A Normal (non-silent) installation receives the necessary input from the user in the form of responses to dialog boxes. However, a silent installation does not prompt the user for input and must get their user input from a different source. That source is the InstallShield Silent Response file (. iss file). A response file contains information similar to, which an end user would enter as responses to dialog boxes when Runni ng a normal setup. InstallShield reads the necessary input from the response file at run time while performing a silent installation.
The format of a response file resembles that's a. ini file, but response files has the. ISS extensions. A response file is a plain text file consisting of sections containing data entries.
The InstallShield installations can be invoked with the
- S
parameter to run silently.
How to Create the Response File (. iss)Here's an example of what to create the response file:
Download the Setup.exe installation bundle. Run the installation with the additional flags-a-r-f1 ' <path><filename.iss> ', where path is the path to file Name.iss and Filename.iss is the name of your want to use for your Setup.iss file. For example:setup.exe-a-r-f1 "C:\setup.iss" Note This there is no space between-f1 and "<PATH><FILENAME.ISS&G t; " Go through the install dialogs as normal, selecting the options that is want to being used in subsequent silent installs. InstallShield would record all of the your installation choices in your Setup.iss file. This response file can is used later for the silent installation.
Here's an example of a response file:
[InstallShield Silent]
version=v5.00.000
File=response File
[Dlgorder]
dlg0=sdlicense-0
count=2
dlg1=sdaskdestpath-0
[SdLicense-0]
Result=1
[SdAskDestPath-0]
Szdir=c: \program Files\appname
Result=1
[Application]
Name= AppName
version=1.4
Company=appcompany
Running InstallShield in Silent Mode
After you had created the response file, you were ready-to-run the installation in silent mode using InstallShield silent. When running a installation in silent mode, being aware that no messages is displayed. Instead, you can request creation of a log file, which'll record installation information, including if the installation was successful. You can review the log file to determine the result of the installation.
To launch InstallShield Silent, run your Setup.exe install bundle with the flags-s-a-s-f1 "<path><filename.iss >, where path is the path to Filename.iss and Filename.iss is the name of the your Setup.iss file. If you want to register plug-in with Internet Explorer and/or Netscape 6, include The-iexplorer and/or-netscape6 options In the command line. They can is in an order but must come after the-a and before the second-s. For example,
Setup.exe-s-a-iexplorer-netscape6-s-f1 "<path><filename.iss>" Note that there is no space between-f1 and <path><filename.iss>.
If you were doing this from an MS-DOS shell, you could find it convenient to use the ' start/w ' command, as that would cause M S-dos to wait until the install was complete. For example:
start/w setup.exe-s-a-s-f1 "C:\setup.iss"
Creating a Log FileIf you want to create a log file describing the installation and use the additional Flag-f2 "<path><filename.log> ". This would cause the log to being written to the Filename.log file. For example:
start/w setup.exe-s-a-s-f1 "C:\setup.iss"-f2 "C:\setup.log" Note that there should is no space between-f2 and "<pa Th><filename.log> "
To verify if a silent installation succeeded, look at the ResultCode value in the [Responseresult] section of Setup.log. InstallShield writes an appropriate return value after the ResultCode keyname.
InstallShield Commands
Those setup.exe files generated with InstallShield inherently, the creation and use of answer files D to silent install applications. Although it has no logic to handle anything not expected by the answer file (more or less dialogs, more or less options in A dialog) it can be a helpful means of the installation for some applications. The supported switches is as follows:
-D
Runs setup in debug mode. The-d switch also includes a [pathonly] option for specifying the path of the Setup.rul file. For more information, refer to the Visual Debugger help file.
-f[path\compiledscript]
Specifies an alternate compiled script. Unless the compiled script (. ins file) also resides in the same directory as that of Setup.exe, the full path to the Compi Led script must be specified. _setup.dll must also reside in the same directory as yours. ins file. For example, Setup-ftest.ins would launch setup using Test.ins instead of Setup.ins.
-F1 [Path\responsefile]
Specifies an alternate location and name of the response file (. iss file). If This option was used when running InstallShield Silent, the response file was read from the folder/file specified By[path \responsefile]. If This option was used along with THE-R option, the response file was written to the Folder/file specified by[path\respons Efile]. If A alternate compiled script is specified using the-f switch, THE-F1 switch entry must follow THE-F switch entry.
-f2[path\logfile]
Specifies an alternate location and name of the log file created by InstallShield Silent. By default, Setup.log log file was created and stored in the same directory as that of Setup.ins. If A alternate compiled script is specified using the-f switch, THE-F2 switch entry must follow THE-F switch entry.
-m [FileName]
Causes Setup.exe to generate a Management information Format (. mif) file automatically at the end of the Setup. Do not include a path-the. mif file are always placed in the Windows folder. [Filename] is optional. If you don't specify a filename, the resulting file would be called STATUS.MIF.
-M1 [serial number]
Tells Setup to place the indicated serial number in the created. mif file.
-m2 [Locale string]
Tells Setup to place the indicated locale in the. mif file. 中文版 (ENU) is the default; Refer to Microsoft documentation for a complete listing of locale strings.
-R
Causes Setup.exe automatically to generate a silent Setup file (. iss file), which was a record of the setup input, in the W indows folder.
-S
Runs InstallShield Silent to execute a Silent setup.
-sms
Prevents a network connection and Setup.exe from closing before the Setup was complete. This switch works with setups originating from a Windows NT server over a network. Please note that SMS must is uppercase; This is a case-sensitive switch.
-Z
Prevents Setup.exe from checking the available memory during initialization. This switch was necessary when running a was setup on a and more than-MB of memory; If it is not used, Setup.exe reports insufficient memory and exits.
-uninst
Runs the setup as an uninstallation without reading the script.
-verbose
Provides more detailed information when a Setup.exe error occurs.
Silent installation Commands.
setup.exe/q
setup.exe/qn
setup.exe/silent
setup.exe/s
Setup.exe/nouserinput
setup.exe/unattended
Setup.exe/createanswerfile
Setup.exe/quiet
