When you update a package, except if the former Salesforce consultant / administrator wrote a documentation, there is no specific indication telling you how a package was installed (either in setup’s « Installed Packages » page, or in the package installation/update screen).
So how to choose how you should grant access to this application / package ?
First, have a look to this article to see the differences between the suggested options :
Concerning your instance, open your Salesforce Inspector Reloaded extension (or your preferred solution to query your Salesforce instance). You can directly leverage the query below, on your target instance, to get details on Package Installation Requests records that were made on it (do not forget to check the tooling API checkbox) :
SELECT SubscriberPackageVersionKey, PackageInstallSource, SecurityType, ProfileMappings, ApexCompileType, NameConflictResolution, CreatedDate, UpgradeType
FROM PackageInstallRequest
ORDER BY CreatedDate DESC
Now, if we want to link this data with the installed package, please navigate through Setup > Apps > Packaging > Installed Packages. Then click on the concerned package.
On the installed package details page, we can see when this package had been installed.
It seems quite logical that the package installation is linked to this Package Installation Request record, in our case highlighted in yellow (take into consideration your timezone versus the display in GMT time).
Now, take a look at the SecurityType field ; this field can take the following values :
- None : Installed only for System Administrators.
- Full : Installed for all Users.
- Custom : Installed for Custom profiles (specified during the package installation).
This way, when updating your packages, you will be able to step into the footprints of the first installation. Enjoy your updates !
To read more on the subject :
- PackageInstallRequest reference : https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.api_tooling.meta/api_tooling/tooling_api_objects_packageinstallrequest.htm
- Package installation options – differences between the suggested options : https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=xcloud.pkg_subscriber_determine_access.htm&type=5