Resolution:

-- If you are facing problem while installation of .NET framework 3.5, may be the below information will help, it helped me in one of my case.

-- Check the .NET framework logs from temp directory (framework logs starts with dd_*):   

   [07/22/09,16:35:02] Optional Component 'Microsoft .Net Framework 3.0': [2] Error code 87 for this component means "The parameter is incorrect."

   [07/22/09,16:35:02] Optional Component 'Microsoft .Net Framework 3.0': [2] Setup Failed on component Optional Component 'Microsoft .Net Framework 3.0'

   [07/22/09,17:56:29] Optional Component 'Microsoft .Net Framework 3.0': [2] Error code 87 for this component means "The parameter is incorrect.

-- Above point suggests that there is a problem while installation of .NET framework 3.0.

-- From the registry information check if there is key of 3.0:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v2.0.50727

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v3.0

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v3.5

-- Windows 2008 comes with .NET framework 3.0, but anyhow it was not present on the box. in one of my case.

   https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc531167.aspx

-- Do the installation of .NET framework 3.0 from Role Management tool on the box.

   Computer Management --> Features --> Add features --> Select the installation of .NET framework 3.0

-- After that, installation of .NET framework 3.5 got installed successfully.

Framework download link: .NET framework 3.5

Disclaimer: This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.

Team build does not support the creation of MSI directly due to the file system of .vdproj can not be understood by MSBuild. But you may give it a try to create one with some tweaking with your project and .proj file of team build type.

Here is the msdn article which speaks about the same:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms404859(VS.80).aspx

There are lots of other articles also, just to add my 2 cents here on how you can move while using team build for building visual studio deployment project:

1) First make sure you are able to build visual studio setup and deployment project properly with visual studio.

2) Now to get the understanding of building deployment project with team build, perform the steps mentioned in the above article on one test project rather than performing everything  directly on your main project, reason is same as you always get while developing an application, not to mess up the main project :).

3) Once you are done successfully with the sample application, add the below code in .proj file for your team build definition.

    <Target Name="AfterCompile">
    <Exec Command="&quot;$(ProgramFiles)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\devenv&quot; &quot;$(SolutionRoot) \HelloWorldTest\HelloWorldTestInstaller\HelloWorldTestInstaller.vdproj&quot; /Build &quot;Debug|Any CPU&quot;"/> 
    </Target>

      (Change the "HelloWorldTestInstaller" with your project name)

   a) Here we are just calling devenv.exe with the target which will build the .vdproj after compiling the main application.

   b) You would require the full installation of visual studio, not only the components which gets installed with team explorer and team build, otherwise deployment project build will fail.

   c) If you are copying the dlls to some custom folder rather than the bin folder, then you need to set it to "PostBuildEvent" for the project's build event.

      Right click the project properties --> Build Events

      Here you need to mention the path, it will look like this:

      Copy $(TeamBuildOUtDir)\bin\debug $(SolutionRoot)\library\   (So here i am putting the dlls from debug folder to library folder). 

   d) MSI will not be copied to drop location by default, it will be in the bin\debug or bin\release or library as mentioned above. So you need to copy the MSI to drop location by mentioning the below line of code:

     <Copy SourceFiles="$(SolutionRoot)\HelloWorldTest\HelloWorldTestInstaller\Debug\HelloWorldTestInstaller.msi" DestinationFolder="$(OutDir)" />

   e) Also as you might be aware, if you don't want to copy the dlls to drop location as you are already having MSI of your project with you. Here is what you need to define in the .proj file:

      <SkipDropLocation>True<\SkipDropLocation>

   f) You may get some problem of references, to correct them, check the build order of your project, library. It should be in proper order. The way MSBuild build the project is bit different from the way visual studio build the project.

Hope this article would be of some help or give you some idea when creating MSI for your project with team build.

Disclaimer: This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.

-- .NET framework 3.5 SP1 fails with error:
    Error code 1603 for this component means "Fatal error during installation.

Resolution:
=========

--> This error is very generic in nature.
--> Sometime it is thrown due to restriction at group policy which rejects the installation of any update or patch.
--> In .NET framework 3.5 SP1 installation failure scenario, i would recommend you to check once dd_xps.txt log. It can be found in %temp% folder.
--> Failure can occur at 3.0 service pack installation.

--> if in above mentioned log file, you find error like:

     =============================

     2.744: d:\aab949b8ae7e35434dde6b\update\update.exe (version X.X.X.X)
     2.744: Failed To Enable SE_BACKUP_PRIVILEGE
     2.754: Setup encountered an error: You do not have permission to update OS_name. Please contact your system administrator.
     2.764: You do not have permission to update OS_name.

     ==============================

     Then it is surely a permission problem and restriction from group policy.

---> Check if user is having permission on below object:

     Back up files and directories 
     Restore files and directories 
     Manage auditing and security log 
     Take ownership of files or other objects 
     Shutdown the system 
     Debug programs 
 

--> If not, assign permission to these objects for a user in group policy.
--> After that installation should go fine.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
=======================
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/888791
This article speaks about in general for any patch installation.

Disclaimer: This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.

===================================================================================================================

This is just a sample. It would require some modification to run it fully.

Const GENERIC_ALL = &H10000000
Const GENERIC_EXECUTE = &H20000000
Const GENERIC_READ = &H80000000
Const GENERIC_WRITE = &H40000000

Const OBJECT_INHERIT_ACE = 1
Const CONTAINER_INHERIT_ACE = 2
Const NO_PROPAGATE_INHERIT_ACE = 4
Const INHERIT_ONLY_ACE = 8
Const INHERITED_ACE = 16

Const AUDIT_ACE_TYPE  = &H2 

Const FAILED_ACCESS_ACE_FLAG = &H80
Const SUCCESSFUL_ACCESS_ACE_FLAG = &H40

Dim strComputer
strComputer = "."

Dim oShell
Dim sortie, ace, trustee,retVal, wmiSecurityDescriptor

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
    & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate,(Security)}!\\" _
    & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

getPermissions "C:\Test"

Sub getPermissions (name)

Set objFile = objWMIService.Get("Win32_LogicalFileSecuritySetting='" & name & "'")

If objFile.GetSecurityDescriptor(objSD) = 0 Then

If isArray(objSD.SACL) Then

    For Each objAce in objSD.SACL

  If objAce.AceType = AUDIT_ACE_TYPE Then
  
   
  strAceType = ""
  
  If objAce.AceFlags And FAILED_ACCESS_ACE_FLAG Then
   If objAce.AceFlags And SUCCESSFUL_ACCESS_ACE_FLAG Then
    strAceType = "All"
   Else
    strAceType = "Fail"
   End If
  Else
   If objAce.AceFlags And SUCCESSFUL_ACCESS_ACE_FLAG Then
    strAceType = "Success"
   Else
    strAceType = "No"
   End If
  End If
  

 Wscript.echo strAceType
 Wscript.echo objAce.Trustee.Domain & "\" &objAce.Trustee.Name

  If objAce.AceFlags And OBJECT_INHERIT_ACE Then
   If objAce.AceFlags And CONTAINER_INHERIT_ACE Then
    If objAce.AceFlags And INHERIT_ONLY_ACE Then
      Wscript.echo "Subfolders and Files only"
    Else
      Wscript.echo "This Folder, Subfolders and Files"
    End If
   Else

    If objAce.AceFlags And INHERIT_ONLY_ACE Then
      Wscript.echo "Files Only"
    Else
      Wscript.echo "This Folder and Files"
    End If
   End If

  Else
  
   If objAce.AceFlags And CONTAINER_INHERIT_ACE Then
    If objAce.AceFlags And INHERIT_ONLY_ACE Then
      Wscript.echo "Subfolders only"
    Else
      Wscript.echo "This Folder and Subfolders"
    End If
   Else
     Wscript.echo "This Folder Only"
   End If

  End If

  Dim strPerm
  strPerm = ""

  If objAce.AccessMask AND 524288 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Take Ownership;"
  End If
  If objAce.AccessMask AND 262144 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Change Permissions;"
  End If
  If objAce.AccessMask AND 131072 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Read Permissions;"
  End If
  If objAce.AccessMask AND 65536 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Delete;"
  End If
  If objAce.AccessMask AND 256 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Write Attributes;"
  End If
  If objAce.AccessMask AND 128 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Read Attributes;"
  End If
  If objAce.AccessMask AND 64 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Delete Subfolders and Files;"
  End If
  If objAce.AccessMask AND 32 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Traverse Folder / Execute File;"
  End If
  If objAce.AccessMask AND 16 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Write Extended Attributes;"
  End If
  If objAce.AccessMask AND 8 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Read Extended Attributes;"
  End If
  If objAce.AccessMask AND 4 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Create Folders / Append Data;"
  End If

  If objAce.AccessMask AND 2 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Create Files / Write Data;"
  End If

  If objAce.AccessMask AND 1 Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "List Folder / Read Data;"
  End If

  If objAce.AccessMask And GENERIC_ALL Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Generic All;"
  End If

  If objAce.AccessMask And GENERIC_EXECUTE Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Generic Execute;"
  End If

  If objAce.AccessMask And GENERIC_READ Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Generic Read;"
  End If

  If objAce.AccessMask And GENERIC_WRITE Then
   strPerm = strPerm & "Generic Write;"
  End If

  Wscript.echo strPerm

  End If

  line = line + 1
    Next

Else

 Wscript.echo name & " doesn't have audit setting."

End If
End If

================================================================================================================================

Disclaimer: Above script is just for illustration purpose. Not recommended to run on production server without testing.

                 This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.

Take example of dll abc.dll.

Policy file should be created with name: policy.major.minor.assemblyname.dll

(Here major and minor are Old dll’s major and minor version, Assembly name is dll name)

So for abc.dll with major and minor version 1.0, you have to create policy file ‘policy.1.0.abc.dll’ and put in GAC.

For abc.dll with major and minor version 1.2, you have to create policy file ‘policy.1.2.abc.dll’ and put in GAC.

Command for creating policy file: al /link:abc.dll.config /out: policy.1.0.abc.dll /keyfile:abc.snk /v:1.0.0.0

                                                             al /link:abc.dll.config /out: policy.1.2.abc.dll /keyfile:abc.snk /v:1.2.0.0

Now here is some more clarity:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/7wd6ex19(VS.80).aspx

This msdn article says:

(a) If we want to redirect from version 1.1.0.0-1.2.0.0 to version 2.0.0.0, according to section "Redirecting Assembly Versions Using Publisher Policy" in above msdn article, they should be in different policy file, according to the "Redirecting Assembly Versions" section, they can go into one policy file.

(b) What’s the name of the Policy DLL should be? In MSDN it said the name is “policy.majorNumber.minorNumber.mainAssemblyName.dll” – then it should be “policy.1.1.mainAssemblyName.dll” or “policy.1.2.mainAssemblyName.dll”?

The above link is an article about redirecting versions in general, rather than specific to publisher policy.  We use the same syntax for both config files, as well as publisher policy files.  So, when used in a configuration file, the syntax allows for ranges of major/minor “oldVersions”, but the publisher policy infrastructure requires separate files for each major/minor version.

Each major.minor version of an assembly has its own publisher policy file. For example, redirections from version 1.1.2.222 to 1.1.3.000 and from version 1.1.2.321 to version 1.1.3.000 both go into the same file. However, a redirection from version 2.0.0.999 to version 3.0.0.000 goes into a different file.

The above sentence is from the “Redirecting Assembly Versions Using Publisher Policy” section, and is true for publisher policy.

To redirect one version to another, use the <BindingRedirect> element. The oldVersion attribute can specify either a single version, or a range of versions. For example, <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.1.0.0-1.2.0.0" newVersion="2.0.0.0"/> specifies that the runtime should use version 2.0.0.0 instead of the assembly versions between 1.1.0.0 and 1.2.0.0.

The above sentence is from the “Specifying Assembly Binding in Configuration Files” section and is true for configuration files (machine.config/app.config/web.config/host.config etc.)

Hope it clears the doubt and give detail about using policy file and configuration for assembly version redirection.

Sometime we have noticed that while working on projects in Visual Studio which is using repository as Visual SourceSafe, during check-in we get error, file is already open "<drivename>\abc\xyz\xyz.cs"

Cause of the problem:

This may be due to some anti-virus is blocking the file.

Resolution:

ü  We have noticed this problem can occur due to anti-virus blocks the file.

ü  Reason may be anti-virus blocks files which is in frequent use or may be anti-virus is scanning the drive on that time.

·         There are tools from Microsoft and other companies, which you can run to diagnose this.

e.g. Read About ProcMon utility:

                                https://technet.microsoft.com/hi-in/sysinternals/default(en-us).aspx

·         Run this tool while error is reproduced. It will show you information about all files which are getting read\write by different processes.         

·         So let’s say, we are getting the error file is already open, then find from logs about all processes which are using file. If you find processes other than devenv.exe accessing that file, you need to kill them.

·         After that try to check-in that file, it should work properly.

ü  If it is feasible for you, you can stop anti-virus scanning on client and server.

ü  Also another option is, in anti-virus settings, exclude VSS database to get scanned.

Disclaimer: This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.

Cause of the problem: This problem can occur if we are using COM+ component also with application which is running under identity different from IIS.

Resolution:
We need to set the Date formatting in Regional Setting and Language options --> customize --> Date tab --> Specify the date format in Short date format
combobox and also in Advanced tab, select "Default user Account Settings".

Other alternative is to specifically set date formatting in Regional settings and language options for each user under which COM+ components are running and for IIS user.

Disclaimer: This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.

Here it is:

Problem: You might face problem with VSS move operation. Error may be "File or Project not found" or "Unable to finish writing to file"

Resolution: This problem may occur if we are having branching and sharing on our VSS database and some of the folders, files were deleted. Due to orphans files might be there in database, this error can come.

Steps to perform:

NOTE: BEFORE PERFORMING ANY OF THE BELOW OPERATION, PLEASE KEEP THE BACKUP OF THE DATABASE. 

Download the VSSEMS tool from below blog:

https://blogs.msdn.com/korbyp/archive/2004/06/16/157300.aspx

ü  Install VSSEMS tool

ü  Run it

ü  Open your local database

ü  Click “Find Deleted Items”

ü  Purge the deleted items.

ü  Close VSSEMS

Download the Datawiz tool from below blog:

https://code.msdn.microsoft.com/DATAWIZ/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=738

ü  Take the backup of database after running VSSEMS tool.

ü  Then perform the steps mentioned in above link. Don’t skip any step.

After above steps successfully ran with VSSEMS and Datawiz tools, Run the analyze utility with following switches.
<Path to analyze utility :> Analyze -F -V4 <path to data folder of database>

Here is msdn article on Analyze switch:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb509342(VS.80).aspx

Note: Above steps should be referred only when nature and symptoms of the problem are same as mentioned in this article. If you have doubt, it would be better to consult Microsoft support for resolution of the problem.

References: https://blogs.msdn.com/korbyp/archive/2004/06/16/157300.aspx

Disclaimer: This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.

Looked very strange...why suddenly this started ...

Let me tell you why it happend....

• Problem was occuring with both version of VSS (VSS 6.0 and VSS 2005)
• Installed all latest patches for VSS, still the problem remained..
• No CPU spike, No event log entries.
• Started the machine in Safemode.
• Now performed the Check-in operation.
• Check-in operation went smoothly.
• This is where I got a hit and hint of solution.
• Started machine in normal mode.
• Ran ProcMon tool.
• From the ProcMon log, found there are doubtful exes running.
• One was AntiVirus software.
• Stopped that AntiVirus.
• Performed operations with VSS.
• Everything ran smoothly.

Recommendation: Never run Antivirus software on VSS server. It may give you performance hit.

                          https://support.microsoft.com/kb/274051

 Read About ProcMon and other troubleshooting utility:

                           https://technet.microsoft.com/hi-in/sysinternals/default(en-us).aspx

Hope this article will help you too while facing problem with VSS.

Disclaimer: This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.

In our application, sometimes we would like to use XMLSerializer for optimization. This will create XMLSerializer.dll in your application.

This XMLSerializer.dll we normally dont want to download everytime, when we publish our application again after some changes and want it to be downloaded for specific set of users.

We can create a separate group for XMLSerializer.dll in ClickOnce, which will specify it to be downloaded to some set of user who belongs to that group.

Note: Never put XMLSerializer.dll and main application dll or exe in same group.

Disclaimer: This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.