Software Deployment

VMWare document all of these settings and installation methods in their technical documents.

Try this link for a good starting point.

If you have a packaging tool like AdminStudio ,WPS, Advanced Installer et al - then they offer a response transform creation facility - similar to the Adobe Customization Wizard - that runs through the installation prompts and captures the installation requirements in an MST.

If you don't, then you'll need to start reading and obtain a copy of Orca and create your own MST.

Dunnpy

Hi Dunnpy,

I already read that and I thought the command line ADDLOCAL= xxx,xxx,xxx would refer to the Silent Exe installation and NOT to the MSI + MST Deployment. Is it correct that I can search for the arguments:

SVIAgent       
ThinPrint       
ThinPrintPCoIP       
PCoIP           
USB          
VPA           
VmVideo          
VmwVAudio     
SmartCard       
VMCI           

within Orca and disable or enable them ? I my main question clear ? i would like to modify these parameters during MSI deploment.

Thanks alot Michael

The information is there from the vendor, it's a matter of knowing how to apply it :)

My first reply would give someone with a working knowledge of MSI packaging how to proceed - it's sometimes difficult to know what level to pitch an answer - so sorry about that!

You could use the ADDLOCAL options on the command line with your MSI file, along with the other properties you want to configure - which is the easiest option if you don't really have much knowledge of modifying MSI installers.

If you want to go down the MSI/MST route then you can create a transform to contain these settings.
Each one of the ADDLOCAL items refers to a Feature inside the MSI, you can chose which Features are installed by changing the Level value in the Feature Table.

First check the Property table - is there an INSTALLLEVEL property? What is its value?
If there isn't one, there is a default value of 1 for the property, even though it isn't defined.

Now check the Feature table and work out which features, using the ADDLOCAL names you have.
Check the 'Level' value for each Feature row - if that value is less than the INSTALLLEVEL value you noted in the Property table (or less than 1, if it isn't defined) then the feature WON'T install.
If it is equal to the INSTALLLEVEL value then it will install.

Setting these Level values in your MST you can define which Features are installed in your package.
If there are other public properties (those in CAPITALS) you which to define from the information on the link above then set them in the Property table - if they are not present already, add then as a new row with the desired value.

You might also want to add the following to the Property table:

REBOOT=ReallySuppress
Suppress all reboot attempts by the installer - if a reboot is required it can be instigated by the user, or the deployment toolset.

ROOTDRIVE=C:\
If not set an MSI will attempt to install on the local drive with the most free space available - this setting will force an installation to the C:\ drive, which the majority of clients I've worked with want. If you want to force it to a different local drive then set accordingly.

Generate your MST and test, test, test!

Hope that helps,

Dunnpy

Hi Dunnpy,

first of all i'm really impressed of the the amount of information and details in your reply. I have a bad conscience because you must have spent alot of time wrapping this up for me, I hope you get paid or have fun doing this :)

I understand that I can use the Properties with the MSI but this seems to be similar to the EXE deploy and I would have to install it as a Script and not as a Software packet through GPO, this has some disadvantages in maintenance in later stages or Updates.
Thats why I will go down the MSI/MST road.
Thanks for giving me so much advice on how to investigate the proper areas in the MSI. I will dig into this topic this week, do testings and wrap up a step by step guide when I'm done, for others to benefit from our work.

Thanks again very much for your help.
Kind Regards,
Michael

I've checked back on the VMWare documentation and I can see how it might be confusing.

The properties we've mentioned are passed on the command line using the installer .exe file - but the important thing to note is that all that it is doing is passing the parameters (properties) to the underying MSI file - the installer .exe file is just a bootstrap launcher for the MSI.

VMware-viewagent-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn VDM_VC_MANAGED_AGENT=1 ADDLOCAL=Core,PCoIP,SVIAgent,ThinPrint,USB"

The '/s' runs the .exe silently, and the '/v' passes everything after it on the commandline to msiexec.exe (the windows installer MSI file) to configure the installation which is why the parameters are the same whether using the .exe, the MSI directly or configuring in an MST.

Hope that helps to clarify things and good luck with the package.

I don't get paid for this, and do it all for fun - packaging isn't even in my job description any more :)

Dunnpy

P.S. - don't forget to rate any posts you find useful/helpful, it marks the usefulness of a post, but also increases the ranking of the poster by helping them move through the ITNinja belt ranking system.
I don't need the points - you can't get higher than my level :)
It's just something we do on here to help other people progress.