Wix: Stopping a Windows Service on uninstall
windows-services, wix, wix3
Solution
Are you sure that the X_WIN_SERVICE_NAME property is set to the correct value on uninstall. Use a verbose log file to make sure that the search is setting the value correctly. Everything looks fine (although I don't know why you put everything in Include files instead of just using Fragments).
Problem
When I uninstall my service I get the error where it says I have to stop such and such service before uninstalling. This is unsatisfactory - the uninstaller should automatically stop it. I found a blog or newsgroup posting on this months ago and got it to work properly, but now it has stopped working for me. And I don't have a link to the post... maybe someone else know where it is? :) I guess I changed some subtle thing and it stopped working. I find Wix extremely difficult to troubleshoot. I am using the following include to fetch the property X_ WIN_ SERVICE_ NAME (sorry I don't know how to avoid _ escaping here) from the registry. It doesn't matter on install because in that case I explicitly set it with an input file. This include is used before any components in my wxs file. ``` <Include xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"> <?ifndef SetupXWinServiceRegistryProperties ?> <?define SetupXWinServiceRegistryProperties ?> <?define XWinServiceRegistryKey='Software\X\Y'?> <Property Id="X_WIN_SERVICE_NAME"> <RegistrySearch Id="XWinServiceNameSearch" Root="HKLM" Key="$(var.XWinServiceRegistryKey)" Name="ServiceName" Type="raw"/> </Property> <?endif?> </Include> ``` The following include component is used to save the registry value on install: ``` <Include xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"> <?ifndef WriteXWinServiceRegistryProperties ?> <?define WriteXWinServiceRegistryProperties ?> <Component Id="CompWriteXWinServiceRegistryProps" Guid="some guid"> <!-- Write properties to the registry. Then they will be accessable during uninstall. --> <RegistryValue Root="HKLM" Key="$(var.XWinServiceRegistryKey)" Name="ServiceName" Type="string" Value="[X_WIN_SERVICE_NAME]" Action="write" /> </Component> <?endif?> </Include> ``` I have checked my system after install and the registry value is properly written there. The part in my component where the service is setup looks like: ``` <ServiceInstall Id="ServiceInstallXWinService" Name="[X_WIN_SERVICE_NAME]" Start="auto" DisplayName="xxx" Description="yyy" Account="[X_WIN_SERVICE_USER]" Password="[X_WIN_SERVICE_PASSWORD]" Type="ownProcess" ErrorControl="normal" Vital="yes" /> <ServiceControl Id="ServiceInstallXWinService" Name="[X_WIN_SERVICE_NAME]" Stop="both" Remove="uninstall" Wait="yes" /> ``` Any ideas?