WMP10 deployment issues
Hi. I am having some problems deploying WMP10 using sms 2003. It looks like the problem is a combination of the package itself and the way SMS distributes software. The MSI has been created using the windows media player Enterprise Deployment Pack. Here goes:
when the MSI is distributed using SMS, everything goes well. (using msiexec.exe /i "packagename" /qns)
But when media player 8 is running, the WMP10 setup fails. In stead of what you might expect, the silent setup of WMP10 doesn't close down WMP8 when running, it leaves it running. The setup registers as succesfull in the event viewer. However, the next time a user logs in and starts up WMP10, it shows a messagebox that the setup is corrupted and prompts the user to reinstall the software, thus leaving the pc crippled with no working media player at all. Sms reads the setup to be succesfull, probably assuming so by checking into the event viewer.. So theres no way of monitoring if the setup was succesfull.
On the other hand, when a user is made administrator and the setup is run manually, it shows the same behaviour. But when the target pc is rebooted, it prompts the user (only if the user still has administrative rights) the setup is damaged and askes if it needs to repair the installation. My guess is, sms is messing things up, because it installs the software with elevated priviledges, but after a reboot, those priviledges are gone, so the user isn't prompted at next logon to correct the failed installation. It does show the message the installation is damaged whe a user tries to start WMP, with the message to logon as an administrator. is there any way to deal with this problem? Did anyone encounter this issue before? TIA!
Note: running the package at next logon isn't an option, because the setup just takes too long.. When a user starts media player after logging on, the same thing goes wrong. Haven't found a way to uninstall WMP8 either..
when the MSI is distributed using SMS, everything goes well. (using msiexec.exe /i "packagename" /qns)
But when media player 8 is running, the WMP10 setup fails. In stead of what you might expect, the silent setup of WMP10 doesn't close down WMP8 when running, it leaves it running. The setup registers as succesfull in the event viewer. However, the next time a user logs in and starts up WMP10, it shows a messagebox that the setup is corrupted and prompts the user to reinstall the software, thus leaving the pc crippled with no working media player at all. Sms reads the setup to be succesfull, probably assuming so by checking into the event viewer.. So theres no way of monitoring if the setup was succesfull.
On the other hand, when a user is made administrator and the setup is run manually, it shows the same behaviour. But when the target pc is rebooted, it prompts the user (only if the user still has administrative rights) the setup is damaged and askes if it needs to repair the installation. My guess is, sms is messing things up, because it installs the software with elevated priviledges, but after a reboot, those priviledges are gone, so the user isn't prompted at next logon to correct the failed installation. It does show the message the installation is damaged whe a user tries to start WMP, with the message to logon as an administrator. is there any way to deal with this problem? Did anyone encounter this issue before? TIA!
Note: running the package at next logon isn't an option, because the setup just takes too long.. When a user starts media player after logging on, the same thing goes wrong. Haven't found a way to uninstall WMP8 either..
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Posted by:
yarborg
18 years ago
Does the WMP10 uninstall 8 if it's not running? If so then you can use pskill.exe from sysinternals (it's free) to kill processes from the command line. It works extremely well. However, you will need a good MSI or install script editor to be able to include this in your package. If you can do this after hours then another option would be to send out a reboot job about an hour before the WMP10 install. That way you know it's not running when this install kicks off, permitted no one is there to log on and start listening to tunes.
Posted by:
neo2000
18 years ago
Yes, it does remove wmplayer8 when installing the new version.. But only when iut's not running. Unfortunately, it seems like the main executable (wmplayer.exe) isn't overwritten when the old version is running.
I've been using taskkill to stop the process wmplayer.exe, which does the same as pskill i believe. But unfortunately, when the process is killed, it can be started again, which also results into an install failure. The ideal situation would be to deny the user acces to Windows media player during the installation, but i can't figure out a way to achieve this. Removing the main executable of WMP8 after the taskkill is not an option, Windows just seems to replace it right after it has been removed. [>:]
We really need to replace the old WMP version with this new one, because of security issues, but we also need to make sure everyone gets the new version. If SMS would report an installation failure allright we wouldn't be having this issue, but unfortunately sms doesn't report a failure allright.
We normally use WFWi so inclusing other applications inside a single script/package isn't a real issue.
Anyhow, i'm still going to check out pskill..
I've been using taskkill to stop the process wmplayer.exe, which does the same as pskill i believe. But unfortunately, when the process is killed, it can be started again, which also results into an install failure. The ideal situation would be to deny the user acces to Windows media player during the installation, but i can't figure out a way to achieve this. Removing the main executable of WMP8 after the taskkill is not an option, Windows just seems to replace it right after it has been removed. [>:]
We really need to replace the old WMP version with this new one, because of security issues, but we also need to make sure everyone gets the new version. If SMS would report an installation failure allright we wouldn't be having this issue, but unfortunately sms doesn't report a failure allright.
We normally use WFWi so inclusing other applications inside a single script/package isn't a real issue.
Anyhow, i'm still going to check out pskill..
Posted by:
neo2000
18 years ago
No such luck using PSkill. Thanks for the help anyways. [:)] Greatly appreciate it!
I was thinking that it *might* be possible to remove the rights from te main executable, wmplayer.exe, to prevent users from starting it up after the taskkill. Anyone know of a (commandline) tool to do just that? TIA
I was thinking that it *might* be possible to remove the rights from te main executable, wmplayer.exe, to prevent users from starting it up after the taskkill. Anyone know of a (commandline) tool to do just that? TIA
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