Installer Group: This is what it takes to do a network install of labview.

[billings11]

Here is the install.bat file we made to do this.  Keep in mind, this just “appears” to install everything listed in it correctly as a clean install.  Proton is our network drive. 

@Echo Off

@Echo Starting Labview 8.2 Installation
\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\LV8.2\setup.exe \\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\LV8.2\Bin\NoUser.txt /r:n /q /AcceptLicenses yes

@Echo Starting CVI 8.0.1 Installation
\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\CVI8.0.1\setup.exe \\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\CVI8.0.1\support\NoUser.txt /r:n /q /AcceptLicenses yes

@Echo Starting Signal Express 1.1.1 Installation
\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\SignalExpress1.1.1\setup.exe \\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\SignalExpress1.1.1\Bin\NoUser.txt /r:n /q

@Echo Starting Toolkit Installations

@Echo ---- Starting Advanced Signal Processing
\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabVIEW\Advanced Signal Processing\setup.exe" "\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabVIEW\Advanced Signal Processing\supportfiles\NoUser.txt" /q /r:n

@Echo ---- Starting Digital Filter Design
\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabVIEW\Digital Filter Design\setup.exe" "\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabVIEW\Digital Filter Design\supportfiles\NoUser.txt" /r:n /q

@Echo ---- Starting Database Connectivity
\\proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabVIEW\Enterprise\Database Connectivity\Setup\lv_dbtools.msi" /passive /norestart

@Echo ---- Starting Internet kit
\\proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabVIEW\Enterprise\Internet\InternetToolkit6.0.msi" /passive /norestart

Echo    **** Labview SPC Toolkit can not be installed silently ****
Echo    ****         You will need to install manually         ****

@Echo ---- Starting Express VI Development
\\proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabVIEW\Express VI Development\ExpressVIDev\ExpressVIDev.msi" /passive /norestart

@Echo ---- Starting PID Control
\\proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabVIEW\PID Control\setup\lv_pid_6.msi" /passive /norestart

@Echo ---- Starting Report Generator
\\proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabVIEW\Report Generation\lvoffice\lvoffice.msi" /passive /norestart

@Echo ---- Starting State Diagram
\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabVIEW\State Diagram\StateDiagTK.msi" /passive /norestart

@Echo ---- Starting VI Analyzer
\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabVIEW\VI Analyzer\setup.exe" /q /r:n

Echo    **** CVI SPC Toolkit can not be installed silently ****
Echo    ****       You will need to install manually       ****

@Echo ---- Starting SQL Kit
\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabWindows CVI\Enterprise\SQL\Sql2.msi" /passive /norestart

@Echo ---- Starting PID for CVI
"\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabWindows CVI\PID Control\setup.exe" /q /r:n /AcceptLicenses yes

@Echo ---- Starting Signal Processing for CVI
"\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\ToolKitSoftware\LabWindows CVI\Signal Processing\Setup.exe" /passive /norestart

@Echo Toolkit Installations Completed...  Please install manual components.

@Echo Starting NIDaq 8.3, NIMotion 7.4, NIVisa 4, etc... Installation
\\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\DCD-Nov06-1\setup.exe \\Proton\LoginUpdates\LV-10-06\DCD-Nov06-1\spec.ini /r:n /q /AcceptLicenses yes

@Echo Installation Complete......

Now this took us weeks to make.  Notice you have three different types of installers with different command line switches.  there isn't even a set of NI standards.  It took us a long, long time to put this together, trying an install and wiping the PC clean over and over and over until we finally came up with this...

So my question is, are you guys sure it was such a good idea not to use a standard MSI file?  You really need the NI custom installer with non-group-policy-compatible msi's?

If you gave us real msi files this could have been much easier!

Message Edited by billings11 on 10-09-2007 02:17 PM

[billings11]

I originally posted all this on an ouut of topic thread as an example and someone suggested starting a new thread...

For the runtime installer we actually ran an install and carefully logged every file that was being copied.  Then we used a free installer package called Advanced Installer to regenerate the installer from scratch and copy all the same files to all the right places.  The free installer generated a group-policy-manageable msi file easily. 

Unfortunately it took a couple of weeks to get everything right.  But now we have this great useful msi file for the 8.2 runtime.  The thing is, this is the ONLY way to enable an IT department to manage a lot of runtime engines over a network at a large faciliy.

[AEDavid]

Hi Billings11,

To recap, here is Andrew's previous response:

You are correct in pointing out that NI's MSIs do not function as normal MSIs.  We made the decision to create functionality which would extend MSI and allow us to create more robust installers.  Our current installer framework acts as a supervisor over the installation.  It has the ability to mark and match dependencies (more functionality than the MSI reference count) which are important when other NI products are being installed or if any product is uninstalled.  The installer framework also provides a lookup service to all of the MSIs which can provide any installer with specific information about other NI products installed on the machine, paths to those products, etc.  The framework gives the ability for groups within NI to create separate installation parts (MSIs) which can be brought together into one installer without recreating a single distribution MSI from scratch.

Extending functionality outside of normal MSIs also means that installation via a network group policy is no longer supported. 

To support deploying through Active Directory, we would need to remove our installer framework instead and ship each piece of software as a single MSI.  The features our framework provides would be eliminated, and much of the burden of tracking dependencies would be pushed onto the customer.  Installation procedures would most likely become more complex, as each MSI would also be relatively blind to the current set of NI products on the machine.

To distribute the NI installers to many machines, our recommendation would be to place the installer on the network, use Active Directory to define the policy, and then distribute the software through Microsoft SMS (or a similar tool) by running the installer in silent mode.  This involves creating a spec file, and then running 1 or more installers silently as part of a batch file.  You had already brought up this point in a previous post:

"You might suggest running batch files as login scripts.  But it takes longer for someone to create and test a batch file silent install than new installation in a real MSI file.  You have to look up all the right switches to run the installation in silent mode with the right options - its a pain.  Its really better in the long run to take the time to recreate NI's installation from scratch so you can have a real windows installer from that point forward."

I completely agree that the process for creating a batch file for the silent installation of NI products should be improved.  We are working hard to create a process in which you can 1) create a spec file simply and quickly and 2) be able to run the installer easily in silent or basic mode.  These improved features should reduce the issues your IT would have with NI software distribution through Microsoft SMS (or equivalent product).

Thanks again for your comments and have a great day!

Andrew W

Software R&D

National Instruments

[AEDavid]

And now some good news ...

Andrew mentioned that we were working on a process to easily generate spec files and run our software in silent and basic mode.  It now ships with LabVIEW 8.5.  The KnowledgeBase Article Automating the Installation of National Instruments Software explains how to take advantage of this.

[billings11]

I'll believe it when I see it.