Unattended Install VB6 Setup Program

[therealianc]

Hi,

In visual basic 6 is it possible to create an unattended install.

Currently i have a program where by for example if i want to install Adobe Reader, i click install and the installer .exe file runs and i install it.

Is it possible to create a script that would answer the questions presented by the installer and allow it to be unattended?

Thanks in advance
Ian

[dilettante]

First you'd need an agreement, see https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform...on_form&pv=rdr

The terms will explain that you cannot hide the install, it must be run by the user, even if started by clicking somewhere on one of your product screens. Silent installs aren't permitted.

In all cases the Software is to be distributed in complete form and only for purposes of complete installation and use by the end user. The Software shall not be configured or distributed for use without installation.

[therealianc]

Adobe reader was just an example. The user would be clicking to install it but rather then getting asked any questions that may confuse them, it simply it's a default settings.

[dilettante]

Many installation packages have a way to run them unattended, but the details vary package by package. Some allow an "answer file" to be supplied via a command line parameter.

I'm not sure why you're talking about "scripts" here. This forum is for VB6, which is used to create compiled programs.

If you really want to take the approach you suggested you can mess around with SendKeys or sending window messages to the setup while it runs, but this can be unreliable and why do things the hard way? Look for the options each installer package offers for unattended installation on a case by case basis.

[jemidiah]

You can automate many operations with the SendKeys statement, which means you programmatically send key presses to the installation program. It's error prone and timing would be difficult to figure out, but it's at least an option if it's allowed by the software. If your use for this is for some sort of sysadmin work, that might be a good option.

Another idea is for you to tell the user precisely what they should press. You could open the installation program and simultaneously provide a bar on the side of the screen with step-by-step directions for them to follow. Make them large and red so they read them.


In my experience users just hit "Next" again and again when running installers anyway.


Some installers respect some command line arguments, though that's installer-specific.

[honeybee]

@therealianc, what you are asking is possible, but as the others have posted, this ability differs from tool to tool. So it would depend on which tool you are using to distribute your application. The default for VB6 usually is the package and deployment wizard which ships with VB6. Then there are free and paid installers such as InstallShield, InnoSetup, Wise setup (dunno if this is still available) and many others. Go through the features of each and you will find out if and how these installers support an unattended installation.

.

[Nightwalker83]

I just found this which, I had forgotten about.

Silent install

VB6 Deployment and Packaging Wizard's resulting setup.exe has a command line switch that allows for a silent install. This feature is virtually undocumented except in the source code for Setup1.exe. The default path for the project file of Setup1 is:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\Wizards\PDWizard\Setup1\Setup1.vbp

To do a silent install, the following syntax is required:

setup.exe /s c:\anylogfilename.log
The filename that follows the /s parameter must include the full path name.

The silent install is only interupted (that I could see) when the install encounters the "Setup is attempting to copy a file that is older than the one currently..." dialog. This interruption doesn't occur if the setup contains the latest versions of the files being installed.

[jemidiah]

If you're making your own setup that you want to run unattended, Inno Setup offers /silent and /verysilent command line switches. Inno is much, much more advanced than the P&D wizard and is free (even commercially). Many programs use Inno as well, so you could try these switches on them to see if they happen to work.