Unexpected behavior when running installer a second time with the same arguments or unattend.xml

[JrnJacobi]

BPO	37283
Nosy	@pfmoore, @tjguk, @zware, @zooba, @miss-islington
PRs	bpo-37283: Ensure command-line and unattend.xml setting override previously detected states in Windows installer #15759 [3.8] bpo-37283: Ensure command-line and unattend.xml setting override previously detected states in Windows installer (GH-15759) #15764 [3.7] bpo-37283: Ensure command-line and unattend.xml setting override previously detected states in Windows installer (GH-15759) #15765

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = 'https://github.com/zooba'
closed_at = <Date 2019-09-09.13:33:51.472>
created_at = <Date 2019-06-14.12:09:47.276>
labels = ['type-bug', 'expert-installation', '3.9', '3.8', '3.7', 'OS-windows']
title = 'Unexpected behavior when running installer a second time with the same arguments or unattend.xml'
updated_at = <Date 2019-09-09.13:33:51.471>
user = 'https://bugs.python.org/JrnJacobi'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2019-09-09.13:33:51.471>
actor = 'steve.dower'
assignee = 'steve.dower'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2019-09-09.13:33:51.472>
closer = 'steve.dower'
components = ['Installation', 'Windows']
creation = <Date 2019-06-14.12:09:47.276>
creator = 'J\xc3\xb6rn Jacobi'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 37283
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 7.0
messages = ['345589', '345615', '351420', '351437', '351450', '351455', '351460']
nosy_count = 6.0
nosy_names = ['paul.moore', 'tim.golden', 'zach.ware', 'steve.dower', 'miss-islington', 'J\xc3\xb6rn Jacobi']
pr_nums = ['15759', '15764', '15765']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'fixed'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = 'behavior'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue37283'
versions = ['Python 3.7', 'Python 3.8', 'Python 3.9']

[JrnJacobi]

When executing the installer with arguments or using the unattend.xml to run it without UI as documented in https://python.readthedocs.io/en/stable/using/windows.html#installing-without-ui the installer ignores the arguments or unattend.xml when it's executed again.

The second time, the installer (running i modify mode) uses the default values (hereby removing the Prepenpath if set the first time)

(testet with version 3.6.6-amd64 to 3.7.3-amd64 of the executable installer)

To recreate, run the following :

step 1 :
python-3.6.6-amd64.exe /passive InstallAllUsers=1 PrependPath=1 Include_doc=0 Include_dev=0 Include_tcltk=0 Include_test=0 SimpleInstall=1

now python is install as expected.

step 2 :
python-3.6.6-amd64.exe /passive InstallAllUsers=1 PrependPath=1 Include_doc=0 Include_dev=0 Include_tcltk=0 Include_test=0 SimpleInstall=1

even though the options are exactly the same, the installer now removes python from path and installs tcltk, documentation, test and dev.

step 3 :
python-3.6.6-amd64.exe /passive InstallAllUsers=1 PrependPath=1 Include_doc=0 Include_dev=0 Include_tcltk=0 Include_test=0 SimpleInstall=1

now the installer only makes a quick check, what i would have expected in step 2, but hare only the default values are used.

[zooba]

Hmm... interesting.

Thanks for the heads-up, I think I know what this may be (there's a conditional planning stage in the bootstrapper that is probably being skipped on Modify). I'll take a look when I get a chance.

[zooba]

Okay, this is definitely an ordering issue in Tools/msi/bundle/bootstrap/PythonBootstrapApplication.cpp

Fixing most of the options is easy - just a case of moving LoadOptionalFeatureStates() a few lines up - but Install_launcher is set much later. I should be able to fix both though.

[zooba]

New changeset 3a0ddbc by Steve Dower in branch 'master':
bpo-37283: Ensure command-line and unattend.xml setting override previously detected states in Windows installer (GH-15759)
3a0ddbc

[miss-islington]

New changeset 2a4a982 by Miss Islington (bot) in branch '3.8':
bpo-37283: Ensure command-line and unattend.xml setting override previously detected states in Windows installer (GH-15759)
2a4a982

[miss-islington]

New changeset d3b8a6b by Miss Islington (bot) in branch '3.7':
bpo-37283: Ensure command-line and unattend.xml setting override previously detected states in Windows installer (GH-15759)
d3b8a6b

[zooba]

This will be fixed in the next release. Thanks for the report!