Scripting

Check the package KB on this site for info at http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/browse.asp?cat=all

If it's not there....

Check the Uninstall value for the app located somewhere in the hive below:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

After getting the command line, you will need to add some sort of switch to make it execute silently which depends on what engine they use. Try /s or /q or /a or -uninst. But sometimes, it can't be uninstalled silently as this feature is not supported by whatever method the vendor used. In that case you would need to delete the files/registry keys yourself using your scripting language of choice.

As far as your side question.... if it's not listed in the package KB, the you need to read this link about what to use for the different installation engines out there: http://unattended.sourceforge.net/installers.php

Hi Bob,

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

what can I do with the "Uninstall value" ?

how do I use it?

Sorry for the delay - the site has been up and down recently.

If you run REGEDIT and browse to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall, you will see a number of subkeys, and each subkey refers to a specific program that is installed (sometimes a program will have more than one subkey). What I do at this point is click Edit...Find... and type in part of the program name that I am looking for (ie Cisco). It will usually find this in one of the subkeys in the DisplayName field. Then in that same subkey, you should see a value called UninstallString, this is the command for an interactive uninstall. If you don't see the UninstallString, keep searching the other subkeys. Double click this value and you can copy the contents. Now you need to figure out if there is a way to make this automated or "silent". If it is in the format MsiExec.exe /I{0A869A65-8C94-4F7C-A5C7-972D3C8CED9E}, then change the /I to /X and add /quiet /norestart to the end. If not, try adding -uninst or -a to the end. If that doesn't work, post the value here and we can take a look.

Hi Bob,

I found this

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Desktop Agent]
"UninstallString"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Cisco\\Desktop\\IM\\InstallManager.exe\" /u \"Desktop Agent\" /f \"C:\\Program Files\\Cisco\\Common\\CADDSKIMgr.cfg\""
"DisplayName"="Desktop Agent 6.1.4.5"

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Desktop Base]
"UninstallString"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Cisco\\Desktop\\IM\\InstallManager.exe\" /u \"Desktop Base\" /f \"C:\\Program Files\\Cisco\\Common\\CADDSKIMgr.cfg\""
"DisplayName"="Desktop Base 6.1.4.5"

When I installed the agent I got this with "RegFromApp.exe"

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Spanlink\Install Server\Config]
"Install Server A"="ipcc1"
"Install Port A"=dword:00001895
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Connections]
"SavedLegacySettings"=hex(3):3C,00,00,00,26,00,00,00,09,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,04,00,00,00,1B,00,00,00,68,74,74,70,3A,2F,2F,73,\
72,76,70,72,6F,78,79,3A,38,30,2F,77,70,61,64,2E,64,61,74,C0,8E,15,FE,AD,C0,\
C8,01,01,00,00,00,C0,A8,0A,15,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

About those unninstall string
InstallManager.exe\" /u \"Desktop Agent\" /f \"C:\\Program Files\\Cisco\\Common\\CADDSKIMgr.cfg\""

It would uninstall it silently or?

if i try InstallManager.exe /? i just get a the install box

OK, so the vendor's using his own installer...great. If it were me, I'd open InstallManager.EXE in a decent text editor (yes, open the EXE in text editor...and by 'decent' I mean almost anything which isn't Notepad...) and search for likely-looking switches. Look on the vendor's web site for other switches and then search for those. Nearby, there may well be, say, a 's' (for 'silent') or 'q' (for 'quiet').

InstallManager.exe\ /u \"Desktop Agent\" /f \"C:\Program Files\Cisco\Common\CADDSKIMgr.cfg\"
When I execute this line it unninstall the Desktop Agent...
You see a process bar and it goes aways after some sec.

Added InstallManager.exe\ /u /q \"Desktop Agent\" /f \"C:\Program Files\Cisco\Common\CADDSKIMgr.cfg\"
/q or /quiet got same result still a process bar showing how long it is at uninstalling the Agent.
So this is a unattended uninstall
Can see that it use Install S

InstallManager.exe\ /u \"Desktop Base\" /f \"C:\Program Files\Cisco\Common\CADDSKIMgr.cfg\"

with the "desktop Base" I get prompted

Warning: Do not remove desktop base 6.1.4.5 until all other programs in the offering have been removed.

Are you sure you want to continue...yes no

answer yes´and

get prompted again

Remove Directories : Proceed with removing all subdirectories in C:\program files\cisco\desktop

found this about http://itninja.com/blog/view/installshield-setup-silent-installation-switches





InstallShield Setup Silent Installation Switches

Link | 6/14/2002 | Submitted By bkelly


Those setup.exe files generated with InstallShield inherently support the creation and use of answer files that may be used to silent install applications. Although it has no logic to handle anything not expected by the answerfile (more or less dialogs, more or less options in a dialog) it can be a helpful means of installation for some applications. The supported switches are 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 compiled script must be specified. _setup.dll must also reside in the same directory as your .ins file. For example, setup -ftest.ins will 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 is used when running InstallShield Silent, the response file is read from the folder/file specified by[path\ResponseFile]. If this option is used along with the -r option, the response file is written to the folder/file specified by[path\ResponseFile]. If an 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 is created and stored in the same directory as that of Setup.ins. If an 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 is always placed in the Windows folder. [filename] is optional. If you do not specify a filename, the resulting file will 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. English (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 is a record of the setup input, in the Windows folder.

-s

Runs InstallShield Silent to execute a silent setup.

-SMS

Prevents a network connection and Setup.exe from closing before the setup is complete. This switch works with setups originating from a Windows NT server over a network. Please note that SMS must be uppercase; this is a case-sensitive switch.

-z

Prevents Setup.exe from checking the available memory during initialization. This switch is necessary when running a setup on a machine with more than 256 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.


Please note the following:

Setup.exe command line parameters are not case sensitive; upper case or lower case letters can be used.
Separate multiple command line switches with a space, but do not put a space inside a command line switch (for example, /r /fInstall.ins is valid, but not /r/f Install.ins).
When using long path and filename expressions with switches, enclose the expressions in double quotation marks. The enclosing double quotes tell the operating system that spaces within the quotation marks are not to be treated as command line delimiters.

ORIGINAL: VBScab

OK, so the vendor's using his own installer...great. If it were me, I'd open InstallManager.EXE in a decent text editor (yes, open the EXE in text editor...and by 'decent' I mean almost anything which isn't Notepad...) and search for likely-looking switches. Look on the vendor's web site for other switches and then search for those. Nearby, there may well be, say, a 's' (for 'silent') or 'q' (for 'quiet').



standard switch would be /s but again isnt there a lot of firm who use Cisco desktop agent? Can find anyting on how to silent install it or remove it again...can be true that you have to manual install and remove thise things on every single maschine in the enterprise...

I think you can forget the InstallShield switches, as it seems the EXE you have wasn't built using it.

Pure guess...what about:

InstallManager.exe\ /u /q \"All\" /f \"C:\Program Files\Cisco\Common\CADDSKIMgr.cfg\"

ORIGINAL: VBScab

I think you can forget the InstallShield switches, as it seems the EXE you have wasn't built using it.

Pure guess...what about:

InstallManager.exe\ /u /q \"All\" /f \"C:\Program Files\Cisco\Common\CADDSKIMgr.cfg\"



InstallManager.exe /u /q "Desktop Agent" /f "C:\Program Files\Cisco\Common\CADDSKIMgr.cfg"

Nearly silent you see the process bar and stuff but you dont get interactive...

but

InstallManager.exe /u "Desktop Base" /f "C:\Program Files\Cisco\Common\CADDSKIMgr.cfg"

with or without /q or /quiet

the desktop agent is to parts...

the Desktop Agent remove first
after that remove the Desktop Base

it prompt twice...

ORIGINAL: LnQ

ORIGINAL: VBScab

I think you can forget the InstallShield switches, as it seems the EXE you have wasn't built using it.

Pure guess...what about:

InstallManager.exe\ /u /q \"All\" /f \"C:\Program Files\Cisco\Common\CADDSKIMgr.cfg\"



InstallManager.exe /u /q "Desktop Agent" /f "C:\Program Files\Cisco\Common\CADDSKIMgr.cfg"

Nearly silent you see the process bar and stuff but you dont get interactive...

but

InstallManager.exe /u "Desktop Base" /f "C:\Program Files\Cisco\Common\CADDSKIMgr.cfg"

with or without /q or /quiet

the desktop agent is to parts...

the Desktop Agent remove first
after that remove the Desktop Base

it prompt twice...



You're probably not going to be able to get it to run silently since it was not designed to do so. Even in the cases where installshield does make allowances for silent installations they are nonstandard and don't work reliably IME. Better to concentrate your energy on a custom action or script that'll completely wipe out the files, reg keys and control panel entry of the old program. Good luck!