ServiceControl installer

[dannycohen]

Currently, ServiceControl is implemented as a Management API merge module. The module is embedded in the NServiceBus and the ServiceInsight Installers.

Requirement:

1. ServiceControl will be a standalone installer
2. The installer will embedded and installed by default with the NServiceBus and the ServiceInsight Installers.
   • The installation of ServiceControl will be silent, and based on parameters passed to the ServiceControl installer by the NServiceBus and the ServiceInsight Installers UI.
3. ServiceControl installer default Installation path: %Program Files%\Particular Software\ServiceControl
4. ServiceControl logo: TBD; use ServicePulse logo in the meantime
5. Input parameters:
   • ServiceControl Port number: default to 3333 (override-able via UI parameter or command line)
   • Transport type (defaults to MSMQ; select among predefined options in UI). Initially available selection options are:
     • "MSMQ"
     • "SQL Server"
     • "ActiveMQ"
     • "RabbitMQ"
     • "Windows Azure Queues"
     • "Windows Azure Service Bus"
     • "WebSphereMQ"
   • Instance name (string; optional; defaults to "ServiceControl@machinename")
   • Instance description (string; optional; defaults to "ServiceControl on 'machinename'")
6. No "simple" vs. "advanced" installation mode: all installation settings and input parameters are displayed by default.
7. On completion, the installer calls the URL: www.particular.net/Installation-completed?installer=ServiceControl&version=[ProductVersion]
8. Installer metadata:
   • Comment: "Particular Software ServiceControl version [ProductVersion] for NServiceBus"
   • Support link: http://particular.net/support
   • Update information: http://particular.net/downloads
9. The installer will check for the existence of a previous installation of Management API Windows Service ("Particular.Management") and require the user to uninstall the previous (beta) installation as a pre-requisite to installing ServiceControl
10. The installer will install the ServiceControl service as a Windows Service named "Particular.ServiceControl"

[dannycohen]

@johnsimons, @indualagarsamy -
Note this requires some changes & enhancements to the Custom Actions.

This applies to both the issue of checking for a past version of the Particular.Management Windows Service and also - more importantly to the issue of setting up the installation for the selected transport type

Note that - aside for MSMQ - we will not be installing the clients for the selected transports, but we will need to guide the user on setting the configuration appropriately. See per transport guidance pages.

[BogdanMitrache]

Using a separate installer will result in always having a separate entry in Control Panel for ServiceControl, including the moments when it is installed silently from NSB or ServiceInsight installers.

Also, related to point 9. If you check for the existence of the old service and ask the user to uninstall it, you will actually have to ask the user to uninstall the entire package of NSB or ServiceInsight, as it cannot uninstall just the merge module. Thus, the user will need to reinstall the NSB, respectively ServiceInsight.

If uninstalling is not really mandatory, and you just need to old service to be removed from the system, you could write a small custom action that would remove/unregister the old service from the system, before we install the new one. Since the executables are in different installation paths this should work. Saving us also from interrupting the user (to remove the old version) on installing the application.

[dannycohen]

In response to Bogdan's comments:

Using a separate installer will result in always having a separate entry in Control Panel for ServiceControl, including the moments when it is installed silently from NSB or ServiceInsight installers.

That's the goal. The current implementation as a Management API module forces us to install / uninstall Management API through the embedding installer - and that difficult to manage (since there are several options for installing the module.
As for the name of the Control panel installation entry - use "Particular Software ServiceConteol [ProductVersion]"

Also, related to point 9. If you check for the existence of the old service and ask the user to uninstall it, you will actually have to ask the user to uninstall the entire package of NSB or ServiceInsight, as it cannot uninstall just the merge module. Thus, the user will need to reinstall the NSB, respectively ServiceInsight.

Understood. ServiceControl will be embedded inside the installers of ServiceInsight and NServiceBus - as it is today. And as it is today, When installing a new version of these products, the user will have to uninstall the previous version (unless we can automate the un-installation of a previous version of the same product - please comment on that).

If uninstalling is not really mandatory, and you just need to old service to be removed from the system, you could write a small custom action that would remove/unregister the old service from the system, before we install the new one. Since the executables are in different installation paths this should work. Saving us also from interrupting the user (to remove the old version) on installing the application.

This is an option worth discussing.
@andreasohlund / @johnsimons / @SimonCropp / @indualagarsamy - Thoughts ?

[SimonCropp]

is this installer for developers or production? They are very different use cases

[dannycohen]

@SimonCropp -
For alpha / beta - this installer will try to address both. In production, you can have unattended installation etc.
What other features would you require for production installation ?

[SimonCropp]

for example on a dev box

• ability to support multiple version
• many developers like to avoid installations altogether and have xcopy friendly versions.
• developers often prefer not to have a service installed. just run an exe when they need it
• prefer to have either defered or manual service startup
• possibly up-sell
• fail back to trial mode
• more verbose errors

[dannycohen]

@SimonCropp - see comments:

ability to support multiple version

many developers like to avoid installations altogether and have xcopy friendly versions.

It is possible, but it collides with the idea of "it just works" from the get go. We'll need to setup RavenDB, configuration etc, so the developer will need to play around with configuration files (or run batch files, which are harder to debug).
In addition - note that for ServiceControl, the main user persona is actually the Operations guy, not the developer (arguably, if ServicePulse is the installation goal).

developers often prefer not to have a service installed. just run an exe when they need it

Can't this be acheived by running (or stopping) the NServiceBus.Host.exe manually from inside the ServiceControl installation directory ?

prefer to have either defered or manual service startup

The user can have this by entering the Windows Servicem management tools and setting the startup settings for the service (or achieving the same from command-line / powerrshell).

possibly up-sell
fail back to trial mode
more verbose errors

Note clear to me. Can you elaborate on what you mean here ?

[BogdanMitrache]

When installing a new version of these products, the user will have to uninstall the previous version (unless we can > automate the un-installation of a previous version of the same product - please comment on that).

NServiceBus and ServiceInsight were designed from the first time I wrote them to support this, so when we will release the next version, they will be automatically uninstalled. The only restraint is to increase one of first 3 version fields, i.e. for example version 4.0.0.5 will not trigger an automatic uninstall of the old version, but version 4.2.0 will trigger it. I assume this is a major release so changing the version as requested is possible.

[dannycohen]

@BogdanMitrache - Sounds good.

[BogdanMitrache]

Regarding the logo, I need to images (PNG and ICO) as the one attached, If they have the same sizes it would be perfect, otherwise I will make the appropriate adjustments in the installer.

The ICO I cannot upload but you can find it in the ServiceControl repository, under "installer\Setup\res"

[dannycohen]

@BogdanMitrache - No - these are the old icons.
see my comment regarding the icon to use:

ServiceControl logo: TBD; use ServicePulse logo in the meantime

http://particular.net/Media/Default/OPS/ServicePuzleLabel.png

[BogdanMitrache]

Yes, I know these are the old icons, this is why I included one of them. So they can be used as examples, to see what files type and image sizes are required

[dannycohen]

@BogdanMitrache - Got it.

@sergioc - Can you assist @BogdanMitrache with his installer needs ?