Software Deployment

Those Install Anywhere installers are poop. You havent said anything about your MSI, did you do a capture ?
If you dont want to re-package then you could use a wrapper, assuming the Install Anywhere allows silent switches. SMS will only report on the success of the wrapper (msi). A capture and a MSI would be much better.

Thanks for the quick response!

Yeah, I believe that the install anywhere is the source of my grief. I created an .msi using setup capture. I originally created it using a clean virtual XP environment. However, the program wouldn't even pretend to launch after that. Next, I ran setup capture using a machine with our own corporate image. A little more cluttered, but seemed to be a much more effective capture. I tried running smart monitor just to get the installation report so I could get a sense of what order everything was being installed from the original package. Unfortunately, something with this package and smart monitor causes my packaging station OS to irreversibly corrupt. I have since stuck to just the straight setup capture. I haven't gotten much in the way of vendor support so far and with everything coming down to the wire I think the wrapper might be the best option right now. I have confirmed that silent switches do work with the original install anywhere junk, but I'm not sure how to start building a wrapper. Would you recommend creating a batch file for each silent install command and then somehow putting in custom actions to the script editor? Can you recommend a resource that has some good pointers on the wrapping process? Thanks again!

Avoid the wrapper route. Instead, go back to your original capture and, after install, "hide" the registry flag that indicates an installed state. Then, start a lightweight snapshot tool e.g. InstallWatch and take a 'Before' snapshot. Then run the vendor's install over the top of yours. Take an 'After' snapshot. This is what's known as a gap capture. Incorporate relevant changes into your package. Keep doing that until the app starts.

That's fantastic! I was wondering if there was a way I could run another layer of capture for the same install. I'm not sure that this software indicates an installed status in the registry (I haven't found where it would be yet in any case). However, it does have a custom action where it searches the machine to determine pre-existing versions. How do I get around add/remove programs identifying the programs as the same software and/or the original package searching for existing Avaya versions?

Most apps record their installation status in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\[some_name_or_GUID].

Did you manage to get this sorted out? I'm interested as I have the same application that I am trying to package and am having similar difficulties.