Github Actions build error with msi

[ferllings]

• Electron-Builder Version: 23.6.0

• Node Version: 16.16

• Electron Version: 21.2.2
• Electron Type (current, beta, nightly): current

• Target: msi

Github Actions fails to build MSI:

Exit code: 217. Command failed: C:\Users\runneradmin\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\wix\wix-4.0.0.5512.2\light.exe -out D:\a\xxx.msi -v -spdb -sw1076 -dappDir=D:\a\xxx\dist\win-unpacked -pedantic -wx -ext WixUIExtension project.wixobj
light.exe : error LGHT0217 : Error executing ICE action 'ICE01'. The most common cause of this kind of ICE failure is an incorrectly registered scripting engine. See http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/error217/ for details and how to solve this problem. The following string format was not expected by the external UI message logger: "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance.".

This issue is related to wixtoolset/issues#5473, and one of the suggestion is to use -svalto bypass the validation.

I tried to set this option using additionalWixArgs,

        "msi": {
            "artifactName": "${name}-Setup-${version}.${ext}",
            "oneClick": false,
            "perMachine": true,
            "createDesktopShortcut": true,
            "createStartMenuShortcut": true,
            "additionalWixArgs": ["-sval"]
        },

But this generates a new error:

candle.exe : error CNDL1098 : '-sval' is not a valid command line argument.
  failedTask=build stackTrace=Error: Exit code: 1098. Command failed: C:\Users\runneradmin\AppData\Local\electron-builder\Cache\wix\wix-4.0.0.5512.2\candle.exe -arch x64 -dappDir=D:\a\xxx\dist\win-unpacked -pedantic -wx -sval project.wxs

Is there another way to set this option? (or solve this issue in another way)

Thanks

[ferllings]

Any idea?

[sduthil]

Got this issue too, fixed it by replacing CSC_LINK=path/to/certificate.pfx, instead of dumping the whole base64-endoded certificate in the env variable.

[ferllings]

@sduthil: Thanks for the tips. How do you provide the file? I assume it's not directly in the repo.

[sduthil]

@sduthil: Thanks for the tips. How do you provide the file? I assume it's not directly in the repo.

With Github actions, you can recreate the file from a secret in another step, something like:

      - name: Create certificate files for Windows
        if: ${{ contains(matrix.os, 'windows') }}
        run: 'echo "$windows_certs" | base64 -d > "./path/to/certificate.pfx"'
        shell: bash
        env:
          windows_certs: ${{ secrets.windows_certs }}

[ferllings]

I tested @sduthil solution, and it works.