Perform a silent install of a monitoring agent (Windows)

The silent installation uses a response file, install_directory/Windows/silent.txt. For example, if you are using a CD-ROM, and the CD is D:\, then the path is D:\Windows\silent.txt . If you downloaded an installation zip file and unzipped it to C:\temp, then the path is C:\temp\Windows\silent.txt. The silent.txt specifies the necessary installation parameters.

Use the following steps to edit the silent.txt file as appropriate for your environment:

Attention: Do not modify any files that come with the installation (for example, the SETUP.ISS file) except the silent.txt file.
  1. Locate the response file in the Windows subdirectory in the installation directory, and copy this file to a temporary directory on your system. For example, save the file as SILENT.TXT in the c:\temp directory.
  2. Open your copy of the response file in a text editor.
  3. Change the parameters as appropriate for your environment. Complete all of the steps listed in the file. Each line of the file must be either a comment (containing a semi-colon in column one) or a valid statement that starts in column one.
    Note: If you want to use the TCP/IP protocol, make sure to specify IP.UDP. If you specify TCP/IP, the installation uses IP.PIPE by default.
  4. Save the file and close the editor.
  5. Run the silent installation using one of the following methods:

Running the silent installation from the command line with parameters

Use the following steps to run the installation from the command line:
  1. Start a DOS Command Shell.
  2. From the shell, cd to the directory containing setup.exe and setup.ins (Usually is in WINDOWS subdirectory in the installation directory).
  3. Run setup as follows. You must specify the parameters in the exact order as shown in the following example. 
    start /wait setup /z"/sfC:\temp\SILENT.TXT" /s /f2"C:\temp\silent_setup.log"
    Where
    /z"/sf"
    Specifies the name of the installation driver you customized for your site. This is a required parameter. This file must exist.
    /s
    Specifies that this is a silent install. This causes nothing to be displayed during installation.
    /f2
    Specifies the name of the InstallShield log file. If you do not specify this parameter, the default is to create Setup.log in the same location as the setup.iss file (usually the WINDOWS subdirectory within the installation directory). In either case, the Setup program must be able to create and write to this file.

Using SMS

Use the following steps:
  1. Copy the all the installation files to a LAN-based disk that SMS mounts on the desired computers. (Copy all files in the directory with setup.exe and setup.ins - usually the WINDOWS subdirectory within the installation directory.)
  2. Replace the original SILENT.TXT file on the LAN disk with your modified version.
  3. Edit the PDF file located with setup.exe and change the Setup invocation as follows: 
    Setup /z"/sfC:\temp\SILENT.TXT" /s /f2"C:\temp\silent_setup.log"
Parent topic: Performing a silent installation