Software Deployment

Hi,

normally the msi is being extracted in: [USERPROFILE]\Local Settings\Temp\

For e.g. JRE v1.5.0.10 the msi is named 1b5ba0.msi

Hi,
Ya, I was able to get the initial msi along with the mst, they were both placed in C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Local Settings\Application Data\.......... but from here I have tried adding my properties to the mst extracted and I've also tried creating my own mst but i'm having problems with this.

What do you do once you've got your msi? Is it best to add properties by command line or in an mst?

Hi,

when having the msi file, i normally edit properties (reg keys, disabling dialogs...) directly in the msi without making a mst.

Jebodis,

I wouldn't recommend this as a standard practice. Whenever you need to make a change to an existing Vendor msi ALWAYS create an mst to do what it is that you need. This is recommended as best practice.
At least that's the way i've always done it and is the way Wise and Installshield recommend also - unless i am mistaken........

Rgds,
Mark

Jupp, modifying by transform is Best Practise and so is not repackage an vendor MSI.
But, sometime you'll have to bend the rules to make it work when not regular guidelines works.

Thus have in mind when modifying the MSI directly you most sure will break the support from the vendor to help you if anything goes wrong.

Hi all again,

I've managed to extract the msi and create a transform for this version of Java.
I added the following properties and gave them their respective values.
IEXPLORER = 1
REBOOT = Suppress
JAVAUPDATE = 0
AUTOUPDATECHECK = 0
JU = 0 (This didn't seem to do anything, I was expecting it to get rid of the Update tab but it didn't)
SYSTRAY = 0
WEBSTARTICON = 0
AgreeToLicence = Yes

I now have the problem that my company want The Amount of Disk Space to use set to 50MB and it needs to be done on a per-user basis.
I was wondering is there anyone out there that has had to do the same thing? Is it a Current-User registry key setting, or is there another Property that you can set?

Cheers!

For the Java update tab, you'll have to come up with some sort of custom action to get rid of it. Most Java install engines will mindlessly put it in whether you specify it or not. I'm surprised they haven't fixed this obvious bug yet.

As for the disk space question, Amount of Disk Space to use set to 50MB and it needs to be done on a per-user basis, no way I know of to limit disk space on an MSI basis, although the standard action CostFinalize action will tell you whether you have sufficient resources and will quit if not.

several questions,

Amount of Disk Space to use -- for what???
set to 50MB -- Per application, on local hard disk, on server, what? 50 MB these days isn't much - even for one application.
and it needs to be done on a per-user basis? what does this pertain to?

sounds like you need a GPO to do this, not an MSI.

good luck, OG

Hi aogilmor,

I have successfully figured all of this out, mind you it is slightly messy but it's the only way i could get it to work and it seems to be working fine.

What I have done for the Disk space one......

This setting is stored in a file in the users appdata folder - namely C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\deployment.properties.
The setting for 50MB is stored in here. As this is in the Application Data folder and Java had no entry points or shortcuts for a forced self-repair I decided to use the Active Setup key. But when i tried using this and putting in the command line msiexec /fomus Java.msi it wouldn't work so I needed to figure out a way of getting this properties file into each user's Application Data folder.

I created a VBScript to copy the file in question to the user's Application Data folder when they log on for the first time. I used Active Setup for this. Just pointed to the VBScript and this is what the Active Setup runs.

So, it's all sorted now! Needless to say it is a bit messy but it does the job for me!

I've also checked and the Update Tab is not visible for a locked down user so Happy Days!!

Hi mark,
this Active Setup command line will never work, because you are trying to rewrite machine settings with it!
please read this:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/msiexec.mspx?mfr=true
most likely, you need something like: msiexec /fpu

Regards, Nick

Cheers Nick,

This rings a bell alright, I've always used /fup when using the Active Setup, but it just slipped my mind, don't know why i used /fomus! Overkill! I'll give it a go, but my VBscript is working fine anyway.

Thanks,
Rgds,
Mark

Ah, I see, misunderstood your question - a 50 MB application cache. Glad you figured it out.

Just curious though, seems like (with 1.4.2.06 at least) 50MB is the default.
So you should not have to do a CA for that (at least with this ver). Just for the heck of it I changed mine to 100MB and it changed this entry in the properties file,
javaplugin.cache.size=100m
(0 is the value for unlimited)

Best regards,
OG

Hi all,

Since posting this question I have done more investigation and discovered that there is another more clean way to figure this out.

Please see the following website -
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/deployment/deployment-guide/properties.html

When I installed Java and made the necessary config changes the User-Specific deployment.properties file located at <User Application Data Folder>\Sun\Java\Deployment\deployment.properties was altered. I took a copy of this file and made it my System-specifc deployment.properties file. Using the <Windows Directory>\Sun\Java\Deployment\deployment.config file I was able to define where my deployment.properties file would reside.

When a new user now runs the application instead of a "default" user-specifc file the user now gets the system file that contains the information needed.

Thanks for all your help.....
Rgds,
Mark

cool, i'll bookmark this for when I have to package java again (I'm sure it'll happen!)
thanks for sharing!
OG

I've tried for a day and a half to deploy a custom JRE install via group policy. I use ORCA to create a customized MSI file. I then use MSITran to create a custom MST. If I install manually (Either via custom MSI or original MSI w/ MST) it installs just fine. But if I deploy the custom MSI, or the original MSI with a custom MST attached, via group policy, the javaupdate settings never take effect. I've deployed plenty of other packages via group policy without seeing this problem. Any ideas?

Thanks
Matt

ORIGINAL: thebearup

I've tried for a day and a half to deploy a custom JRE install via group policy. I use ORCA to create a customized MSI file. I then use MSITran to create a custom MST. If I install manually (Either via custom MSI or original MSI w/ MST) it installs just fine. But if I deploy the custom MSI, or the original MSI with a custom MST attached, via group policy, the javaupdate settings never take effect. I've deployed plenty of other packages via group policy without seeing this problem. Any ideas?

Thanks
Matt

Bump..! I'm seem to be having the same problem with this package (orgininal MSI: java 1.5.0_10, extracted in the user app. data folder). Kinda strange. Anyhow, the upgrade keys reside at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy so i'm gonna try using the right regkeys and putting them in the MST in stead of the properties. I don't know if the properties (added them to the transform) are getting set right, or if it's an issue with the transform not being applied at all.. Gonna have to check that.

Edit: got it. The update tab is only unavailable to locked down user accounts. Local administrators (and maybe power users, didn't check) DO see the tab. If you don't have a fully locked down environment, it might be wise to set the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy\EnableJavaUpdate to 0 in stead of 1 in your MST file, thus making sure members of the local administrators group aren't able to check the "check for updates automatically" box.

In a nutshell: As far as i can tell, the MST sets the values, but just doesn't hide the Update tab for members of LA group.

Yes neo2000,
You've hit the nail on the head, that's what i was getting too! Seems like the properties do get set but in order to ensure if they have or not you need to check under a locked down user account!

FYI, update 11 is out now. Going to start tinkering with it in a second here. I'm pessimistic.

I have just pushed out the JRE 1.5.10.11 using the same transform options and it seems to be working fine so far:

IEXPLORER = 1
REBOOT = Suppress
JAVAUPDATE = 0
AUTOUPDATECHECK = 0
JU = 0
SYSTRAY = 0
WEBSTARTICON = 0

The agree to license option was not visible so I have run without this and it seems to perform the silent install fine.

Interesting, I used the properties:
REBOOT = ReallySuppress
JAVAUPDATE = 0
AUTOUPDATECHECK = 0
JU = 0

And it left the Auto Update on.

Did you try logging in as new user? I noticed in previous versions that this would turn the Auto Update on again.

To push update 11, I created a VBS CA that populates the autoupdate reg key and set it to run after the javainstall CA.