spec file is not read when installer is run in silent mode but does get read when installer is run with full ui

[bozworld]

I have an installer for Lego EV3. It uses a National Instruments installer, appears to be version 3.1.1.190. Using the instructions provided in the network installation guide provided with the installer, I modified the spec file to install the ‘teacher’ edition of the product. The default behavior is to install the ‘student’ version of the product. That is if you were to execute the installer and navigate through the prompts, when it comes to ‘which edition do you want to install’ the radio button by default is on ‘student’.

I can run the installer fully interactive, select the ‘teacher’ radio button and the product installs the teacher edition correctly.

If I run the program using the ‘spec’ file I modified in a fully interactive execution, my selection of ‘teacher’ mode is selected. I know my spec file is being read by the setup.exe because of this. To further confirm its being read I can change the default installation location in my spec file and the fully interactive installer reflects this changed location.

What happens though is the moment I include the /q to make the installation process silent, the spec file is ignored. I do nothing different in my command syntax, I simply add the /q.

When I look at the log files I can see that with interaction it installs correctly, with silent it just goes with the default ‘student’ edition. The strange thing is this is the only thing that isn’t read in silent mode. My custom installation location in the spec file is followed in silent mode, only this ‘teacher’ ‘student’ section seems to be getting ignored.

I’ve followed the guidance in:

Automating the Installation of a Single Installer 4CJDP38M

Automating the Installation of National Instruments Software - NI Installers Version 2.4x and Previous 3X8BAP96

I’ve even created my own spec file that when examined is the same layout as what is provided by the default file distributed with the package.

This syntax yields a fully interactive installation but shows that my spec file is being read correctly:

 setup.exe spec.txt /acceptlicenses yes /r

(Because it’s fully interactive the /acceptlicenses is ignored however the /r does keep the prompt for reboot from coming up in the interactive mode as it will in silent mode)

This syntax yields a silent installation but my spec file is only somewhat being followed by the installer:

setup.exe spec.txt /q /r /acceptlicenses yes

I’ve run both styles of commands with /log to yield log files. Can't seem to attach them.

Network Installation Guide LME EV3 1.0 ENUS.txt is the default  (below because I ran out of attachments):

; --------------------------  How to use this file  ---------------------------------

;

; To run this installer in quiet mode:

; 1. Edit the information below to match your company information and install location.

; 2. Run : setup.exe <path to this file> /q /AcceptLicenses yes. Passing the value "yes"

;    to the /AcceptLicenses parameter indicates that you agree with the license agreements.

;    Alternatively, instead of /q, /qb can be used to run the installer in basic UI mode.

; 3. The installer will automatically restart your system after the installation is done.

;    To prevent the restart use the command line : setup.exe <path to this file> /r:n /q /AcceptLicenses yes

;

; For more information on installation automation visit www.ni.com/info and enter the infocode exdir3.

; --------------------------  Set feature states  ---------------------------------

;    The valid feature states are: Local, Absent, NoChange, Default

;    Local  - Install it (on the local hard drive). If already installed leave it installed.

;    Absent - Do not install it. If already installed uninstall it.

;    NoChange - Do not install it. If already installed, leave it installed.

;    Default is equivalent to not listing the feature in this file. The feature follows its default behavior.

[Features]

LEGO_EV3_EDU_Feature.EV3.EDU.100=

; --------------------------  Set install directories  ---------------------------------

; *** To use the default paths, remove the following section***

[Directories]

LEGO_EV3_EDU_Feature.EV3.EDU.100=

; --------------------------  Set general installation settings  ---------------------------------

[InstallationType]

;uncomment one of the following lines for student vs teacher install

;DefaultRadioButton=TeacherInstall

;DefaultRadioButton=StudentInstall

[lincolnlin]

Thanks for reporting this issue! I reproduced it on my end and is working with the NI installer framework team to identify the root cause of this issue.

To workaround this issue temporarily, you could add the following section to your specfile:

[Features]

EV3_EDU_Mode.EV3.EDU.MODE.100=Local

This will install the Teacher mode files.

[bozworld]

Thank you for the workaround! It works well for me. I'll be excited to see if it can be discovered why the other method behaves the way it is.