Silent Installation

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A silent installation is an installation during which the user does not need to answer any questions, complete any dialogs, or press any keys.

Silent installation is practical when a USoft patch or update must be distributed to a large number of target machines, or when you need to install one application during the installation of another.

Follow the steps in this help topic to set up and execute silent installation.

 

 

collapseStep 1: Define Silent Setup Settings file (.SSS)
1.Perform a normal USoft installation. This produces a file called install.sss in the USoft installation folder. This file contains information needed to execute silent installation on target machines.
2.Inspect the file and make any necessary changes manually. The relevant information is in the <variables> tag. Here is an example install.sss file:

<silentsettings activeinstalltype="Custom">

  <features>

    <feature id="00"/>

    <feature id="01"/>

    <feature id="02"/>

    <feature id="03"/>

  </features>

  <variables>

    <var name="Product_Name" value="USoft"/>

    <var name="Product_Version" value="9"/>

    <var name="Product_Version_Number" value="9"/>

    <var name="Product_Patch" value="1C"/>

    <var name="Product_Update" value="01"/>

    <var name="Product_Release" value="%Product_Version%.%Product_Patch%"/>

    <var name="Product_Full_Release" value="%Product_Release%.%Product_Update%"/>

    <var name="Product_Treeversion" value="usd%Product_Version_Number%"/>

    <var name="InstallPath" value="c:\usd9"/>

    <var name="ProgramGroup" value="USoft Series 9"/>

    <var name="TreeRoot" value="D:\9\pro"/>

    <var name="WebAuthInstall" value="True"/>

    <var name="LicenseDir" value="\\nlbrnnt44\license"/>

    ...

  </variables>

</silentsettings>
collapseStep 2: Distribute Silent Setup settings
1.Make a copy of install.sss to a specific location on each target machine. If you need to distribute to a large number of target machines, make arrangements for the file to be distributed automatically by a command-line script.
2.Copy the registry key that the USoft setup utility will use to locate the install.sss file:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\usoft-version-name

 

where usoft-version-name is, for example, "USoft 9.0.1G".
For this step, you can use the registry's Export and Import features. Refer to your Windows documentation for more details on importing registry keys.
To give an idea of the settings stored in this key, here are example settings obtained by using the registry's Export function:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\usoft-version-name]

@=""

"DisplayName"="usoft-version-name"

"DisplayVersion"="usoft-version-name"

"ModifyPath"="\"c:\\usd9\\Uninstall.exe\" \"c:\\usd9\\install.log\""

"UninstallString"="\"c:\\usd9\\Uninstall.exe\" \"c:\\usd9\\install.log\" -u"

"InstallLocation"="c:\\usd9"

"InstallSource"="c:\\TestInstall"

"InstallSourceFile"="c:\\TestInstall\\SetupUSoft9.0.1D.exe"

"InstallDate"="05/06/2015"

"Publisher"="USoft B.V."

"DisplayVersion"="9"

"Contact"="USoft B.V."

"BuildTimeStamp"="397105996865972"

"SilentSettings"="c:\\usd9\\install.sss"

 

The InstallLocation key specifies where USoft is installed. It overrules the setting for the InstallPath variable in the install.sss file.
The SilentSettings key specifies the location of the install.sss file. If this location is incorrect, the installation will fail.
collapseStep 3: Install with the SilentMode switch

To start the silent install on each target machine, you must use the variable setting:

SilentMode=1

 

Do this either via install.sss (Step A) or from the command line (Step B). Of course, if you use A, it is practical to add the XML tag before file distribution to target machines.

 

A.If using install.sss, add the following XML tag to its contents:

<var name="SilentMode" value="1"/>

 

and then start the installation with the following command:

Setupusoft-version-name.exe

 

For example:

SetupUSoft9.0.1C.exe

 

OR

B.If using the command line, start the setup using:

Setupusoft-version-name.exe -var:"SilentMode=1"

 

For example:

SetupUSoft9.0.1C.exe -var:"SilentMode=1"