Windows Installer (MSI)
Why MSI?
Commands
# Download NSIS
curl -LOJ 'https://sourceforge.net/projects/nsis/files/NSIS%203/3.06.1/nsis-3.06.1-setup.exe/download'
# Install MSI silently with logging
msiexec /i c:\path\to\package.msi /quiet /qn /norestart /log c:\path\to\install.log PROPERTY1=value1 PROPERTY2=value2
msiexec Help
Windows (R) Installer. V 5.0.9600.16384
msiexec /Option <Required Parameter> [Optional Parameter]
Install Options
</package | /i> <Product.msi>
Install or configure product
/a <Product.msi>
Administrative install - install product on network
/j<u|m> <Product.msi> [/t <Transform List>] [/g <Language ID>]
Advertise product - m for all users, u for current user
</uninstall | /x> <Product.msi | ProductCode>
Uninstall product
Display Options
/quiet
Quiet mode, no user interaction
/passive
Unattended mode - progress bar only
/q[n|b|r|f]
Set UI level
n - No UI
b - Basic UI
r - Reduced UI
f - Full UI (default)
Restart Options
/norestart
Do not restart after installation complete
/promptrestart
Prompt user to restart if necessary
/forcerestart
Always restart computer after install
Logging Options
/l[i|w|e|a|r|u|c|m|o|p|v|x|+|!|*] <LogFile>
i - Status messages
w - Non-fatal warnings
e - All error messages
a - Start of action
r - Action-specific records
u - User requests
c - Initial UI parameters
m - Out of memory or fatal exit info
o - Out of disk space messages
p - Terminal properties
v - Verbose output
x - Extra debugging info
+ - Append to existing log file
! - Flush each line to log
* - Log all information, except v and x options
/log <LogFile>
Equivalent to /l* <LogFile>
Update Options
/update <Update1.msp>[;Update2.msp]
Apply updates
/uninstall <PatchCodeGuid>[;Update2.msp] /package <Product.msi | ProductCode>
Remove updates for a product
Repair Options
/f[p|e|c|m|s|o|d|a|u|v] <Product.msi | ProductCode>
Repair product
p - Only if file is missing
o - If file is missing or an older version is installed (default)
e - If file is missing or an equal or older version is installed
d - If file is missing or a different version is installed
c - If file is missing or checksum does not match calculated value
a - Force reinstall of all files
u - All required user-specific registry entries (default)
m - All required computer-specific registry entries (default)
s - All existing shortcuts (default)
v - Runs from source and recaches local package
Set Public Properties
[PROPERTY=PropertyValue]