How to uninstall applications with ConfigMgr

With ConfigMgr 2007 it is possible to publish MSI applications. But what to do when there is an update for a specific application? In this blog I will explain what to do for removing the existing application on devices, and publish a new version of it. Then ConfigMgr is not only the recommend solution for updating App-V packages, but also for MSI applications!

First create a MSI-based application and program in ConfigMgr. Important detail is then to fill in the Windows Installer information! With this information it is possible for ConfigMgr to uninstall applications from devices. For doing this go to the "Windows Installer" tab in the program, choose Import, and browse to the MSI file of the application. Then the "Windows Installer product code" will be automatically filled in.

Do this for all MSI-based applications! With applications that are only available as EXE file, use a "EXE to MSI file" solution for creating MSI files of all applications that will be installed (and/or updated) with ConfigMgr.

Now what to do for updating the application? Best practice is to uninstall it first (or a in-place upgrade must be possible)! Create a new program (in the application itself) for that. In the program the following information must be placed:

In this case the following Command line is used: msiexec.exe /x {FC7BACF0-1FFA-4605-B3B4-A66AB382752D} /qn (example)
No need for fill in Windows Installer information in this program. Choose "Whether or not a user is logged on" on the Environment tab.

Advertise this new program to the collection where specific clients are been, and wait till the program will be uninstalled. When it is removed a new update for this application can be installed. In the Event Viewer this information can also been found.

When a update from a specific application must be done, with uninstalling the older version, the following can be done:

Create a new Software package, and choose on the Advanced tab for "Run another program first". Select the remove/uninstall program for the old application, and update the MSI application. That's all you have to do for uninstalling or updating applications!