jumpinjamez Posted May 8, 2006 Posted May 8, 2006 Our school now have lesson monitor as as a result sims needs to be installed on the teachers desktop machines. Does anyone know a way to deploy sims? I have tried some scripts but cant seem to get it to work. any help would be great. JameZ
ajbritton Posted May 8, 2006 Posted May 8, 2006 It is possible to do silent installs of SIMS using the executables in the SIMSSetups folder. It is also possible to wrap these up in an MSI and deploy using Group Policy. Try looking on SIMS SupportNet for further details.
apeo Posted May 8, 2006 Posted May 8, 2006 You might find this useful.technical_guide_-_command_line_use_of_sims_installers_2004_5967.pdf
jumpinjamez Posted May 8, 2006 Author Posted May 8, 2006 It is possible to do silent installs of SIMS using the executables in the SIMSSetups folder. It is also possible to wrap these up in an MSI and deploy using Group Policy. Try looking on SIMS SupportNet for further details. Thanks for that but i have seached there in the hope of using .msi but could not find any info . Now i know it can be done i will try it.
ajbritton Posted May 8, 2006 Posted May 8, 2006 The link that apeo posted is your starting point. That will tell you which commands you need to run. You then need something like Windows Installer Wrapper Wizard (see the Essential Software pages on the WIKI). You can then cobble together an MSI which will do what you need. Alternatively, you could use WPKG (also mentioned in the WIKI) which can run commands and system startup.
NetworkGeezer Posted May 8, 2006 Posted May 8, 2006 Here's an interesting thread on Support.Net might be helpful with WIWW or WPKG Topic: Chained or Silent Installs of SIMS Printed from: SupportNet Forum Name: Technical Forum Description: Topics related to Installation and Implementation Issues, Upgrades (including SOLUS), Configuration, Servers, Hardware, Peripherals and Training URL: http://support.capitaes.co.uk/newforum/showTopic.asp?params=%A2%D5%CC%D8%EF%A5%C8%E0%E6%DD%D8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Daniel Dainty on 22 March 2005 at 2:36pm I asked this over in the Core forum but don't think it was the right place for it. Does anyone have a guide on how to silently install SIMS on machines? Using Group Policy or just command-line switches would do for me! Have also read 5966 and 5967 but to no avail. All I want to know is how to get the SIMS installers to run with no user input being required. Not even silently, just unattended. Cheers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Dan Clark on 24 March 2005 at 1:54pm The following was posted back last year, detailing how to use the installers: For SIMS Application Setup use flags: {NoServerApps} {NoLocalApps} E.G. SIMSApplicationSetup.exe /S {QuietMode} {NoServerApps} [sIMSDirectory]="S:\sims" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net" For Manual Setup use flags: {NoServerManuals} {NoLocalManuals} E.G. SIMSManualSetup.exe /S {QuietMode} {NoServerManuals} [sIMSDirectory]="S:\sims" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net" How accurate that is these days I am not sure. You may also find you can pull a "trick" with SIMSLoad.exe and copying sims.ini, which I will leave you to discover. And finanlly, to install the Infrastructure setup under a "silent" install, you can use http://helpnet.installshield.com/robo/projects/helplibdevstudio9/IHelpSetup_EXECmdLine.htm to help you create an automated response script. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Daniel Dainty on 24 March 2005 at 3:13pm Thank you! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Christopher Hill on 31 March 2005 at 9:56am In addition to the above: There's an updated copy of 5966 here: http://www.capitasolus.co.uk/Technical_Guide_-_SIMS_Installation_Tools_and_Procedures_2004-2005_-_Update.pdf To run SIMSInfrastructureSetup.exe without having to create an auto response script: SIMSInfrastructureSetup.exe -a {QuietMode} (You can also use {Uninstall} to uninstall things, and {Reboot} to force a reboot if necessary) There's no silent uninstall functionality for the Applications and Manuals setups at the moment, as far as I can tell. INI files that also need to be created: connect.ini in %ProgramFiles%\SIMS\SIMS .net: [sIMSConnection] Redirect=S:\SIMS SIMS.ini in %WINDIR% [setup] SIMSSetupsDirectory=\\\Sims\Sims\Setups I have got some MSI files that do all this so that you can deploy it in Active Directory, which I'll try to post up when I've got some spare time! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Daniel Dainty on 31 March 2005 at 2:32pm I'd got the connect.ini but missed the sims.ini so I'll go add that to my script. Executing SIMSInfrastructureSetup.exe -a {QuietMode} *did* bring up a dialog box by the way, so it ran "quietly" rather than "silently" Thanks both for your help. No longer does installing SIMS on 300 PCs seem a daunting/tedious/monotonous/hellish task! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Dan Clark on 31 March 2005 at 8:56pm SIMSInfrastructure setup can be gagged by using the command line options described in the link I gave above, although if you are encapsulating by MSI and deploying via Group Policy it won't matter anyway. One thing I will say about: [sIMSConnection] Redirect=S:\SIMS You may find it is better to redirect via a UNC path instead to prevent reliance upon drive mapping & logon scripts, especially when using a local workstation logon (for those situations when your DC's go on holiday ). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Daniel Dainty on 01 April 2005 at 12:43pm Very good point -- this will solve the problem of people logging on and the logon script "magically" not running... Cheers! Very useful thread! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Daniel Dainty on 05 April 2005 at 2:15pm I have to lower my hat to you both; installing SIMS on hundreds of PCs has suddenly got a hell of a lot easier. Thank you! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Dan Clark on 05 April 2005 at 2:20pm Hopefully... providing you remembered to set permissions allowing simsload.exe to run and update, or you ran simsperm.bat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Daniel Dainty on 06 April 2005 at 10:37am Quote: Originally posted by Dan_Clark on 05 April 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hopefully... providing you remembered to set permissions allowing simsload.exe to run and update, or you ran simsperm.bat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, I gave the SIMS Users group (the group containing SIMS users, obviously) full control over the directory recursively. Pulsar also needs to generate a few files upon first run (the TempRpt folder, namely) and it would give the Blue-Box-Of-Death if it could not generate this directory and the files (or if they were not present). I have not used the simsperm.bat file though, and the only difference I can see is that my script will not set permissions on the HLKM reg keys. Is this necessary? If so, when would it be needed? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Phillip Hamlyn on 06 April 2005 at 11:00am All, I've been listening to this thread ('lurking' I think its called in NNTP world) since its started. I'm happy that you've been able to automate the installation of SIMS.net on workstations but a bit puzzled as to why you find it neccessary. Since SIMSLOAD when run does execute SIMSApplicationSetup are you looking to automate the installation rather than the upgrades ? I don't know of any reason that an upgrade requires user input. We had assumed that a site with a large number of PCs would be using SMS/Ghost or some other push technology and therefore would carry out a fresh install by updating their central reference copy of the workstation image. It would be useful for our future installation designs for the posters to this thread to comment further on the questions above. Phillip Hamlyn Development Director. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Dan Clark on 06 April 2005 at 2:14pm Phil, Alot of this comes back to the MSI/Deployment issues which have been discussed several times over in the past when MSI was withdrawn. For example, imagine the scenario where a school decides to deploy SIMS across it's curriculum LAN (branching out from an existing Admin network of 100 stations) - reghosting 300 curriculum stations, all with different specialist software configurations (denford millers, laser cutters, weather stations, etc). It would take a weeks work to deploy SIMS this way and create un-necessary amounts of work, and even if every specialist configuration was covered by an image, some would go wrong in terms of drivers, and you would have to visit every station to identify it in some cases. ... All just to deploy SIMS. With the MSI model, 2 clicks (alright, 5 if you wish to be picky ) and SIMS is deployed on 300 workstations at the next reboot (or published - when they first open SIMS). Hence the reason there were a few unhappy people back at the release of 7.10 . Reinstallation is a right-click and then left-click affair for a single station as well, from a central point. The problem with people uploading MSI packages is that to shell the installers through a custom, not production testsed package is a "risk" - if I uploaded my copy of the MSI which has facilities to install and uninstall SIMS and there was some strange "issue" with it - 400 workstations at some school far up in scotland (and whilst I am a nice guy, I am not going to drive to scotland to fix it!) could be affected adversly by one little setting. In this case of upgrades SIMSLoad.exe works well, yes, and MSI is not a good replacement for that now we are in the SOLUS days. As I documented elsewhere (and maybe this thread, although it's on the previous page), SIMSLoad.exe can be used for installation - but you still need Infrastructure, a copied SIMS.Ini and so on. Why do I go on about MSI all the way through this post? Because it is the default MS Installation engine - supported by group policy / AD alike. Scripts can be used as well, but they are not easily managable from the point of view of managing who has installed what, and controlling versioning. Even a commandline parameter to SIMSInst.exe would go some way to filling the difficult approach with several installers (i.e. /WORKSTATION and others to specify the shared drive, etc) if MSI is not possible. Happy to discuss it next time I am up in Bedford... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Daniel Dainty on 06 April 2005 at 4:43pm Quote: Originally posted by phamlyn_CES on 06 April 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...are you looking to automate the installation rather than the upgrades ? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a word, yes. And, to agree to everything that Dan said, MSI is a first-choice and excellent problem to the "I've already got 300 PCs and don't want to sit down at or re-ghost everyone, how do I deploy this must-have app to all of them?" and MSI fits that description every time. Even when unis or post-16s that have more PCs and staff that we do but already have a well-established network, using an MSI is far better than visiting or re-ghosting every machine. Especially if you're a one-man-band (which, when it comes to SIMS technical issues, I usually am). We have machines with differing but fairly standard hardware, but we reload our machines using the Microsoft RIS server. This allows machines to partition, format, join and reload every single application at an administrator's whim, and when the headteacher utters the words "SIMS on every PC" it no longer makes me reach for the vodka. Upgrading is easy, yes, but the initial install is the problem we've been working to overcome. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Givdesh Dusanda on 12 April 2005 at 12:51am Until we get Nova 7 and Personnel 7 how does the chain install scheme discussed above work for 16-bit support. Also has someone worked how to do unattended installs of the Teacher's Desktop or will I have to reach for the Vimto like Mr Dainty -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Dan Clark on 12 April 2005 at 9:04am Nova 7 will not exist (and is not really planned as far as I know), the solution is NovaT6. NovaT installation can be automated - all you need to do is copy bwcc.dll to the windows\system32 directory via your chained installer. It is not really easy to do an automated wssetup.exe - and not really needed, unless you want Personnel or similar on every machine in the school :S -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Daniel Dainty on 19 April 2005 at 4:03pm On this thread, I have been finding that automated installation does not allow external modules (assman, novat, etc) and the only solution I've found is to run the applicationsetup installer by hand (which defeats the whole exercise). Does anyone have any experience of this, and is ther something I've missed? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Dan Clark on 19 April 2005 at 4:40pm SIMSInst.exe passes the following parameters: {QuietMode} [sIMSDirectory]=D:\SIMS [sIMSDotNetDirectory]=C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net If they are present, installation of Assman, novat, etc seems to install too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Daniel Dainty on 20 April 2005 at 12:31pm So should I be calling the installers separately, or should I just call SIMSinst and let it do it for me? Here's my script, sensitives omitted. Would you mind seeing if I've missed anything? ----------- @echo off path=%path%;c:\progra~1\sims\sims~1.net echo Mapping drives... net use f: \\lyndon-admin\mis *pwd* /user:*user* copy f:\sims\setups\bwcc.dll %windir%\system echo y | cacls c:\progra~1\sims /e /t /c /g TeachingBody:f /d PupilBody if exist "c:\progra~1\sims\sims~1.net\pulsar.exe" goto end rem ######### echo Calling installers... f:\sims\setups\SIMSInfrastructureSetup.exe -a /S {QuietMode} f:\sims\setups\SIMSApplicationSetup.exe /S {QuietMode} {NoServerApps} [sIMSDirectory]="f:\sims" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net" f:\sims\setups\SIMSManualSetup.exe /S {QuietMode} {NoServerManuals} [sIMSDirectory]="f:\sims" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net" rem ######### rem ######### echo Writing to connect.ini... echo [sIMSConnection] > c:\progra~1\sims\sims~1.net\connect.ini echo Redirect=\\lyndon-admin\mis\sims >> c:\progra~1\sims\sims~1.net\connect.ini rem ######### rem ######### echo Writing to sims.ini... echo [setup] > %windir%\sims.ini echo SIMSSetupsDirectory=\\lyndon-admin\mis\sims\setups >> %windir%\sims.ini rem ######### rem ######### echo Setting permissions... echo y | cacls c:\progra~1\sims /e /t /c /g TeachingBody:f /d PupilBody rem ######### echo Installation completed. :end echo Script ended. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Paul Richards on 21 April 2005 at 9:22am Your batch file looks reasonable. The only thing you will need to do is run it as someone with local admin rights (or a user that has had the simsperm.bat set up for them), otherwise the SIMSInfrastructureSetup.exe will fail to register some ActiveX Controls successfully. The only downside to changing the permissions that SIMS suggest is it gives users access to the following registry keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib Technically these are the same registry paths that some viruses/browser hijackers etc would attempt to modify. For example, see the removal instructions (and date) for http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/grayware/ve_graywareDetails.asp?GNAME=ADW%5FWEBSEARCH%2EB&VSect=Sn . To avoid giving normal users access to these keys, we've gone for a slightly more complex solution, which switches context to a local admin user to run the sims install routines, then back to the logged on user to run sims.net. Basically, it's a c# dotnet application that we distribute via an MSI file to workstations, which then performs a full install of sims to a new workstation if needed or an upgrade - we then point our start menu shortcuts to this application instead of simsload - and then call simsload later on. 1. If comdlg32.ocx ... other files are not found, run instructuresetup as a localadmin (similar to the 'runas' command). 2. Create a c:\windows\sims.ini with SIMSDOTNetDirectory, SIMSDirectory, SIMSSetupsDirectory. 3. if simsloaddoes not exist, copy it off the network 4. if bwcc.dll does not exist, copy it off the network to the local machine 4. run cacls to give staff access to the sims directory. 5. (Re-)register the activeX controls that infrastructure setup installs (for some reason infrastructuresetup sometimes fails to register these on our machines properly). 6. if needed, run simsload.exe as a localadmin (similar to the 'runas' command). 7. Update Default quicklettertemplate.rtf from the network. 8. Check that the S:\ directory is correctly mapped for the user if needed. 9. Check that the correct connect.ini file exists in the MS Office Directory, and the SIMS directory. 10. Run pulsar.exe. Slightly more complex but does allow us to send out a single MSI file to 400 workstations and let sims install itself without giving staff extra rights on the machines. At the same time, it does mean that if you sit down a machine that is "out of date" you do have to wait for the install to complete before you can use sims. i.e. you could have to wait for infrastructure setup + application setup + manual setup to run. One of the problems we've found is that staff are quite good at turning pc's off/logging off while sims is visibly displaying simsload. At which point, we've somehow reached a state sometimes where simsload thinks it's updated the workstation succesfully, when actually the install was only half complete. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Dan Clark on 21 April 2005 at 11:29am Daniel - Firstly, the batch file is calling SIMSApplicationSetup.exe wrongly, and is missing the Assman.exe etc because they are, for some reason, still flagged as being the server applications. My last post in this thread provides the command line options necessary to install everything and should be passed to SIMSApplicationSetup.exe (SIMSInst.exe still takes no parameters....), i.e. you need to remove {NoServerManuals} and {NoServerApps} to get the installers to work fine and install ALL files. Do not forget to copy bwcc.dll to the directory too. This permissions "issue" is a nightmare, I agree. One way I get around this on my machines is to run a custom designed service - which performs all SIMSload.exe upgrades as the System identity as per a schedule (obviously maintaining mutal thread exclusion with SIMS - it would not be good to begin an upgrade while sims is running, or the user start sims during an upgrade), and utilise a custom MSI file to do the actual install of SIMS, so no need for SUIDing or waiting for anything to run. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Paul Richards on 21 April 2005 at 12:41pm Dan, In your service concept, how do you avoid/deal the following: a) "the user start sims during an upgrade" -> a custom shortcut that checks if the service is running an upgrade then calls pulsar? b) a user logging into sims after an upgrade has taken place on the server, but before the service schedule has run. On a seperate note, is your MSI file still just an infrastructuresetup wrapper? I eventually got that working, but then found instances where the setup had not registered the activeX controls (or more the activeX controls weren't register for a user), hence the 'step 5' above - have you ever seen that? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Dan Clark on 21 April 2005 at 1:46pm In reverse order: No, never seen activex controls not get registered during a custom install, however I use two versions of the MSI at home - one which wraps and one which uses various Merge Modules - obviously the merge modules incorporated into the MSI provides slightly more control over the process. a) Several options to stop this occuring include renaming the file, on-the-fly change of directory permissions (so that the service host user only has access), mutal thread exclusion, lock the file, etc. All should work sufficiently for your needs. b) Either manual timing based on the SOLUS upgrade, 30 - 360 second checks 24/7, service process startup check (so that a restarted machine not on overnight does perform the upgrade), a shortcut as you suggest, etc. Likewise there is exclusion between SIMS currently running and the upgrade being performed. The "fluffiness" (lack of absolute behaviour definition) is presented by the upgrade mechanism itself; without connecting to the database there is only a file checking approach that can be maintained. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Daniel Dainty on 25 April 2005 at 11:35am Thanks for your amendments to my script. I think I was confused about the meaning of {NoServerApps} meaning "don't overwrite the EXEs on the server, just put them on the local machine". Quote: Originally posted by Dan_Clark on 21 April 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...One way I get around this on my machines is to run a custom designed service - which performs all SIMSload.exe upgrades as the System identity as per a schedule... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So is it possible to just run the "SIMSLoad" on bootup if "pulsar.exe" exists on the local drive? Would that suffice? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Dan Clark on 25 April 2005 at 12:27pm If you mean for installation, it is Dodgy ground. You need a sufficient sims.ini file to be able to do that, but from experience it does not work as expected. If memory serves, there were problems with files being missed out - including the temprpt directory, although Ill admit I haven't tried it in a while. You do not need pulsar.exe to bootstrap the process. You may also wish to avoid this as you will need to install the Infrastructure component. However, if you mean Upgrade, then of course you can "simsload at startup" if you wish, ensuring that you do not use mapped drives (UNC instead) and check that sims.ini is on the machine using an "exists" check (so that machines without sims or freashly replaced machines do not attempt to install using simsload). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Daniel Dainty on 26 April 2005 at 12:41pm Quote: Originally posted by Dan_Clark on 25 April 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- However, if you mean Upgrade, then of course you can "simsload at startup" if you wish, ensuring that you do not use mapped drives (UNC instead) and check that sims.ini is on the machine using an "exists" check (so that machines without sims or freashly replaced machines do not attempt to install using simsload). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, that's what I meant. Cheers! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Norman Milburn on 04 May 2005 at 4:39pm My requirements are simpler. I just want the users to upgrade themselves from v7.33 to v7.35. I am using AD to set the file and registry access rights that would have been set by SIMSPERM.BAT but SIMSLOAD does nothing. Running SIMSApplicationSetup.exe interactively while logged in as the user works fine. Sorry if I'm being thick. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Dan Clark on 04 May 2005 at 5:08pm The diagnostic procedure to determine whether it is access rights or SIMSLoad.exe settings is to login as a normal user into the workstation, and run SIMSLoad.exe manually. If nothing occurs, try logging in as an Administrator, and run SIMSLoad.exe manually. If nothing Still occurs, check your SIMS.ini is pointing to the setups directory correctly (SIMSSetupsDirectory=). It is also worth noting the nasty behaviour of windows mapped drives not mapping immediately - so you may instead want to use the UNC path (i.e. \\Server\SIMS\setups) rather than a mapped drive in the SIMSetupsDirectory= entry. If SIMSLoad.exe does upgrade when logged in as an Admin, it is most likely a permissions issue relating to the local user not being able to upgrade the workstation. Hope this helps -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by Norman Milburn on 19 May 2005 at 10:28am It helped a lot - SIMSSetupsDirectory was set to S:\SIMS\SIMS\Setups. Thank you --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
altecsole Posted May 9, 2006 Posted May 9, 2006 Our SIMS setup is slightly awkward as we have to change a setting in the host file (don't ask). I used AutoIT3 to create a unattended install that ticks all the boxes etc and then reboots the machine at the end. I created an executable and placed a shortcut to it in a folder in our teachers admin area. We plan on allowing teachers to use this to install SIMS on their laptops - they are all local admins on their own machines. At the moment only domain admins are allowed to access the folder - during testing we've had no problems with SIMS installs. With 150+ installs to do, the time spent doing the initial script setup was definately worth it.
NetworkGeezer Posted May 9, 2006 Posted May 9, 2006 We plan on allowing teachers to use this to install SIMS on their laptops - they are all local admins on their own machines. So that's not an avatar but a photograph
Richie1972 Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 Well, I've finally got an unattended install of SIMS working by running the following script during the final phase (RunOnce) of a RIS installation. start /wait net use s: \\olsj-sims\shared$ start /wait s:\sims\setups\simsinfrastructuresetup.exe -a {QuietMode} start /wait s:\sims\setups\simsapplicationsetup.exe /S {QuietMode} [sIMSDirectory]="S:\SIMS" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net" start /wait s:\sims\setups\simsmanualsetup.exe /S {QuietMode} [sIMSDirectory]="S:\SIMS" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net" start /wait xcopy \\olsj-it\msi\sims\connect.ini "c:\program files\sims\sims .net" /y start /wait xcopy \\olsj-it\msi\sims\bwcc.dll "c:\windows" /y By copying the connect.ini file it means we don't get prompted on first running of sims.net to locate database Strange thing is that we have to copy the bwcc.dll file - don't know why, though Next stage, i reckon, is to change the shortcut to call pulsar.exe directly and put in the upgrade checks in the startup script - will slow down startup considerably during upgrades, but will mean i won't need to keep staff as local admins (I hate giving them that much in the way of permissions). We're also installing PARS on the 22nd May - anyone know if there's a way of silently installing/upgrading it? Also, do I only need to give staff full rights to the PARS folder?
MkII Posted August 9, 2006 Posted August 9, 2006 Moving over to this thread... [from here: http://edugeek.net/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=39146#39146 } I've tried the two methods mentioned: - You need to do the following... (Path to SIMS Setups)\SIMSInfrastructureSetup.exe -a {QuietMode} (Path to SIMS Setups)\SIMSApplicationSetup.exe /S {QuietMode} {NoServerApps} [sIMSDirectory]="S:\SIMS" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net" (Path to SIMS Setups)\SIMSMAnualSetup.exe /S {QuietMode} {NoServerManuals} [sIMSDirectory]="S:\SIMS" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net" Obviously, permissions on SIMS Setups must be correct. start /wait net use s: \\olsj-sims\shared$ start /wait s:\sims\setups\simsinfrastructuresetup.exe -a {QuietMode} start /wait s:\sims\setups\simsapplicationsetup.exe /S {QuietMode} [sIMSDirectory]="S:\SIMS" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net" start /wait s:\sims\setups\simsmanualsetup.exe /S {QuietMode} [sIMSDirectory]="S:\SIMS" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net" start /wait xcopy \\olsj-it\msi\sims\connect.ini "c:\program files\sims\sims .net" /y start /wait xcopy \\olsj-it\msi\sims\bwcc.dll "c:\windows" /y With both methods the infrastructure setup completes fine, just the rest don't start. Here's the application install log: - *** Installation Started 08/09/2006 14:07 *** Title: SIMS Applications 1.0538 Installation Source: \\admin\simssetups\SIMSApplicationSetup.exe | 07-14-2006 | 15:52:34 | 100966226 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- CMDLINE: /S {QuietMode} [sIMSDirectory]="s:\sims" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net" INI File: C:\WINDOWS\SIMS.INI INI Sect: Setup INI Item: SIMSDotNetDirectory INI Val: C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net SIMS Local Directory pass on command line as 'INI File: C:\WINDOWS\SIMS.INI INI Sect: Setup INI Item: SIMSDirectory INI Val: s:\sims SIMS Server Directory pass on command line as 'INI File: C:\WINDOWS\SIMS.INI INI Sect: InstallationLogs INI Item: SIMSApplicationSetup.exe INI Val: C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\SIMSApplicationSetup.log 1 User Rights: Admin
ajbritton Posted August 9, 2006 Posted August 9, 2006 R U sure you waited long enough? When I do this via an MSI and GP, the install takes yonks. Have you tried watching the process list for cpu activity?
MkII Posted August 9, 2006 Posted August 9, 2006 OK - set it off at 7pm - will leave it a while to see what happens. When I do this via an MSI and GP You mean you don't use just the logon script??
ajbritton Posted August 9, 2006 Posted August 9, 2006 Logon script? That would slow things down a bit for the poor users.
MkII Posted August 9, 2006 Posted August 9, 2006 Ok checked in at 11:20pm - still nothing doin'. SIMS Infrastructure installed and nothing else - same install logs. ..sorry - I meant startup script SIMS Server Directory pass on command line as 'INI File: C:\WINDOWS\SIMS.INI Is 'pass' on this line positive or negative? Does it mean pass as in passed, or pass as in skipped?? I'm assuming permissions are not granted to the registry with infrastructure initialising at every boot - could that be the problem?
ajbritton Posted August 10, 2006 Posted August 10, 2006 @Mark: What happens if you run these commands interactively one at a time? Come to that, how did you sequence them together in the first place? I assume as a .BAT/.CMD file. I will test.
ajbritton Posted August 10, 2006 Posted August 10, 2006 I had forgotten to mention that my MSI also adds the following INI file entries; %WINDIR%\CONNECT.INI [sIMSConnection] ServerName=MySIMSServerName\SIMS DatabaseName=SIMS %INSTALLDIR%\CONNECT.INI [sIMSConnection] Redirect=S:\SIMS [sIMSOffline] PreviousRedirect=S:\SIMS PreviousServerName=MySIMSServer\SIMS PreviousDatabaseName=SIMS PreviousDatabaseMode=OnLine %WINDIR%\SIMS.INI [setup] SIMSSetupsDirectory=S:\SIMS\Setups
MkII Posted August 10, 2006 Posted August 10, 2006 Turned out ajb that it needed the s: drive mapped Yes those commands were run from a .CMD Someone on the Capita forums had a good sugestion: replace Redirect=S:\SIMS with Redirect=\SIMS - to prevent the error of the link to the connect.ini being substituted to the C: drive when the network connection wasn't there > saving a lot of support visits. I will check the ini files to see what they have now - unfortunately I disabled remote access earlier so no play time tonight!
ajbritton Posted August 10, 2006 Posted August 10, 2006 Well, for what it's worth, I did a test this afternoon with a freshly built server. Installed SIMS. Added a workstation and ran those commands. No S: drive required and they worked fine. I've also deployed my MSI to hundreds of workstations on different sites with no problems! SIMS eh? :?
MkII Posted August 10, 2006 Posted August 10, 2006 My staff server is a little strange being on its own child domain with limited permissions from the main domain, which must explain the oddity. [My workstations are on the main domain and the sims server the child domain - staff users log into the staff child domain. Confused yet?! ]
ajbritton Posted August 11, 2006 Posted August 11, 2006 When I deploy SIMS.NET to PCs on Curriculum domains (seperate from Admin domains but connected by trust relationship), the only permissions I grant are as follows; SIMSSETUPS share: Everyone: Read SIMSSETUPS folder: Authenticated Users: Read SIMS folder: SIMSREADLONLY group: Read The SIMSREADONLY group contains users from the Curriculum domain who are allowed to run SIMS.NET On the Curriculum domain I have a SIMSUSERS group, which is just used to limit the users who get the S: drive connected to the SIMS share on the Admin server.
MkII Posted August 11, 2006 Posted August 11, 2006 Up early ajb! No users on our Curriculum Domain are allowed to run SIMS .net, and don't need any access to the Staff Domain. It's just the machines that are on the Curriculum Domain that need access, so Everyone: Read should work - I'll check if that's the case.
ajbritton Posted August 11, 2006 Posted August 11, 2006 Always up early thanks to my '3 year old boy' alarm clock!
MkII Posted August 16, 2006 Posted August 16, 2006 JD Batch file method - checks for installed file S: Drive mapped then hidden with hidecalc [just don't trust them staff! ] Copied start menu items to default user as Teachers have standard/ non roaming profiles Scripted adding the simsuser group to local power users - tho' must try Ritchie's idea of running simsload as startup, then pulsar when they're logged in, as that runs fine as a standard user.
ajbritton Posted August 17, 2006 Posted August 17, 2006 Doesn't SIMSLOAD look at the network for the latest version? If so, running it at startup won't work 'cos startup scripts run in the SYSTEM context, which has no network access. Unless you manage to do a RUNAS in some way... Incidently, I found a problem with my MSI. It fails to install .NET1.1 from SIMSInfrastructureSetup. I think this is because, in effect, it's a nested MSI. I'd not noticed the problem before because I always deploy .NET1.1 to all PCs via GP anyway.
ajbritton Posted August 17, 2006 Posted August 17, 2006 Scripted adding the simsuser group to local power users I've noticed a potential problem with this. Some of a access rights granted by SIMSPERM are not available to PowerUsers (something on HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT IIRC). I'm working on an AutoIT script which sequences the installation, including copying SIMSPERM.BAT and SUBINCAL.EXE to a local temp folder then running them with the SIMSUSERS group as a parameter. I'll post this when it's tested.
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