Syntax for deploying app with answer file

[Aurock]

I have some applications which have to be installed with a command line parameter that points to an answer file or config file. Typically, this parameter would include the full path to the required file. For example:

setup.exe /s /path:"c:\temp\config.txt"

To deploy it through config manager, I included the config.txt in the source directory alongside the setup.exe file. I have tried a couple of command line variations for the "Installation Program" in the deployment type for this, but I don't seem to have hit on the right one. What would be the proper syntax to use for installing such a program through configmgr, so that the program's setup routine can locate and access the required config file during installation?

 

Thanks!

[Jorgen Nilsson]

Hi,

I would put the command in a .cmd file, and use the %~dp0 variable which Points to the current path including a trailing backslash. In your example above putting the below text in a command line should Work fine.

Setup.exe /s /path:"%~dp0config.txt"

It will read the config file from the DP share directly or from the client cache based in your Deployment setting.

 

Regards,
Jörgen

[Aurock]

Thanks, I'll give that a shot.

[Aurock]

Hmm... I created 'setup.cmd' and put the install command in the cmd file, using the variable as you suggested. I then changed the "Installation Program" to setup.cmd, updated conent for the application, and redistributed the application to the DP. Unfortunately, it's still failing to install, with a return code of -3. However, if I go to the ccmcache directory and manually run the 'setup.cmd' file as administrator, the program installs successfully with a return code of 0.

 

What would cause the installer to return -3 (which appears to mean 'Required data not found in the Setup.iss file') when system center runs it, but not when I run it?

[Aurock]

Found the solution. I had to add /b"c:\temp\appname" as an additional parameter. It seems that the installer wants to extract things into the user's local appdata directory, and when running from system center it can't do that - or can't get access to read back the files it extracted. By using the /b parameter to direct the extraction of files to a different location, the install now works successfully.