MSIEXEC and remote machines?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gerry Hickman
  • Start date Start date
G

Gerry Hickman

Hi,

What's the correct way to install MSI packages onto remote machines when
you don't have Active Directory? (e.g. you want to update the whole
network to Office 2000 SP3, or you want to update MSXML to the latest
service pack).

The MSI installer seems to rely on having a loaded user profile, which
seems a bit of a strange limitation for a modern Windows Installer?
Surely the whole point is that you can run all these updates overnight
on a schedule when no one is logged in?

I managed to get MSXML3_SP4 working in the end, but the docs didn't help
at all. Who on earth would MSXML need a user profile in order to install
itself? There's no shortcuts or UI needed for such things!
 
How about using PSEXEC to remotely run the msiexex installer remotely? We
use it forcibly uninstall packages on remote machines (like Symantec AV).

You could put the packages on a server share and point the installer to grab
the package, and if you look at the switches, you can run the installer as
System.

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/psexec.shtml


--
Scott Baldridge
Windows Server MVP, MCSE



"Gerry Hickman"
 
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