Passing Command-Line Parameters to a Package in an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI Installation

InstallShield 2019

Project • This information applies to the following project types:

Advanced UI
Suite/Advanced UI

Edition • The Advanced UI project type is available in the Professional edition of InstallShield. The Suite/Advanced UI project type is available in the Premier edition of InstallShield. For information about the differences between these two project types, see Advanced UI Projects vs. Suite/Advanced UI Projects.

When you are configuring a package in the Packages view of an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI project, you can use the command line and silent command line settings to specify the command lines that you want the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation to use when launching the package. These settings are available as subsettings in the Operation area of the grid in the Packages view.

If the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation is run with a user interface, the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI Setup.exe file uses the command line that you enter in the MSI Command Line setting, the MSP Command Line setting, the Command Line setting, or the EXE Command Line setting (depending on the package type) to launch the package. If the installation is run silently (without a user interface), the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI Setup.exe file uses the command line that you enter in the MSI Silent Command Line setting, the MSP Silent Command Line setting, the Silent Command Line setting, or the EXE Silent Command Line setting to launch the package.

When you are entering values in these settings, refer to the following background information, depending on which type of package you are configuring.

.msi Package

If you are configuring the Install and Remove operations for an .msi package, the only type of command-line parameters that you should enter are Windows Installer properties. An Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation uses MsiInstallProduct to launch an .msi package in install or remove mode, and this function accepts only Windows Installer properties as command lines.

If you are configuring the Repair and Modify operations for this type of package, the only type of command-line parameters that you should enter are Windows Installer feature properties:

ADDDEFAULT
ADDLOCAL
ADDSOURCE
ADVERTISE
COMPADDDEFAULT
COMPADDLOCAL
COMPADDSOURCE
FILEADDDEFAULT
FILEADDLOCAL
FILEADDSOURCE
MSIDISABLELUAPATCHING
MsiPatchRemovalList
MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL
MSIDISABLERMRESTART
MSIRMSHUTDOWN
MSIPATCHREMOVE
PATCH
REINSTALL
REINSTALLMODE
REMOVE

An Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation uses MsiConfigureProductEx to launch an .msi package in repair or modify mode, and this function accepts only Windows Installer feature properties.

If you are using a Windows Installer property for a package’s MSI Command Line settings and the MSI Silent Command Line settings, use the following format:

MYPROPERTYNAME=MyPropertyValue

The /l command-line option cannot be passed to the package to generate a log file. If you want to log the installation, consider enabling logging for the package in the Packages view. For more information, see Supporting the Creation of Package Log Files for Command-Line Launching of an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI Installation. As an alternative, you can use either the logging system policy or the MsiLogging property to log the installation.

Note that an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation always launches .msi packages silently. Therefore, it is not necessary to pass a command-line parameter that hides the user interface of the .msi package.

.msp Package

If you are configuring the Install operation for an .msp package, the only type of command-line parameters that you should enter are Windows Installer properties. An Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation uses MsiApplyPatch to apply an .msp package to a target system, and this function accepts only Windows Installer properties as command lines.

To update all of the features through an .msp package, you would enter command-line properties such as the following:

REINSTALLMODE=vomus REINSTALL=ALL

To update only certain features that are included in the .msp package, you would set REINSTALL to a comma-separated list of features that you want to be updated:

REINSTALLMODE=vomus REINSTALL=Feature1,Feature3,Feature5

Note that an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation always launches .msp packages silently. Therefore, it is not necessary to pass a command-line parameter that hides the user interface of the .msp package.

InstallScript Package

If you are configuring the Install and Modify operations for an InstallScript package, you can use the Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI properties ISFeatureInstall and ISFeatureRemove in your command line. The InstallScript function FeatureConfigureFeaturesFromSuite uses these properties to set feature states for the InstallScript package.

You can set these properties to a comma-delimited list of feature names as follows in the Command Line setting and the Silent Command Line setting:

ISFeatureInstall=Feature1,Feature2 ISFeatureRemove=Feature3

In the above example, Feature1 and Feature2 are selected to be installed; Feature3 is selected to be removed, if it is present.

If any features are used in the values of both properties, the features that are set for the ISFeatureRemove property supersede the ISFeatureInstall property.

Note that Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI installations launch InstallScript packages silently by default. Therefore, it is not necessary to pass a command-line parameter that hides the user interface of the InstallScript package, and it is not necessary to use a silent response file.

.exe Package

If you are configuring the Install, Remove, Repair, and Modify operations for an .exe package, you can enter any command-line parameters that are supported by the .exe file.

If all of the customization can be done without end-user intervention, consider including the command-line parameter for running the .exe package silently.

Silently Running the Setup.exe File that Was Built in InstallShield for a Windows Installer–Based Installation

To have the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation launch a Windows Installer–based Setup.exe installation silently, use the following syntax in the EXE Command Line settings and the EXE Silent Command Line settings:

Setup.exe /s /v"/qn"

Silently Running the Update.exe File that Was Built in InstallShield for a Windows Installer–Based Patch

To have the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation launch a Windows Installer–based Update.exe patch silently, enter the following in the EXE Command Line settings and the EXE Silent Command Line settings:

Update.exe /s /v"/qn"

Silently Running the Setup Launcher File for an InstallScript Installation

To have the Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI installation launch an InstallScript Setup.exe installation silently, create a silent response file, and add it as a support file in the Support Files view of your Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI project. In the EXE Command Line setting and the EXE Silent Command Line setting of the Install operation, use the following syntax:

Setup.exe /s /f1"[SETUPSUPPORTDIR]\Setup.iss"

Instead of launching the original Setup.exe file for uninstallation silently, you can create a silent response file for the uninstallation, and add it as a support file in the Support Files view of your Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI project. In the EXE Command Line setting and the EXE Silent Command Line setting of the Remove operation, use the following syntax:

"[ProgramFilesFolder]InstallShield Installation Information\{PRODUCT-GUID-HERE}\Setup.exe" /s /f1"[SETUPSUPPORTDIR]\Uninstall.iss" -remove_only -runfromtemp

See Also