Executing Powershell Script Silently using WixQuietExec

Question

I'm new to using WixToolset, I'm trying to execute a ps1 file using WixQuietExec - https://wixtoolset.org/docs/v3/customactions/qtexec/. The ps1 script works in general if I execute it directly using powershell. It fails with WixQuietExec

I used the below in my product.wxs

    <Property Id="POWERSHELLEXE">
        <RegistrySearch Id="POWERSHELLEXE"
                        Type="raw"
                        Root="HKLM"
                        Key="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\ShellIds\Microsoft.PowerShell"
                        Name="Path" />
    </Property>

    <SetProperty Id="SysShell"
        Before="SysShell"
        Sequence="execute"
        Value ="&quot;[POWERSHELLEXE]&quot; -NoProfile -NonInteractive -InputFormat None -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command &quot;&amp; '[#CreateEventLogPS1]' ; exit $$($Error.Count)&quot;" />

    <CustomAction Id="SysShell" BinaryKey="WixCA" DllEntry="WixQuietExec" Execute="deferred" Return="check" Impersonate="no" />

    <InstallExecuteSequence>
        <Custom Action="SysShell" Before="InstallFinalize">
            <![CDATA[NOT Installed]]>
        </Custom>
    </InstallExecuteSequence>

I'm able to generate MSI build but when I try to install the MSI, I get the below error logs which doesn't exactly specify the command line error and the MSI installation fails.

MSI (s) (E8:C4) [13:41:56:992]: Executing op: ActionStart(Name=SysShell,,)
MSI (s) (E8:C4) [13:41:56:992]: Executing op: CustomActionSchedule(Action=SysShell,ActionType=3073,Source=BinaryData,Target=WixQuietExec,CustomActionData="C:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -NoProfile -NonInteractive -InputFormat None -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "& 'C:\Program Files\UpdateFile\EventLog.ps1' ; exit $($Error.Count)")
MSI (s) (E8:C4) [13:41:57:000]: Creating MSIHANDLE (2) of type 790536 for thread 10436
MSI (s) (E8:50) [13:41:57:000]: Invoking remote custom action. DLL: C:\Windows\Installer\MSIC226.tmp, Entrypoint: WixQuietExec
MSI (s) (E8:1C) [13:41:57:000]: Generating random cookie.
MSI (s) (E8:1C) [13:41:57:017]: Created Custom Action Server with PID 4160 (0x1040).
MSI (s) (E8:C8) [13:41:57:098]: Running as a service.
MSI (s) (E8:C8) [13:41:57:098]: Hello, I'm your 32bit Elevated Non-remapped custom action server.
MSI (s) (E8!E4) [13:42:03:824]: Creating MSIHANDLE (3) of type 790531 for thread 14820
WixQuietExec:  Error 0x80070007: Command line returned an error.
MSI (s) (E8!E4) [13:42:03:825]: Closing MSIHANDLE (3) of type 790531 for thread 14820
MSI (s) (E8!E4) [13:42:03:825]: Creating MSIHANDLE (4) of type 790531 for thread 14820
WixQuietExec:  Error 0x80070007: QuietExec Failed
MSI (s) (E8!E4) [13:42:03:825]: Closing MSIHANDLE (4) of type 790531 for thread 14820
MSI (s) (E8!E4) [13:42:03:826]: Creating MSIHANDLE (5) of type 790531 for thread 14820
WixQuietExec:  Error 0x80070007: Failed in ExecCommon method
MSI (s) (E8!E4) [13:42:03:827]: Closing MSIHANDLE (5) of type 790531 for thread 14820
CustomAction SystemShell returned actual error code 1603 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox)
MSI (s) (E8:50) [13:42:03:828]: Closing MSIHANDLE (2) of type 790536 for thread 10436
Action ended 13:42:03: InstallFinalize. Return value 3.

Any guidance regarding this issue is truly appreciated. Thank you.

I've read other stackoverflow references Run PowerShell script from WiX installer and other online blogs https://0ptikghost.blogspot.com/2011/03/executing-powershell-scripts-silently.html but nothing works.

Answer 1

Using -File instead of -Command inside SetProperty worked for me.

        <Property Id="POWERSHELLEXE">
            <RegistrySearch Id="POWERSHELLEXE"
                            Type="raw"
                            Root="HKLM"
                            Key="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\ShellIds\Microsoft.PowerShell"
                            Name="Path" />
        </Property>
        <Condition Message="This application requires Windows PowerShell.">
            <![CDATA[Installed OR POWERSHELLEXE]]>
        </Condition>

        <SetProperty Id="SystemShell"
                Before="SystemShell"
                Sequence="execute"
                Value ="&quot;[POWERSHELLEXE]&quot; -NoProfile -NonInteractive -InputFormat None -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File &quot;[#CreateEventLogPS1]&quot;" />

        <CustomAction Id="SystemShell" BinaryKey="WixCA" DllEntry="WixQuietExec" Execute="deferred" Return="check" Impersonate="no" />

        <InstallExecuteSequence>
            <Custom Action="SystemShell" Before="InstallFinalize">
                <![CDATA[NOT Installed]]>
            </Custom>
        </InstallExecuteSequence>

Not related to this but the powershell process created here is not able to access registry. I've posted a different question for the same Wix Custom Action always creates 32 bit powershell process. How to make it to create a 64 bit process?