MSI or no MSI install in cmdlines.txt

[2marshall8]

I can't seem to find a definate answer on this. I've seen people say
that it will work sometimes and others say that it never works. My
main concern is that I need to install office 2k and publisher 2k as
well as norton corporate client 8.0 during setup and unattended. I
also don't want this computer joined to a domain (I mention this due
to Group Policy's ability to push packages). My plan is to copy these
three apps to the machine during install and then use the cmdlines.txt
file to install the office and publisher .msi files. So if someone can
tell me that they've installed office and publisher using the .msi
files with the cmdlines.txt file then I'd love to hear the their
configuration and setup.

Here's my other question. Where do I place the $oem$ directory in the
RIS directory structure? I've seen the majority of people placing this
within the \i386 directory, but mircrosoft claims that it should be on
the same level as the \i386 directory. If someone can provide me with
a definate answer on this I would be greatly appreciative. I ask this
question because of what I had stated above about pushing the
publisher, office 2k, and norton files to the machine during RIS
setup.

thanks
marshahll

 

[Oli Restorick [MVP]]

Hi there

I haven't done Publisher this way, but I have included Office 2000 in an
unattended build and have (a long time ago) done NAV CE 7.0.

However, I wouldn't recommend you use cmdlines.txt to do this. It's too
early in setup to be kicking off an application installation like this.
Explorer isn't alive when cmdlines.txt gets run. I would recommend you kick
off a batch file from guirunonce.

Use "start /wait" before each msiexec.exe command in your batch file to
ensure that one installation is finished before you start the next.

In case you haven't discovered this yet, you want to use the Custom
Installation Wizard from the Office 2000 Resource Kit to generate a
transform (MST) file for your Office installation. I assume Publisher is
handled the same way, but have never installed it.

As for the correct location of $oem$, it depends! For RIS installations and
bootable CDs, it needs to live alongside i386. For all other deployment
methods, it lives inside i386.

Hope this helps

Oli