How to use the Silent Install feature with the VPN Client
(Last modified: 04Feb2004)
This document (10090938) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.
fact
Novell BorderManager 3.8
goal
How to use the Silent Install feature with the VPN Client
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Silent install feature for unattended installation of the VPN Client.
This version of the VPN client supports the
silent install feature, which allows the
installation to be completed without user input.
If the Dial-Up option is selected, some user
intervention may be required if the workstation
does not have the Dial-Up Networking or RAS
components
To use this feature, you run SETUP.EXE with a
switch to create a response file that contains
the answers to all the questions normally asked
during installation. Because this includes
selection of the dial-up client, the LAN client,
or both, you may need to create multiple response
files based on user needs.
After creating the response file, you can then
run SETUP.EXE with a different switch to use the
response file so that installation requires
minimal user intervention. There is also a
switch to generate a log file for the silent
install. This can be used to verify that the
install completed successfully, or to diagnose
why the installation failed. Examples on how to
use these switches are given below.
You may often need to do a "silent install" on
workstations that have different versions of
Windows. If Windows or the Novell Client was
from CD, then the VPN client install will ask
for those installation CDs. In this situation,
since the responses to the install prompts will
depend on the version of Windows that is
installed, it is best to create a response file
that will query the user for these installation
CDs if needed.
To create this kind of a response file:
1. Perform a normal install of the VPN client
without creating the response file. This
installation may ask for the Windows and / or
Novell Client CDs. Proceed normally through
the installation.
2. After rebooting, run SETUP.EXE again, this
time creating the response file. This
re-install will not query for the Windows or
Novell Client install CDs, so the generated
response file will not know what to answer
when the user installation asks for the
Windows or Novell Client CD. Because there is
no answer in the response file, the user will
be queried for the Windows or Novell Client
CDs if they are needed
To verify that the response file is working
properly, run the installation in silent
mode on a workstation that does not have VPN
client installed. The install log file
should show ResultCode=0.
The silent install feature only works with
the SETUP.EXE under the disk1 directory. It
does not work with the self-extracting exe.
The silent install feature is enabled by
executing SETUP.EXE under the disk1
directory with certain command-line options.
The available options for SETUP.EXE are:
-r - Run the installation and capture the
response
-s - Run the installation in silent
mode.
Depending on which of the two options is
being used, the -f1 and -f2 options may also
be used to specify names files.
To use the silent install feature:
1. Create a response file by issuing the
following command from disk1 of the VPN
client disks:
setup.exe -r -f1"<RESPONSE_FILE>"
where <RESPONSE_FILE> contains the absolute
path and name of the response file. The
-f1"<RESPONSE_FILE>" option may be omitted,
in which case a response file named SETUP.ISS
is created in the Windows or WinNT
directory. For example,
setup.exe -r -f1"c:\test\setup.iss" executes
the installation and saves the input to C:\TE
When using the -f1 and -f2 switches, do not
put a space before the quote sign. For
example: -f1 "filename" won't work.
-f1"filename" will work.
2. Execute the installation based on previously
captured input by issuing the following
command from disk1 of the VPN client disks.
setup.exe -s -f1"<RESPONSE_FILE>"
-f2"<LOG_FILE>"
where <RESPONSE_FILE> contains the absolute
path and name of response file, and
<LOG_FILE> contains the absolute path and
name of log file.
For example, setup.exe -s
-f1"c:\winnt\response.txt" -f2".\setup.log"
executes the installation, taking input from
response.txt in the c:\WinNT directory, and
records the result in the file setup.log in
the same directory as setup.exe.
3. Verify that the silent install was successful
by checking the contents of setup.log. You
should see a result section with the
following:
[ResponseResult]
ResultCode=0
A value of 0 for ResultCode indicates that
installation was successful. A nonzero value
indicates failure. The possible ResultCode
values are:
0 Success.
-1 General error.
-2 Invalid mode.
-3 Required data not found in the SETUP.ISS
file.
-4 Not enough memory available.
-5 File does not exist.
-6 Cannot write to the response file.
-7 Unable to write to the log file.
-8 Invalid path to the InstallShield Silent
response file.
-9 Not a valid list type (string or
number).
-10 Data type is invalid.
-11 Unknown error during setup.
-12 Dialog boxes are out of order.
-51 Cannot create the specified folder.
-52 Cannot access the specified file or
folder.
-53 Invalid option selected.
The most common installation error code seen
is -12. An error condition usually displays
an error message dialog box requiring user
input, such as "Click OK" to acknowledge the
error. Because the response would not be in
the response file, the silent install process
assumes that the response file has the dialog
boxes out of order and hence reports error
-12.
A batch file may be used to further automate
the silent install process. For example, you
could create the following INSTALL.BAT in the
DISK1 subdirectory: setup.exe -s
-f1"c:\vpninst\disk1\response.txt"
-f2"c:\temp\vpninst.log" rem This assumes
that the VPN client has been extracted to
c:\vpninst. rem It could be on a network
drive, or somewhere else. Don't put a space
between -f1 and the quotation mark. If the
VPN Login icon shows up on your desktop,
reboot, and the VPN client installation will
be over.
2.13 Client Configuration Distribution
If you have a file named vpnconfig.txt in your
VPN client installation directory Disk1, the
installation program will take VPN server
addresses, authentication mode, NetWare server IP
address, NMAS sequences, eDirectory context,
whether to enable eDirectory login or not, and so
on from this file. The program will then update
them into the workstation's Registry.
The text file syntax template is included in
Disk1. You can modify the template according to
corporate requirements. The template is self
explanatory.
note
Additional items to be aware of when using the silent install feature:
1. When running the silent install from a mapped network drive, you may encounter an error "Setup.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You need to restart the program." This has been reported to development. A work-around is to copy the setup.iss or response file file locally to the c:\winnt subdirectory or execute the installation from a local subdirectory.
2. The vpnconfig.txt options will not be used with the silent install if it is executed from a mapped network drive. This has also been reported to development and the work-around is to copy and execute the entire /DISK1 subdirectory (including the setup.iss and vpnconfig.txt) locally to the workstation that is to be upgraded.
3. During the silent install several quick pop-up notices will be displayed on the workstation notifying that an unsigned driver is being used. This is a normal notice from Windows and poses no problems. It is recommended that the silent install be run after-hours and a notice sent to all workstations upgraded that this is normal and will occur.
4. It is necessary to reboot the workstation for the VPN client to work properly after the silent install has completed.
document
| Document Title: | How to use the Silent Install feature with the VPN Client |
| Document ID: | 10090938 |
| Solution ID: | NOVL95419 |
| Creation Date: | 04Feb2004 |
| Modified Date: | 04Feb2004 |
| Novell Product Class: | Novell BorderManager Services |
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