InstallShield is one of the oldest and most widely used application packaging systems. Msiexec can do many other things, like uninstall software or apply patches. So in general, you want to provide the /i, /qb, and REBOOT=ReallySuppress parameters to msiexec. Perhaps the most important common property is the REBOOT property, which you can use to suppress any automatic reboot the MSI package might try to perform. is how you install ActiveState Perl, instructing the MSI package to add Perl.exe to your PATH and to associate. Msiexec /qb /l* perl-log.txt /i ActivePerl.msi PERL_PATH=Yes PERL_EXT=Yes You can provide named options (or 'properties') at the end of the command line which properties are supported depends on the package. Use the /l* switch to produce a log file. msi extension, and you manipulate them using the msiexec utility.įor installation, use the /i and /qb switches. Unfortunately, Microsoft invented it too late.

Microsoft's own Windows Installer Service is the nominal standard, and if everybody used it, there would be no need for this document. In my experience, the odds are about 1 in 4 that /? will tell you anything at all, even when there is something to tell. But if you really expect this to work, then you have not been using Windows for very long. Of course, you can try running the installer with the /? switch to find out which other switches it supports. Sometimes this will be obvious from the installer's splash screen sometimes you can figure it out by running strings and sometimes you will have to guess. To make an educated guess about how to run an installer unattended, you need to know which system was used to create it. There are several systems which vendors use to create installers for their applications.

Nsis vs installshield