Run msiexec minimised
Hi,
Does anyone know a way to run msiexec commands minimised?
When we push software out with SMS we use the command msiexec.exe /qb! ALLUSERS=2 /i xxx.msi
Users are now complaining that they get disturbed by the user interface. I don't want to run the packages silent with /q as this makes it difficult for support when they are trying to help users install.
The ideal solution for me would be to run msiexec as a minimised window, but it doesn't look like this is possible. This way, if there are any errors the users can see them, and report them to Service Desk.
I have tried start /min msiexec.exe /qb! ALLUSERS=2 /i xxx.msi, and also tried setting Run minimised as one of the options from SMS, but none of them work. I think that the problem is the way msiexec works.
Anyone got any ideas?
Muttley
Does anyone know a way to run msiexec commands minimised?
When we push software out with SMS we use the command msiexec.exe /qb! ALLUSERS=2 /i xxx.msi
Users are now complaining that they get disturbed by the user interface. I don't want to run the packages silent with /q as this makes it difficult for support when they are trying to help users install.
The ideal solution for me would be to run msiexec as a minimised window, but it doesn't look like this is possible. This way, if there are any errors the users can see them, and report them to Service Desk.
I have tried start /min msiexec.exe /qb! ALLUSERS=2 /i xxx.msi, and also tried setting Run minimised as one of the options from SMS, but none of them work. I think that the problem is the way msiexec works.
Anyone got any ideas?
Muttley
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Posted by:
Chipster
16 years ago
natively, this can't be done. but there are ways to accomplish this.
When using SMS to deploy, you should always use /qn and ALLUSERS=1. Presuming that you're using the SMS account to do the installation and not the user context that is. This will make any SMS push totally silent except for the system tray box from SMS.
For techs doing the installs, there in lies the question. Are they running it from the SMS server or manually kicking off the setup? In either case, what I do is to have a wrapper which generally does some evaluation and anything needed outside the MSI and by default, it runs the msiexec /qb option. When we put that into SMS, I use setup.exe /s /sms and that triggers a change in the script to run msiexec /qn instead.
WIthin the wrapper, there's also the ability to execute a command minimized or hidden. I use Wise package studio to create the exes and for the longest time, was using SMS Installer prior to that with the same functionality.
When using SMS to deploy, you should always use /qn and ALLUSERS=1. Presuming that you're using the SMS account to do the installation and not the user context that is. This will make any SMS push totally silent except for the system tray box from SMS.
For techs doing the installs, there in lies the question. Are they running it from the SMS server or manually kicking off the setup? In either case, what I do is to have a wrapper which generally does some evaluation and anything needed outside the MSI and by default, it runs the msiexec /qb option. When we put that into SMS, I use setup.exe /s /sms and that triggers a change in the script to run msiexec /qn instead.
WIthin the wrapper, there's also the ability to execute a command minimized or hidden. I use Wise package studio to create the exes and for the longest time, was using SMS Installer prior to that with the same functionality.
Posted by:
KPrinz
16 years ago
ORIGINAL: muttley
I have tried start /min msiexec.exe /qb! ALLUSERS=2 /i xxx.msi, and also tried setting Run minimised as one of the options from SMS, but none of them work. I think that the problem is the way msiexec works.
how about start /min msiexec.exe /qn ALLUSERS=2 /i xxx.msi
As a tradeoff you don't have the MSI progress screen, but you will have the minimised task visible in the taskbar for support to see that an install is currently running. You could also do
start /min "Installing xxx" msiexec.exe /qn ALLUSERS=2 /i xxx.msi
that would give the command box a title so support will now which install is currently active.
It's not perfect, but as you already found out msiexec won't support running minimized.
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