Windows Installer Options

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Most applications that Microsoft distributes use Windows Installer technology. Several Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) also use Windows Installer to distribute applications. Windows Installer uses a set of command options to control installation processes. Among these are:

  • /passive. Installs applications without user interaction but shows progress dialog boxes

  • /quiet. Installs applications with no visible prompts or dialog boxes

  • /q. Similar to /quiet but allows options to control the level of interaction:

    • n. No user interface (UI)
    • b. Basic UI
    • r. Reduced UI
    • f. Full UI

    Other options exist but are not relevant to this discussion.

To use Windows Installer to deploy an application with MDT 2008, it must support an installation option that can be executed during an unattended installation. Test the application before deployment by executing Windows Installer with the appropriate option and verifying proper installation.

To install an application using Windows Installer’s /quiet option

  1. Execute the application’s Setup routing by calling Windows Installer:

     Msiexec path/application.msi /quiet

  2. Verify proper installation of the application.