Converting a exe to msi
I am trying to covert an exe file to msi to be use in SCCM 2012
Answers (7)
I don't know SCCM, but many packagers plainly use exe to deploy their msi. A lot of times you fire off the exe but stop at the first prompt to begin. Then go find the extracted msi and other files that go with it for instance a data1.cab. Look for these perhapse in C:\Users\<use>\AppData\LocalLow\...
Expanding on Worzie's answer A quick way to get there is to type in %temp% in Start -> Run or Start (in windows 7) or in windows explorer. Look for a folder that is a product code with ~ setup at the end. i.e. "{xxxxx-xxx-xxx-xx-xxxxxxxxx} ~ Setup" often times you'll find all the files that the .exe runs including an MSI.
A few others you can open with a zipping program (7-zip, winrar, alzip, etc) and extract the contents into a directory for use. Often then you'll find an MSI. Just don't forget to zip up all the files together before trying to deploy, if you need you can create an install.bat to call the MSI.
And still sometimes you simply can't get an MSI out of it. Don't forget to check out the softare section here in IT ninja for what you need, a lot of times you'll get some good advice out of it!
You will have to repackage the legacy [Converting legacy exe to msi] setup using some packaging tools like Wise Package Studio, AdminStudio, Advanced Installer, Prism Pack , MSI Package Builder etc.. or
Using freewares like MakeMSI, MSIBuilder, AInstaller etc..
Assuming you have already tried to find an extracted MSI in the Local Temp files directory. Using a Re-packager is your next avenue. I have mixed results with using Re-packagers to create MSI's for SCCM and often use a re-packager as a last resort before creating a package in SCCM to deploy the application using the existing setup.exe. If the existing setup.exe supports silent installs.
While using MSI's in SCCM2012 is great for the AppStore. You can still use an existing setup.exe to create a package. Just deploy the package/program to a user collection for AppStore access.
I found the tool from ZOLA easy to convert any existing setup / executable file into MSI package very easy to use.
You could give it a try as they offer fully working trial version of their product, http://www.zolasoftware.com
Mike.
If you need to convert an exe file to an msi file, you can do this with Advanced Installer. Here is a great tutorial on how to do this.
https://www.advancedinstaller.com/user-guide/tutorial-convert-exe-to-msi.html