WIndows 7 silent install applications

ally_uk

Guys what is the quickest most easiest way to silent install windows applications such as Open Office, Google chrome. Does a free application exist?

Or do I have to get my hands dirty and unleash some Poweshell, Python.

Currently I have a basic Windows 7 image with all updates / service packs injected. I work with alot of different hardware how I currently handle the applications is to use ninite. Drivers I am currently downloading drivers for each brand of laptop / PC then completing the build and imaging.

I just wondered if a faster way of implementing drivers exists.

Mike7

Most apps have a /S or /Silent switch. Try "app.exe /?" to bring out help screen.
If you have .MSI, refer to "misexec /?" for silent install options.

I am partial towards network solutions for OS install via PXE boot. If you have Windows Server 2008 R2 or higher, check out WDS (Windows Deployment Services). You can add driver packages and define different images on your server for OS install. If $$$ is a concern, can check out FOG or Clonezilla.

ally_uk

I am mainly trying to figure out how to silently install office 2013 trial edition, currently I am using ninite for other apps such as avast, malwarebytes.

I can get the office installer started using a simple bat script however I want to take this a step further and somehow get the script to automatically click on next and follow the installation through.

I will try and find a silent installation option though tomorrow. I have also been looking at choclately which looks pretty interesting kinda reminds me of a Linux package manager.

Qord

It depends...good and helpful answer, right? I do a lot of automation at work, and program installs is something I've been voluntold to take charge of. The one takeaway I've gotten from this experience is that every program will be different. We don't have a budget for things like KACE, but we do have SCCM so I use that to deploy the software once I figure out how to install it.

Generally speaking, the first thing I do is simply google "ProgramName cmd install" and take it from there. If your installer is an msi you've got some good built in options for installing it silently, but it might be missing some config info so you won't have a true silent install without figuring out how to add that info either via command line properties, answer files, or by editing the msi file in question. (I like to use a program called SuperOrca to create MST (answer files for msi's) and to edit msi files so they include this info right in them.

For exe installers, you'll probably have less options for silent installs. Sometimes I try to extract the msi files from these, sometimes I have to figure something else out. I still start with a google search though, no need to reinvent the wheel.

For drivers specifically, look at Microsofts deployment toolkit. You can add different drivers that *could be* needed for disk images, and have the proper driver injected during imaging. I haven't found any better way for drivers yet, but haven't spent much time on it either.

mikey88

Most office versions will include a config.xml file to customize the installation to your needs and execute silently.

ally_uk

Thank you for the feedback some food for thought.

I have discovered two other tools that I am going to investigate further, The first is autoit you can script and automate mouse clicks to carry out installs. The other thing is since I am a powershell noob.

Powershell deployment toolkit.

Qord

AutoIT can definitely be helpful(I still use it for QuickBooks validation and registration because I can't figure out a better way), but there are some gotchas in there. If, for example, you use pixel position for a mouse click, that click will be misplaced if used on a machine with a different screen resolution than the one it was written on. This can be overcome if you figure out what the property names are instead of using position. But even here, if someone moves the mouse at the right time it can cause the mouse click to happen in the wrong place.

Something else to keep in mind is that all cmd commands will work inside powershell so if you figure out how to do something at the command line, it can be turned into a more functional script by incorporate it into powershell.