Re: Action requested - Application Softblock implemented | Issue report ID341057

Hello,

I am a program manager with the Ecosystem Engineering team at Microsoft. At //BUILD/<http://www.buildwindows.com/> in September, Microsoft announced the availability of the Windows 8 Developer Preview. Please use the resources available at the BUILD site and begin testing your applications. For more information on how to verify the compatibility of your applications on Windows Developer Preview, please refer to the Windows and Windows Server Developer Preview Compatibility Cookbook<http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=27416>

Our team drives the bug notification activity with our valued Windows partners. This email is to notify you that PostgreSQL's application/driver experienced compatibility issue(s) during internal Microsoft testing and has been blocked. Please note that this block may already be in the latest Windows Developer Preview build so your prompt attention to the issue is much appreciated.

<<<Partner Action>>>
Please read the issue description below and acknowledge receipt of this communication via a response to this email within 5 business days. Also, we request that you provide us with a URL pointing our mutual customers to the issue details or fix as soon as possible. Over a million users are already previewing the Windows Developer Preview build and this URL will be used to help deliver a great experience.

Here are the details of the Softblock implementations:
Compatibility Issue:
Product name: PostgreSQL 8.2

Description of the Problem: Installation fails with an error message "Malformed permissions property: 'langid' "

Detailed Steps to Reproduce the Problem:
1. Install x64/x86 Windows 8
2. Create user Abby with an administrator privilege & login with Abby
3. Start 'Secondary Logon' service before installation
4. Install the application
5. Accept all default options while installing
6. Wait for installation to completes
7. Observe

Actual Results: Prompts Error message "Malformed permissions property: 'langid' " (Install_Error1.jpg). Once we click Ok, the installation abrupts and Fatal Error (Install_Error2.jpg) will be shown.

Expected Results: Application should install successfully without any error message

Tester/Developer Notes:
This failure is due to a programming error in the "RunInitdb" MSI Custom Action. After entering pginstca!RunInitdb() the custom action dll calls msi!MsiGetPropertyA with parameter szName = "CustomActionData" in order to fill the szValueBuffer parameter with the returned CustomActionData string.

In the RunInitdb function, you can see that char *datadir is never initialized but it is used erroneously to check for null. This bug was fixed in the 8.3.x and 8.4.x branch. On Windows7, 8.2.x works even though datadir is pointing to garbage, the garbage just happens to be non-null. On Win8, somehow [ebp-14h]/datadir is NULL. Either way, this is what's breaking the installation.

The solution we have implemented is soft blocks on application setup and/or runtime. This serves only as a warning of known compatibility issues. The user can choose the option "Run program" and continue their operations normally.

Soft Block - Runtime and Setup Dialog box sample:
[Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: cid:image003(dot)png(at)01C9F64D(dot)14853A40]
If end users choose "Check for solutions online" we can take end users directly to a webpage provided by your company. This URL should contain a description of the problem, point to a newer version or a downloadable update (if you could provide the redirect URL or FWLink, instead of the actual site link, that will be sufficient too). Please refer to the "URL guideline" document attached in this communication which talks about what kind of URL that we are asking for you to provide us, to make this solution a meaningful one for the end users who faced with the issue.

The following Files, versions and scenarios will be blocked
Application

Blocked File

Version Information

Type of Block

URL Link

PostgreSQL 8.2

postgresql-8.2.msi

BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="9.*"

Soft block

Needed

PostgreSQL 8.2

postgresql-8.2-int.msi

PRODUCT_CODE="{47F21113-0D9A-11D5-8132-00C04FA0998D}"
<DATA NAME="PackageCode" VALUETYPE="STRING" VALUE="{47F21112-0D9A-11D5-8132-00C04FA0998C}"/>

Soft block

Needed

If you are not the appropriate contact for this issue, please connect us with that individual as soon as possible. Please let me know if you have any questions and thank you for your continued engagement with Microsoft.

Sincerely,

Seiko Ishida
Microsoft ISV Readiness, EcoSystem Engineering Team
Program Manager
v-seishi(at)microsoft(dot)com<mailto:v-seishi(at)microsoft(dot)com>
Ref : 341057

This communication is intended to be shared only with PostgreSQL. The information contained in this communication and any attachments to this are confidential and may be subject to copyright or other intellectual property protection. If you are not the intended recipient, you are not authorized to use or disclose this information, and we request that you notify us by the response to this communication and delete the original information you have received.

On 04.10.2011 22:46, Seiko Ishida (MP Tech Consulting LLC) wrote:
> Our team drives the bug notification activity with our valued Windows partners. This email is to notify you that PostgreSQL's application/driver experienced compatibility issue(s) during internal Microsoft testing and has been blocked. Please note that this block may already be in the latest Windows Developer Preview build so your prompt attention to the issue is much appreciated.
>
> ...
> Here are the details of the Softblock implementations:
> Compatibility Issue:
> Product name: PostgreSQL 8.2

Version 8.2 is quite old, and the community support for it will end in
December. I don't think anyone cares if it works on Windows 8. If you
could test with PostgreSQL 9.1, that would be great.

--
Heikki Linnakangas
EnterpriseDB http://www.enterprisedb.com

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 2:27 AM, Heikki Linnakangas
<heikki(dot)linnakangas(at)enterprisedb(dot)com> wrote:
> On 04.10.2011 22:46, Seiko Ishida (MP Tech Consulting LLC) wrote:
>>
>> Our team drives the bug notification activity with our valued Windows
>> partners. This email is to notify you that PostgreSQL's application/driver
>> experienced compatibility issue(s) during internal Microsoft testing and has
>> been blocked. Please note that this block may already be in the latest
>> Windows Developer Preview build so your prompt attention to the issue is
>> much appreciated.
>>
>> ...
>> Here are the details of the Softblock implementations:
>> Compatibility Issue:
>> Product name:  PostgreSQL 8.2
>
> Version 8.2 is quite old, and the community support for it will end in
> December. I don't think anyone cares if it works on Windows 8. If you could
> test with PostgreSQL 9.1, that would be great.

On the other hand, it seems as though they've identified the offending
code, so maybe it wouldn't be that much work to fix:

MSFT> In the RunInitdb function, you can see that char *datadir is
never initialized but it is used erroneously to check for null. This
bug was fixed in the 8.3.x and 8.4.x branch. On Windows7, 8.2.x works
even though datadir is pointing to garbage, the garbage just happens
to be non-null. On Win8, somehow [ebp-14h]/datadir is NULL. Either
way, this is what's breaking the installation.

I assume this must be the installer code, though, not PG itself, since
I don't see anything called RunInitdb in our sources.

--
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 2:40 PM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 2:27 AM, Heikki Linnakangas
> <heikki(dot)linnakangas(at)enterprisedb(dot)com> wrote:
>> On 04.10.2011 22:46, Seiko Ishida (MP Tech Consulting LLC) wrote:
>>>
>>> Our team drives the bug notification activity with our valued Windows
>>> partners. This email is to notify you that PostgreSQL's application/driver
>>> experienced compatibility issue(s) during internal Microsoft testing and has
>>> been blocked. Please note that this block may already be in the latest
>>> Windows Developer Preview build so your prompt attention to the issue is
>>> much appreciated.
>>>
>>> ...
>>> Here are the details of the Softblock implementations:
>>> Compatibility Issue:
>>> Product name:  PostgreSQL 8.2
>>
>> Version 8.2 is quite old, and the community support for it will end in
>> December. I don't think anyone cares if it works on Windows 8. If you could
>> test with PostgreSQL 9.1, that would be great.
>
> On the other hand, it seems as though they've identified the offending
> code, so maybe it wouldn't be that much work to fix:

This is in the old 8.2 MSI installer, which doesn't even support
Windows 7 (and would require more work than just this to do so). The
last ever release of 8.2 will happen long before Windows 8 is going to
go GA - it's safe to say this version is never going to be supported
on Windows 8.

--
Dave Page
Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
Twitter: @pgsnake

EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 9:43 AM, Dave Page <dpage(at)pgadmin(dot)org> wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 2:40 PM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>> On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 2:27 AM, Heikki Linnakangas
>> <heikki(dot)linnakangas(at)enterprisedb(dot)com> wrote:
>>> On 04.10.2011 22:46, Seiko Ishida (MP Tech Consulting LLC) wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Our team drives the bug notification activity with our valued Windows
>>>> partners. This email is to notify you that PostgreSQL's application/driver
>>>> experienced compatibility issue(s) during internal Microsoft testing and has
>>>> been blocked. Please note that this block may already be in the latest
>>>> Windows Developer Preview build so your prompt attention to the issue is
>>>> much appreciated.
>>>>
>>>> ...
>>>> Here are the details of the Softblock implementations:
>>>> Compatibility Issue:
>>>> Product name:  PostgreSQL 8.2
>>>
>>> Version 8.2 is quite old, and the community support for it will end in
>>> December. I don't think anyone cares if it works on Windows 8. If you could
>>> test with PostgreSQL 9.1, that would be great.
>>
>> On the other hand, it seems as though they've identified the offending
>> code, so maybe it wouldn't be that much work to fix:
>
> This is in the old 8.2 MSI installer, which doesn't even support
> Windows 7 (and would require more work than just this to do so). The
> last ever release of 8.2 will happen long before Windows 8 is going to
> go GA - it's safe to say this version is never going to be supported
> on Windows 8.

That seems strange, since the MSFT guy is reporting that whatever he
tested did work on Windows 7, but now that you've pointed out that
Windows 8 won't be released until after we stop supporting 8.2, I am
filled with uncaring.

Perhaps if the MSFT guys want a link to direct people to, we could
suggest http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/PostgreSQL_Release_Support_Policy

--
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 3:04 PM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>
> That seems strange, since the MSFT guy is reporting that whatever he
> tested did work on Windows 7, but now that you've pointed out that
> Windows 8 won't be released until after we stop supporting 8.2, I am
> filled with uncaring.

It might have appeared to successfully install, but that doesn't mean
it's setup the way we want it. For example, none of the administrative
menu shortcuts in that version will do privilege escalation which is
more or less required in Windows 7+.

--
Dave Page
Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
Twitter: @pgsnake

EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 10:13 AM, Dave Page <dpage(at)pgadmin(dot)org> wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 3:04 PM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>>
>> That seems strange, since the MSFT guy is reporting that whatever he
>> tested did work on Windows 7, but now that you've pointed out that
>> Windows 8 won't be released until after we stop supporting 8.2, I am
>> filled with uncaring.
>
> It might have appeared to successfully install, but that doesn't mean
> it's setup the way we want it. For example, none of the administrative
> menu shortcuts in that version will do privilege escalation which is
> more or less required in Windows 7+.

OK. So... we don't care. Got it. :-)

--
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company

Hello all,

Thank you for all your responses to my inquiry.
We are aware that this application version 8.2.x is pretty old and PostgreSQL will stop releasing updates for the 8.2.X in December 2011.
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/interactive/release-8-2-22.html

We also confirmed this installation issue was addressed in the latest version of the installer. (8.3.x and 8.4.x) However, we would like to warn endusers who might be affected by this issue trying to install 8.2.x versions on Windows8, and to direct them to install the latest version. You provided the following URL, but better yet is there a download site for the newer version we can direct endusers to?

http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/PostgreSQL_Release_Support_Policy

The dialog box presented to users will look something like this.

Would this download site be a good URL for that?
http://www.enterprisedb.com/products-services-training/pgdownload

Thanks again for your help

Regards,

Seiko Ishida
Microsoft ISV Readiness, EcoSystem Engineering Team
Program Manager
v-seishi(at)microsoft(dot)com<mailto:v-seishi(at)microsoft(dot)com>
Ref : 341057

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Page [mailto:dpage(at)pgadmin(dot)org]
Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2011 7:14 AM
To: Robert Haas
Cc: Heikki Linnakangas; Seiko Ishida (MP Tech Consulting LLC); pgsql-hackers(at)postgresql(dot)org; ISV Readiness W8 bugs; Manmeet Bawa
Subject: Re: [HACKERS] Action requested - Application Softblock implemented | Issue report ID341057

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 3:04 PM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas(at)gmail(dot)com<mailto:robertmhaas(at)gmail(dot)com>> wrote:
>
> That seems strange, since the MSFT guy is reporting that whatever he
> tested did work on Windows 7, but now that you've pointed out that
> Windows 8 won't be released until after we stop supporting 8.2, I am
> filled with uncaring.

It might have appeared to successfully install, but that doesn't mean it's setup the way we want it. For example, none of the administrative menu shortcuts in that version will do privilege escalation which is more or less required in Windows 7+.

--
Dave Page
Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
Twitter: @pgsnake

EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 2:58 PM, Seiko Ishida (MP Tech Consulting LLC) <
v-seishi(at)microsoft(dot)com> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> Thank you for all your responses to my inquiry.
> We are aware that this application version 8.2.x is pretty old and
> PostgreSQL will stop releasing updates for the 8.2.X in December 2011.
> *http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/interactive/release-8-2-22.html*<http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/interactive/release-8-2-22.html>
>
> We also confirmed this installation issue was addressed in the latest
> version of the installer. (8.3.x and 8.4.x) However, we would like to warn
> endusers who might be affected by this issue trying to install 8.2.x
> versions on Windows8, and to direct them to install the latest version. You
> provided the following URL, but better yet is there a download site for the
> newer version we can direct endusers to?
>
> *http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/PostgreSQL_Release_Support_Policy*<http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/PostgreSQL_Release_Support_Policy>
>
>
> The dialog box presented to users will look something like this.
>
>
> Would this download site be a good URL for that?
> *http://www.enterprisedb.com/products-services-training/pgdownload*<http://www.enterprisedb.com/products-services-training/pgdownload>
>

That's not a PostgreSQL community web site, so it wouldn't be appropriate to
send people there, I think. However, you could direct them to the
PostgreSQL download page:

http://www.postgresql.org/download/

--
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 7:58 PM, Seiko Ishida (MP Tech Consulting LLC) <
v-seishi(at)microsoft(dot)com> wrote:

>
> Would this download site be a good URL for that?
> *http://www.enterprisedb.com/products-services-training/pgdownload*<http://www.enterprisedb.com/products-services-training/pgdownload>
>
>
No, please use http://www.postgresql.org/download/

That's the stable URL that will always point to our downloads.

--
Dave Page
Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
Twitter: @pgsnake

EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company

Hi Robert,

Great. I will submit that for the response.
Thanks again for your quick assistance.

Regards,

Seiko Ishida
Microsoft ISV Readiness, EcoSystem Engineering Team
Program Manager
v-seishi(at)microsoft(dot)com<mailto:v-seishi(at)microsoft(dot)com>

From: Robert Haas [mailto:robertmhaas(at)gmail(dot)com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2011 12:00 PM
To: Seiko Ishida (MP Tech Consulting LLC)
Cc: Dave Page; Heikki Linnakangas; pgsql-hackers(at)postgresql(dot)org; ISV Readiness W8 bugs; Manmeet Bawa
Subject: Re: [HACKERS] Action requested - Application Softblock implemented | Issue report ID341057

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 2:58 PM, Seiko Ishida (MP Tech Consulting LLC) <v-seishi(at)microsoft(dot)com<mailto:v-seishi(at)microsoft(dot)com>> wrote:
Hello all,

Thank you for all your responses to my inquiry.
We are aware that this application version 8.2.x is pretty old and PostgreSQL will stop releasing updates for the 8.2.X in December 2011.
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/interactive/release-8-2-22.html

We also confirmed this installation issue was addressed in the latest version of the installer. (8.3.x and 8.4.x) However, we would like to warn endusers who might be affected by this issue trying to install 8.2.x versions on Windows8, and to direct them to install the latest version. You provided the following URL, but better yet is there a download site for the newer version we can direct endusers to?

http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/PostgreSQL_Release_Support_Policy

The dialog box presented to users will look something like this.

Would this download site be a good URL for that?
http://www.enterprisedb.com/products-services-training/pgdownload

That's not a PostgreSQL community web site, so it wouldn't be appropriate to send people there, I think. However, you could direct them to the PostgreSQL download page:

http://www.postgresql.org/download/

--
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company