Silent Install - iTivity User Guide

iTivity™ User Guide

Appendix A: Using Silent Install for Automated Installation

The “silent install” option, powered by InstallShield, allows you to automate installation of the iTivity components on Windows computers by recording an InstallShield response file. With silent install, you do not need to monitor the installation process and provide input through dialog boxes. Instead, all of the input is contained in the response file.

You can set up a response file and employ silent install for any of these iTivity modules that can be installed on Windows:

· iServer

· iTivity iManager

· Support Module

· Attended iAgent

· Unattended iAgent.

Recording the Response File

A response file is a text file with a .ISS extension. Its format is similar to a Windows .INI file, with sections containing data entries.

You create a response file by installing any of the iTivity components and recording the responses to all dialog boxes. Keep in mind that these responses will be used for every installation that runs from the response file. To record the response file, you start iTivity.exe with a command line switch.

1. Open the Windows Command Prompt and change to the directory that contains iTivity.exe.

2. Enter the following command at the prompt:

itivity.exe -a -r

3. Complete the installation process, choosing the options you want to repeat with the automated install.

When the installation is complete, the response file is saved as setup.iss in the Windows directory (C:\WINNT or C:\Windows, depending on the operating system).

Running an Automated Install

After the .ISS file is created, you can copy it to your network or to other computers as needed.

To run an automated install, do the following:

1. Open the Windows Command Prompt on the computer where you want to install the iTivity component.

2. Enter the following command at the prompt:

itvity.exe -a -s -f1"<path>"

Where <path> is the full path to the location of the .ISS file. The path must be in quotes.

The installation runs and the options stored in the response file are used.

Setup Log File

When you run an automated installation, no dialogs or status messages are displayed. Instead, a log file is created with information about the installation. You can review this log file to determine the result of the installation.

By default, the log file is called setup.log and is created in the same location as the .ISS file. You can change the name and location using the command line switches discussed below.

The third section of the log file, labeled [ResponseResult], contains one of the following result codes, indicating whether or not the silent installation succeeded.

0	Success.
-1	General error.
-2	Invalid mode.
-3	Required data not found in the Setup.iss file.
-4	Not enough memory available.
-5	File does not exist.
-6	Cannot write to the response file.
-7	Unable to write to the log file.
-8	Invalid path to the InstallShield response file.
-9	Not a valid list type (string or number).
-10	Data type is invalid.
-11	Unknown error during setup.
-12	Dialog boxes are out of order.
-51	Cannot create the specified folder.
-52	Cannot access the specified file or folder.
-53	Invalid option selected.

Command Line Switches

When running from the Command Prompt, you can use the following switches with itvity.exe.

-a	Pass the following command line switches to the installation
-r	Record the installation to create a response file.
-s	Run a silent installation using the response file specified
-f1	Full path and file name of the response file. Must be in quotes.
-f2	Full path and file name for the log file. Must be in quotes and the location must be writeable.

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