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Why is KScript Installer Not Adding Shortcuts/Windows Explorer?

So I am working on getting some scripts together to help us remotely install some custom software. The problem I am running into is that while the program does install.... It does not add any of the Windows Explorer data. So the user can't find the software by clicking the Start button, and the software doesn't appear in Add/Remove Programs.

The script i am using is very simple....

- Verify-> the install directory exists (in case someone changes it)
- On Success-> Launch setup.exe in that directory


I don't have any parameters.


If I instead go to that directory manually and click setup.exe, it installs with the correct shortcuts on the desktop and Windows Explorer.
Note--- This is a ClickOnce installer

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Answers (1)

Answer Summary:
Posted by: EdT 9 years ago
Red Belt
2
The most likely explanation for this is that the software is configured to install "Per user", so that the shortcuts are normally written to the user profile of the installing user. Hence it works when you install using a normal user account.
When you deploy via any system which uses a local service account to perform the installation (eg KACE, SCCM, DS, NS, etc), no shortcuts are visible as the local system service does not have a user profile and in any case, you would only see the shortcuts if you were logged in as that service account. Therefore the software needs to be configured to install "Per machine", so that the shortcuts are written to the "All Users" profile which is accessible to whatever user is logged in.
WIth an MSI install, this just means adding ALLUSERS=1 to the installation command line.  For other installs, you would need to check with the vendor for possible command line options to do this.  If this is not possible for your app, then you will need to add code to create the shortcuts as per the manual install, after the setup.exe has run.

Comments:
  • I see... I thought Kace was running the installer as if it was the current logged in user. That seems to be my issue then.
    Looks like I will need to figure out how to install the shortcuts for these programs through Kace. - zipperson 9 years ago
    • Have you tried to configure the script in Kace to run as "logged-in user"? Under the section Windows Run As you can select, Local System, Logged-in User, All Logged-in Users. - jfields 9 years ago
      • That did it! Thanks very much! I never chose my Operating System, so i didn't see that option before. - zipperson 9 years ago
 
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