Today, many users are faced with a situation where when installing any software product it is proposed to use the Silent Install mode (silent installation). What is a silent installation and how to make it for different types of software, now it will be considered. In addition, let's look at some problems that may arise when such a process is involved.
What is a silent installation?
Silent installation (based on the interpretation of this term) is a rather specific, but very convenient process.
Roughly speaking, for the same MS Office product, a silent installation consists in installing the package in the background while the user is relaxing peacefully. In other words, his participation is reduced only to launching the installation file, and the entire process from start to complete will be carried out without his direct intervention in the installation process.
For the average user, this approach to installing software of any type is a real find - this is not discussed.
Basic types of silent installation
If we talk about the processes themselves, they can be classified according to the type of installers and methods of starting the installation distribution.
To date, the most common installation modules are as follows:
- Install Shield.
- NSIS.
- WISE Installer.
- Inno Setup.
In most cases, they are used for silent installation in relation to Windows-systems. As for launching the installer, there are three main methods:
- command line with silent installation attribute;
- executable files in COM and BAT formats;
- SFX self-extracting archives and the like.
Windows: silent installation
For the installation of Windows operating systems, the use of MSI and MSU file formats is provided (the second type is the installer of system updates). It is believed that the silent installation of RUS-versions of the system (Russified interface) is done in this way, but only using a special key.
Typically, modifications to programs or systems that support this installation method are marked with the word unattended. In the case of using the silent installation key QB during the installation of the system, the user will be able to monitor all the actions that take place.
If the QN key is used, an even quieter installation is assumed when the installation itself in the form of a “Wizard” or an icon in the system tray is not displayed on the screen, and the process itself can only be seen in the “Task Manager”. But this applies to the Install Shield installer.
If you run an installer like Inno Setup, the SP attribute is used as the silent installation key. To recognize the installer, when you run the executable file, you should use the Alt + Space combination, after which a corresponding menu will appear on the screen, where you need to select the "About" section or something similar.
Microsoft Office Product Installation
For Microsoft Office, silent installation is also provided. If you use the SFX archive, the problem disappears by itself.
However, usually after downloading the office suite, even from the official site, the installation file is a regular "executable", which you need to run. In normal mode (even if started on behalf of the administrator), a silent installation will not work. This is where the command line comes in handy.
Installing programs using attributes on the command line
What is silent installation in this case? This is the launch of a file with its location on the hard drive or removable media using a special attribute.
So, for example, for any program installed using an executable file, a command in the console might look something like this:
C: file name.exe / S (this attribute is used for the NSIS collector).
In any case, each specific type of installer has its own attribute. There is still a whole set of commands, however, bringing them all to the average user does not make sense, since the fact that an unprepared user will try to cancel the installation or use not a standard silent installation, but even less noticeable, causes legitimate doubts. For a general understanding of the situation, these explanations are sufficient.
Instead of an afterword
Some software products may not support silent mode. For example, often problems can be noticed with the corporate version of Avast antivirus. Even the use of the SFX archive does not lead to anything.
The way out of this situation may be to use configuration files, the directives of which can be found on the software developer’s website. As a rule, these are executable files of the BAT or COM format. Here are just installers capable of picking up instructions for silent installation only if the directory file is in the same directory as the installer.
But the problems do not end there. For example, some portable versions of programs (in particular, Mozilla Firefox) may stop recognizing the configuration settings contained in INI files. In addition, many experts recommend using the 7Zip archiver, rather than the more popular utilities like WinRAR or WinZIP, to create self-extracting archives with a distribution. Here the main point is the fact that it is 7Zip that supports the maximum compression technology, which is not provided in other programs (it simply is not supported by them, and when trying to unpack it gives an error, as if indicating a violation of the integrity of the archive).
What is a silent installation, we figured it out. It remains to add that only general material was given here for the first acquaintance with such technologies. If the user needs to more fully study all aspects related to silent installation, it is better to read additional materials related to each type of installers.
And, of course, it is difficult to call a silent installation a special innovation, but its advantages are undeniable for a user inexperienced in computer technology, because you will not have to interfere with the installation process of any software. In addition, depending on the complexity of the software and the size of the distribution, the installation process can take a lot of time. But there's nothing to be done, so you have to tolerate.