Microsoft KB Archive/227091

= Command-Line Switches for the Microsoft Windows Installer Tool =

Article ID: 227091

Article Last Modified on 2/22/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition

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This article was previously published under Q227091



For a Microsoft Windows XP version of this article, see 314881.



SUMMARY
The Windows Installer executable program that interprets packages and installs products is Msiexec.exe. This article lists the command-line switches for this program. You cannot run the Msiexec.exe program without specifying at least one switch.



MORE INFORMATION
Switch Parameters                                Description -- /i     Package|ProductCode                       Installs or configures a                                                  product.

/f     [p|o|e|d|c|a|u|m|s|v]Package|ProductCode  Repairs a product.

p - Reinstalls a                                                 product only if a                                                   file is missing.

o - Reinstalls a                                                 product if a file is missing or if an                                                  older version of a file is installed.

e - Reinstalls a                                                 product if a file is missing or an equal or older version of a                                                  file is installed.

d - Reinstalls a                                                 product if a file is missing or a                                                  different version of a file is                                                 installed.

c - Reinstalls a                                                 product if a file is missing or the stored checksum value does not match the calculated value.

a - Forces all files to                                                 be reinstalled.

u - Rewrites all required user- specific registry entries.

m - Rewrites all required computer-specific registry entries.

s - Overwrites all existing shortcuts.

v - Runs from the source file and re-caches the local package.

/a  Package                                      Administrative installation option. Installs a product on                                                  the network.

/x  Package|ProductCode                          Uninstalls a product.

/j  [u|m]Package                                 Advertises a product. or [u|m]Package /t Transform List           The property values used or[u|m]Package /g LanguageID                on the command line are ignored.

u - Advertises a product to the current user. m - Advertises a product to all users.

g - Language ID.

t - Applies a transform list to an advertised package.

/l     [i|w|e|a|r|u|c|m|p|v|+|!]Logfile          Specifies the log file path and indicates the flags to be logged.

i - Status messages.

w - Non-fatal warnings.

e - All error messages.

a - Startup of actions.

r - Action-specific records

u - User requests.

c - Initial User Interface (UI) parameters

m - Out-of-memory. p - Terminal properties.

v - Verbose output.

+ - Appends to the existing file. ! - Clears each line in                                                 the log file.

"*" - Wildcard. Logs all information, but the use of the v                                                 option is not included. To include the v option, type "/l*v."

/p  Patch/Package                                Applies a patch. To                                                  apply a patch to an                                                   installed Administrator image, type the following options:

/p [PatchPackage] /a [Package]

/q  n|b|r|f                                      Sets the UI level.

q, qn - No UI.

qb - Basic UI.

qr - Reduced UI. A modal dialog box is displayed at the end of the installation.

qf - Full UI. A modal dialog box is displayed at the end of the installation.

qn+ - No UI. However, a                                                  modal dialog box is                                                  displayed at the end of                                                  the installation.

qb+ - Basic UI. A modal dialog box is displayed at the end of the installation. If you cancel the installation, a modal dialog box is                                                  not displayed.

qb- - Basic UI with no                                                 modal dialog boxes. The "/qb+-" switch is not a supported UI                                                  level.

/y  module                                       Calls the system Application Programming Interface (API) DllRegisterServer, which registers modules that are typed on the command line (for                                                 example, "msiexec /y                                                  my_file.dll").

This option is only used for registry information that cannot be added using the registry tables of the .msi file.

/z  module                                       Calls the system API DllUnRegisterServer, to unregister modules that are typed on the command line (for                                                  example, "msiexec /z                                                   my_file.dll").

This option is only used for registry information that cannot be removed using the registry tables of the .msi file.

