Installing very large files

Question

I have an MSI package that installs a large database file in addition to the programme components. This file is not included inside the package but is delivered beside the msi file. Up to now there was no problem with this setup. Now the database grew to a size larger than 2 GB. This throws an error upon installation (tested on Win7 machine):

"Error while writing the file: [path to database file]. Check if you have permissions for the folder."

Searching the internet showed that windows Installer seems to have a problem with files larger than 2GB. As solution it was suggested not to include the file inside the MSI but to ship it uncompressed alongside the msi. This is what we are doing already. Thus the suggested solution does not work.

Is there any way to install files larger than 2 GB using Windows Installer? This limitation seems to be a little outdated to me.

P.S.: if it helps, the installation is build using WIX but any hints on what to modify in the msi database itself are appreciated

Answer 1

The Windows Installer does have some old limits in it. The table definition for FileSize has a limit of 2GB and the Windows Installer uses cabinet files to compress data which has a limit of 4GB (although you can get around it by using cab-splitting).

I'm pretty sure you've hit a real max in the Windows Installer but if you have a newer version of the WiX toolset (v3.7+) you can see if cab-splitting will work for you. To try replace any Media elements you might have with:

<MediaTemplate MaximumCabinetSizeForLargeFileSplitting='200' />

That will create as many 200MB cabinets as necessary to contain your content. The only remaining question is whether the Windows Installer will understand the file when it is greater than 2GB. Best of luck!