MSI repository

[edie209]

I would assume the large proportion of us on EduGeek use group policies for rolling out our applications, and there must be a large amount of MSI's created for free programs, i.e Adobe Acrobat reader.

 

I thought it would be great if we could have a MSI repository where members could upload the MSI's they have created and want to share, obviously this would have to be well policed to make sure no illegle software appeared, and maybe have members who would test the MSI's before they went to public release.

 

Just an idea

[plexer]

But all the software could be illegal for people unless they have the relevant software licences.

 

Ben

[ChrisH]

It's a good idea and I know Tarquel creates and hosts a few but the problem would be bandwidth Im guessing unless someones got a nice chunk they can donate

[Ric_]

There's also licensing issues with re-distributing most apps (even the free ones). It would be handy mind, licenses permitting - I know Geoff likes reading all the fine print

 

Another idea might be to create a list of how to acquire pre-packaged MSIs. For instance, there is a procedure you must go through to get the Flash/Shockwave MSIs and the Acrobat Reader MSI can be easily extracted from the EXE.

[webman]

We recently made an MSI for Foxit Reader to replace Acrobat - PDFs now open a lot quicker For example, their license has this claus regarding redistributing:

 

5. REDISTRIBUTION: You can not redistribute Foxit Reader under this agreement, please contact [email protected] for information on our free redistribution agreement.

 

I think it's a very good idea but there is the license issue we have to consider.

[GrumbleDook]

Nearly every vendor / publisher / company I have spoken to about this have said that to host prebuilt MSIs would be in breach of T&Cs of the licences.

 

Quite a number do have MSIs but they are hidden out of the way and are often moved when new versions are brought out, and you don't get told where they have gone to. Others prefer you to buy into their enterprise version to get "more features" (eg Real, Adobe, MS, Apple, GriSoft, AdAware, SpyBot)

 

The best thing to do is to find out if an MSI is available and keep a list of the locations somewhere (eg the Wiki).

[alan-d]

The best thing to do is to find out if an MSI is available and keep a list of the locations somewhere (eg the Wiki).

 

together with a 'how to' for the less technical minded members and save time for the techies

 

There's no law saying you can't show ppl how to do it

[meastaugh1]

The best thing to do is to find out if an MSI is available and keep a list of the locations somewhere (eg the Wiki).

 

The AppDeploy Knowledgebase is a good resource for this sort of thing.

[MkII]

Here's another one on MSFN: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=59614

[contink]

Just as a thought folks... there are definitely some applications where there's less mainstream interest that are specifically education based, especially when it comes to primary school eduware like Granada Toolkit 2.0 which is a cast iron ***ch to deploy via GPO.

 

Anyway my point is that it would be useful to get a "How to..." section in the wiki for MSI's that have to be self-created... That surely would be acceptable within license terms and would avoid many of the issues noted above.

[MkII]

Capita host instructions on how to deploy via GPO on thier forums [apparently - I have read a Capita support bod say so], so that can't be against their wishes.

 

Several people have said that they've successfully deployed SIMS .net but I can't find any pointers Just mention from above dude that you need to wrap the installers. Anyone help?

[ajbritton]

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.

[ajbritton]

You might also SIMS Resource 5967 (Technical Guide - Command Line Use of SIMS Installers) interesting.

[MkII]

I read you can't run those installers from a network share as .net components won't allow it, so I'd assume you have to copy them locally first. Then there are sims.ini and connect.ini to copy over. And do you have to create the install directory sims/sims .net/? - I assume you would. Then run simsperms on it.

[ajbritton]

Nope, I run them exactly as I specified them. The S: drive does not exist at install time but that doesn't seem to matter.

 

I share the SIMS\Setups directory as SIMSSETUPS and make sure Authenticated Users have Read access.

 

I generally add the Staff or SIMSUSERS group to the local Power Users group and that should take care of permissions issues.

[MkII]

K - thanks very much ajb - i'll be testing that out tomorrow!

[NetworkGeezer]

I generally add the Staff or SIMSUSERS group to the local Power Users group and that should take care of permissions issues.

 

NOOOOOOoooooooooo!!!!

[edie209]

Its seems we all agree some sort of msi resource would help us all

[ajbritton]

I generally add the Staff or SIMSUSERS group to the local Power Users group and that should take care of permissions issues.

 

NOOOOOOoooooooooo!!!!

 

WHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyy?????

[malcolm_kapadia]

I also add staff to the local power users group. Has saved me muchos time compared to before when it comes to getting software to work

 

Ours Policies are tight enough this isn't a problem.

[ajbritton]

As others have said, it won't be possible to host repackaged MSIs for licensed software. Best bet might be as follows...

 

For each application/version...

 

1 - Details of the native installer (is it InstallShield, Nullsoft, Wise, MSI etc.)

 

2 - How to do a silent install. (ISS files, command line switches etc.)

 

3 - How to pre/post configure the installation. (This would include creating MST files, which could be hosted, for MSI based installers)

 

4 - Any tips on repackaging the particular app (eg. Don't forget to exclude Flash files, Don't need to include HKCU entries)

 

There is obviously a good deal of duplication of the good work that goes on at AppDeploy and a few other places. I suppose if a particular package is well covered elsewhere then it could be linked to.

[ChrisH]

I have already started a similar section on the wiki a few months ago but there was 0 uptake

[contink]

I have already started a similar section on the wiki a few months ago but there was 0 uptake

Well for what it's worth I'll be popping a lot of stuff up soon regarding primary school software (2simple, etc.. ) shortly as I'm about to tackle installing by GPO instead of using ghosted complete images...

 

Expect ranting :?

[NetworkGeezer]

I generally add the Staff or SIMSUSERS group to the local Power Users group and that should take care of permissions issues.

 

NOOOOOOoooooooooo!!!!

 

WHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyy?????

 

Power User rights give a user most rights that an administrator would have.

 

You can argue that there should be less risk in a staff context but some people will click on anything shiny that says "Click Me. It'll be fun. I'm not malware. Honest"

 

Afterall if anything goes wrong the ICT technician will sort it out.

 

 

I suppose at this stage in the proceedings some will shout "Shared Computer Tool Kit or DeepFreeze"

[ajbritton]

I have already started a similar section on the wiki a few months ago but there was 0 uptake

Well for what it's worth I'll be popping a lot of stuff up soon regarding primary school software (2simple, etc.. ) shortly as I'm about to tackle installing by GPO instead of using ghosted complete images...

 

Expect ranting :?

 

You may already know this, but 2Simple will happily supply MSI files for all their software. Having said that, some of them are less than perfect!