About Patches (.msp)

AdminStudio 2023 | 25.0

AdminStudio supports the import of Windows Installer packages (.msi) with associated patches (.msp). A Windows Installer patch (.msp file) is a file used to deliver updates to Windows Installer applications. A patch is a self-contained package that contains all the information required to update an application.

A patch package contains the actual updates to the application and describes which versions of the application can receive the patch. A patch package does not include a database like a regular installation package (.msi file). Patches contain at minimum two database transforms. One transform updates the information in the installation database of the application. The other transform adds information that the installer uses for patching files.

About the Administrative Installation of Patches

For patches to be applied to a Windows Installer package, it is necessary to perform an administrative install of the Windows Installer package and then perform an administrative install of each patch package one by one. This way, the content of each patch package is appended to the Windows Installer package at the administrative install location.

In previous releases, when you imported a patch into the Application Catalog, you were prompted to specify a location for an administrative install. However, starting with AdminStudio 2013, you no longer have to specify a location for an administrative install if your Windows Installer package includes patches. Instead, the administrative install operation is automatically performed in a TEMP folder.