.org/pages/en/msi/isd.htm#PrqSQL2005Exp
It checks if MSSQL is already installed and if not runs the installer before your installer is started.

Regards

The usual way is to use the Prerequisites button in your setup project to create a setup.exe that will install SQL Express plus a bunch of other optional prerequisites.

You cannot install an MSI-based setup from within a Visual Studio custom action. That's why SQL Express, .NET framework, VC redist etc are installed withbootstrap programs (like Visual Studio's setup.exe).