Microsoft KB Archive/254498

= Visio5: Performing a Silent Visio Installation on a Workstation =

PSS ID Number: 254498

Article Last Modified on 11/25/2003

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Visio Standard 5.0x
 * Microsoft Visio Professional 5.0x
 * Microsoft Visio Technical 5.0x
 * Microsoft Visio Enterprise 5.0x

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This article was previously published under Q254498



SUMMARY
With Visio 5.0x, InstallShield3 by InstallShield Corporation was implemented. With InstallShield3, you can automate your company's Visio installations, including performing "silent" workstation installations.

Silent installations are common in a company's software implementation and upgrade procedures. They enable users to install programs from a network server without interrupting their workflow. A silent installation does not require user input during the installation process; for example, users do not have to choose the type of installation or the folder in which to install the program. Instead, users run the Visio Setup program and continue with their work while Setup installs the product.

Because silent installations do not require user input, the input must come from a different source. That source is the InstallShield Silent Response File, named Setup.iss. The response file contains the information a user needs to provide during a normal installation.

You can create a response file by running the Visio Setup program and having InstallShield3 record the response file that you want to use during silent installations. You can create response files for both local and shared workstation installations. This article explains the following steps to performing a silent installation:
 * Setting Up Your Workstations to Use the Silent Installation features
 * Recording a Response File and Using It for a Silent Installation
 * Troubleshooting

NOTE: Although this article explains how to use InstallSheild3 to perform a silent installation, Microsoft Product Support Services does not provide support or information for other InstallShield3 features.



Setting Up Your Workstations to Use the Silent Installation features
Before you record a response file, you must install Visio on a network server for local or shared workstation installations. For network-installation instructions, refer to the Network.txt file, which is located in the root folder on the Visio CD.

IMPORTANT: The workstation that you use to create the response file must be configured exactly as the workstations on which you will perform silent installations. That is, all workstations should have the same programs installed before you record the response file. For more information, see the "Troubleshooting" section later in this article.

Recording and Using a Response File
To record the response file:

 Close any programs that are running, click Start, and click Run. In the Run dialog box, click Browse, and then, in the Browse dialog box, do one of the following:  For local workstation installations, browse to the Install folder on the network server.

 For shared workstation installations, browse to the Visio\System\Setup folder on the network server.

 Select Setup.exe, and then click Open. Add the -r command-line option to the end of the path to the Setup file. For example:

\Install\Setup.exe -r or \Visio\System\Setup\Setup.exe -r

</li> Click OK.

During the Setup process, answer the prompts to specify your installation options. For Visio Enterprise, select the Custom/Complete installation option, and see the "Information Specific to Visio Enterprise" section later in this article.

Because you added the -r option to the Setup command line, InstallShield3 writes your responses to the prompts in the Setup.iss file in the Windows folder on the workstation.

IMPORTANT: For some Visio versions, a Restart Windows check box appears in a screen near the end of the installation process. If you see this check box, click to clear it.</li> For local workstation installations, copy Setup.iss from the Windows folder on the workstation to the Install folder on the network server.

For shared workstation installations, copy Setup.iss from the Windows folder on the workstation to the Visio\System\Setup folder on the network server.</li></ol>

To use the response file to install Visio:

<ol> Close any programs that are running, click Start, and then click Run.</li> In the Run dialog box, click Browse, and then, in the Browse dialog box, do one of the following:  For local workstation installations, browse to the Install folder on the network server.

</li> For shared workstation installations, browse to the Visio\System\Setup folder on the network server.</li></ul>

</li> Select Setup.exe, and then click Open.</li> Add the -s command-line option to the end of the path to the Setup file. For example:

\Install\Setup.exe -s or \Visio\System\Setup\Setup.exe -s

The -s option instructs the Setup program to get input from the response file you recorded earlier.

NOTE: For local workstation installations, the response file must be in the Install folder on the network server; for shared workstation installations, the response file must be in the Visio\System\Setup folder on the network server.</li> To begin the silent installation, click OK.</li></ol>

Except for the hard disk activity, this installation is transparent. Dialog boxes and startup screens do not appear. You know the installation is finished when the Visio icon appears on the Start menu. If the Visio icon does not appear, an error occurred that caused the installation to fail. For more information, see the "Troubleshooting" section later in this article.

Information Specific to Visio Enterprise
The Visio Enterprise Setup program includes a screen on which you can click Standard, Networking, Database, and Software buttons to customize the installation of those areas of the Visio program. However, when you create a response file, you can customize only the Standard area. The Setup program does not allow you to choose the components that you want under the Database, Networking, or Software areas, but instead installs the default components. For example, Setup installs AutoDiscovery but does not install VisioModeler.

Currently, the only way to install additional components from the three non-Standard areas is to run the Setup program on each workstation. The only way to remove components that Setup installs by default is to uninstall Visio Enterprise, run a standard installation (without using a response file), and choose what you want to install.

Troubleshooting
InstallShield3 writes the results of the silent installation in a text file named Setup.log in the Install folder or the Visio\System\Setup folder on the network server. You can open this file in a text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad. The log file contains a section called [Response File], which shows a result code for the silent setup.

Result code definitions

0 Success

-1 General error

-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

-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

A workstation installation has failed if the Setup.log file shows any code other than 0.

Code -12 is a common result. The response file (Setup.iss) contains a list of the dialog boxes that InstallShield3 called when you recorded the file. If the workstation on which you perform the silent installation is configured differently than the one on which you recorded the response file, certain dialog boxes might or might not be required. For example, if the workstation you recorded the file on has Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel installed, InstallShield3 calls the Toolbar Custom Macros dialog box, where you specify whether you want to create a Visio button on the toolbars of these programs. However, if the workstation on which you perform the silent installation does not have Word and Excel, InstallShield3 tries to call the dialog box, and the silent installation fails.

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