Tuesday, November 8, 2005

Silent installation of Autodesk DWG TrueConvert

Do you want to distribute the new DWG TrueConvert for a lot of users?
Here is how it can be done.
Download it from http://www.autodesk.com/dwgtrueconvert and extract the zipped file DWGTrueConvert.exe.
Locate the setup.ini file and edit it. Change the this row:
INSTALL_CMD_ARGS=/L*v "%temp%\DWGTrueConvert Install.log"
to
INSTALL_CMD_ARGS=/qb! /L*v "%temp%\DWGTrueConvert Install.log"
/qb! is installing DWG Convert showing a progress dialog box that cannot be cancelled by the user.
/qb let's the user cancel the installation.
/q doesn't show any progress. Completely silent.
I prefer to use /qb! because the user can see that something is happening. If /q is used the installation can use up the processor but the user don't have a clue on what's going on.
To start the installation run Setup.exe and it will use setup.ini with the settings you have in it.

6 comments:

  1. JTB WorldAugust 02, 2008

    Restored comments

    R.K. McSwain said...

    That VBS script directly calls the .MSI file.

    I have found that if the target machine needs to have the update for it's MSI runtime installed and/or the .NET framework installed, then running the main install by calling the .MSI file fails.

    Maybe there is a way to script this and have it install the necessary MSI/.NET updates silently also? I haven't got that far yet.

    One more note, this install requires IE6SP1 - if this is not installed, it will fail anyway.
    November 02, 2005
    Jon Rizzo, Langan Engineering said...

    For MSI, you will notice a folder called 'MSI' when you extract the True View zip file. to execute this file silently, just add the flags /norestart and /quiet to the command line. If an MSI update is not necessary, this program does nothing.

    All of our machines already have the .NET framework 1.0 and 1.1 installed on them, so I don't know what happens if these are not present...
    November 21, 2005
    Jon Rizzo said...

    In my previous post, I should have mentioned that you need to execute the file WindowsInstaller-KB884016-v2-x86.exe using those command line switches. This file is located in the MSI folder of the zip file.
    November 21, 2005
    R.K. McSwain said...

    An update to my previous comment. I am pushing DWG Trueview out by login script. (Batch file)

    I just check to to see if the program executable exists. If not, I know it hasn't been installed, so I fire the "setup.exe"

    MSI runtime and the .NET framework are installed as well as DWG Trueview.

    I have the logon script (batch file) append a user-defined .LOG file so I know where the install has been run.
    December 15, 2005
    C. Rice said...

    I am trying to deploy this using the changes you posted for the setup.ini file. It doesn't seem to be working as stated. When it gets to the line INSTALL_CMD_ARGS=INSTALL_CMD_ARGS=/qb! /L*v %temp%\DWGVInstall.log INSTALLDIR="C:\Program Files\Autodesk\DWG TrueView" ACAD_SILENT_LICENSE=YES it seems to be ognoring the command line entirely. It runs the setup as it would if no switches were present. Any ideas?
    January 23, 2006
    JTB World said...

    If you used the line like below it cannot work.
    INSTALL_CMD_ARGS=INSTALL_CMD_ARGS=/qb! /L*v %temp%\DWGVInstall.log INSTALLDIR="C:\Program Files\Autodesk\DWG TrueView" ACAD_SILENT_LICENSE=YES

    INSTALL_CMD_ARGS= seems to have been added twice.

    Try instead:
    INSTALL_CMD_ARGS=/qb! /L*v %temp%\DWGVInstall.log INSTALLDIR="C:\Program Files\Autodesk\DWG TrueView" ACAD_SILENT_LICENSE=YES
    January 23, 2006
    Marcus said...

    Thanks for the information - it is a big help!

    I have made a simpler guide which viewers might find easier to digest:

    To find the setup.exe, I extracted the downloaded SetupDWGTrueView2.exe with Winzip.

    Then, to get the setup.exe to run silently for me, I made the following modifications to the setup.ini file:

    replaced the following command in the [SETUP] section:
    SETUP_STARTUP_MESSAGE=NO
    with:
    SETUP_STARTUP_MESSAGE=YES

    added the following commands in the [AOEM] section:
    INSTALLDIR="C:\Program Files\Autodesk\DWG TrueView"
    ACAD_SILENT_LICENSE=YES

    replaced the following command in the [AOEM] section:
    INSTALL_CMD_ARGS=/L*v %temp%\DWGVInstall.log
    with
    INSTALL_CMD_ARGS=/qb! /L*v %temp%\DWGVInstall.log

    replaced the following command in the [VIEWER] section:
    INSTALL_CMD_ARGS=/u2 /q2
    with
    INSTALL_CMD_ARGS=/qb! /L*v %temp%\DWGVInstall.log

    Cheers,

    Marcus
    February 28, 2006

    ReplyDelete
  2. The WadesApril 03, 2009

    I want to be able to change the support folders in the deployment (as I recall we could do this we could do this with TrueView 2009)

    Anyway to do this?

    ReplyDelete
  3. JTB WorldApril 03, 2009

    I think the only way is to edit the registry after it is installed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. MatDecember 21, 2009

    Is it possible to deploy the MSI using Group Policy? I just thought I'd ask before trying it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. MatDecember 21, 2009

    How about deplying the .MSI using Group Policy? Has anybody tried this?

    ReplyDelete
  6. MatDecember 21, 2009

    Appologies for the double-post.

    ReplyDelete