TFS Build failed due to InstallShield Exception

Question

We are using InstallShield 2013 Limited Edition with TFS 2013 Build Server. Occasionally our tfs XAML builds failed with error:

C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\InstallShield\2013Limited\InstallShield.targets (108): Exception Caught

License of InstallShield 2013 Limited Edition is successfully activated on Build Server Machine(WIN 7 machine). Due to this error, complete build failed. To fix this, we need to restart tfs build server machine. Please suggestion some permanent fix for this issue. Let me know if need any additional information.

Answer 1

1. If you get error saying InstallShield.Tasks.dll was not found or could not be loaded like screenshot below:

Solution:

Set the MSBuild Platform on your Build Definition to “X86” as shown below:

2. If you get error saying InstallShield Licence has expired like screenshot below:

Solution:

Set your Build Service to run with a domain account instead of “NT_AUTHORITY\Network Service”.