What is a sequence of actions in a default MSI installation (not custom)?

Question

An MSI installer calls a lot of pre-defined actions during install - FindRelatedProducts, CheckVersion, etc. Different actions are called during different install types and sequences: admin, unattended, user, execute, deffered... and custom actions are queued 'before' or 'after' these predefined MSI actions.

Is there a complete list available that shows the exact sequence in which MSI actions are called in different install modes and sequences? Ideally with short comments about what each action does and what is a good practice to insert custom actions into.

Answer 1

See the MSDN documentation, specifically the documentation on Using a Sequence Table.

For offline reference, download the Windows Installer 4.5 SDK and read MSI.CHM (it's much easier to navigate than the MSDN stuff anyway)

Answer 2

Windows Installer is very complex (after my experience with it I could say it is an euphemism for ridiculous mess) and I did not find any summary of required order of actions. However, the order for example in Suggested InstallExecuteSequence is suggested by MS, so it should work.