Windows – Uninstalling Msi package with MSIEXEC

command lineinstallationwindows-installer

I need to uninstall a MSI package through command line.
So i used:

msiexec /x package.msi

But this command requires the package.msi to be present in the local machine.

I want to uninstall the msi even if the msi file is missing.

How can I do that?

Best Answer

You can uninstall it using the product code:

msiexec.exe /x {your-product-code-guid}

You would obtain this code from the MSI itself, or whatever tool you are using to build the MSI.

Note that when you uninstall a product, it uses a cached MSI, since only the original MSI knows how to uninstall itself. When you use the product code, it uses the cached MSI from C:\WINDOWS\Installer.

Related Solutions

How to Extract Files from an MSI Package

First, access an elevated command prompt, to do this:

Click the Start button.
Click All Programs.
Go into Accessories.
Right-click on Command Prompt.
Select Run as administrator.
When the UAC Prompt appears, click Continue.

Once you have your elevated command prompt, input the following:

msiexec /a drive:\filepath\to\MSI\file /qb TARGETDIR=drive:\filepath\to\target\folder

using the desired locations to fill the above mentioned filepaths. Example:

msiexec /a c:\testfile.msi /qb TARGETDIR=c:\temp\test

Windows – Patch msp into msi package

The Microsoft article Deploying Product Updates from an Administrative Installation Point describes (among others) how .msp can be applied to .msi to generate updated .msi :

msiexec.exe /a "[path to .msi file]" /p "[path to .msp file]"

If an update contains multiple MSP files, you will need to run the command line separately for each MSP file that you apply to the administrative installation point - you cannot reference multiple MSP files on the same command line. The article describes in detail each command-line options.

[EDIT]

The above article may be misleading.

Before the patch step, one should first create an administrative install point from the original msi using the syntax msiexec /a original.msi.path (evoked from a different folder from where the source files are), then integrate the msp (execute this from the folder with the files in it), test the installer from the administrative share first, and afterward repackage the product.

Use the entire syntax as advised in the MS article :

msiexec /p [path\name of update MSP file] 
/a [path\name of MSI file] SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb 
/L* [path\name of log file]

For a full example, see this article: MSP to MSI - Office Communicator.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

How to Extract Files from an MSI Package

Windows – Patch msp into msi package

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