SIMS and CC3 needs change

[matt40k]

There is one for SIMSINF - latest v.5.590.5.0 (SIMS INF that is)

[meastaugh1]

I guess the packages won't force a restart cause they are already rolled up into MSI's.

 

They are not MSIs, they are just package INIs which supply the silent parameters to Capita's legacy installers; not a great deal to it really.

[morganw]

I've tried the RM packages, and making my own. Still get the same issues either way.

I'll have a look at AutoIT.

 

What about setting up the infrastructure without using the SIMS infrastructure installer?

.Net framework 3.5 and VB6 runtime sp6 may be manageable but what about a scripted install for the borland database engine and all of the other bits?

[morganw]

Alternatively use something like AutoIt to call it then wait til the promt box appears and at that point tell it to reboot.

 

The problem is if the vb6 runtime is part of a sequence of installers you don't actually want it to restart as you'll miss the rest of the infrastructure / installers.

 

I'll look at trying something like pskill on a timer to deal with the reboot prompt.

[5tu]

morganw

 

I have the exact same issue as you on CC3 using the latest RM packages and it drives me nuts! I've exhausted all ideas so would be very interested to know if/when you stumble across a solution.

 

Thanks

[morganw]

I've had a look at a Solus3 guide, it looks like you can deploy the agent which then acts on it's own to install the infrastructure and sims components in the background. It doesn't appear to be very intelligent though, if someone is using the PC at the time it will reboot with no warning to complete the process. That's my understanding anyway. Hopefully the agent is lively enough so that it actually completes the installation before anyone tries to use the PC, it implements it's own load balancing with the SIMS server though so I feel there is potential for this to fail spectacularly. I still want to sit down and have another go at the batch file or an AutoIT installer but i'm really struggling for time at the moment.

 

Something similar to this:

http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/docs/tutorials/winzip/winzip.htm

[matt40k]

SOLUS3 - phase 1 the agent checks every, default is 5 mins, for updates (checks setups directory). If for example, the user logins in and trys SIMS within that 5 min period. SIMSLOAD (as normal) will pick it up. Having said that, it'll fail if you don't have enough rights, but at least this should have killed the 5mins the agent needs.

 

Should, and I mean should, be all fixed in phase 2. So, what are the odds on my bet?

[morganw]

The Visual Basic 6 runtime is now gone from the infratructure installer so scripting this now seems to work. I've just finished mine although not tried it on a large scale.

 

@echo off

cls
setlocal

TITLE SIMS.net and FMS Installer

REM Set these for your environment
set SETUPS=\\DeploymentServer\Applications\SIMS\Setups
set CONFIGFILE=\\DeploymentServer\Applications\SIMS\SIMS.ini
set CONNECTFILE=\\DeploymentServer\Applications\SIMS\Connect.ini
set FMSCONNECTFILE=\\DeploymentServer\Applications\SIMS\FMSConnect.ini

REM These should probably be left as default
set SIMSDIRECTORY=s:\SIMS\
set SIMSDOTNETDIRECTORY=C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net
set FMSDIRECTORY=C:\Program Files\SIMS\FMSSQL

echo Installing SIMS and FMS infrastructure...
start /wait %SETUPS%\SIMSInfrastructureSetup.EXE -a /S {QuietMode} {SIMSWorkstation} {FMSWorkstation}
echo.

echo Installing SIMS.net Applications...
start /wait %SETUPS%\SIMSApplicationSetup.exe /S {QuietMode} [sIMSDirectory]="%SIMSDIRECTORY%" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="%SIMSDOTNETDIRECTORY%"
echo.

echo Installing SIMS manuals...
start /wait %SETUPS%\SIMSManualSetup.exe /S {QuietMode} [sIMSDirectory]="%SIMSDIRECTORY%" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="%SIMSDOTNETDIRECTORY%"
echo.

echo Installing SIMS AMPARK...
start /wait %SETUPS%\SIMSAMPARKSetup.exe /S {QuietMode} [sIMSDirectory]="%SIMSDIRECTORY%" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="%SIMSDOTNETDIRECTORY%"
echo.

echo Installing Nova-T Satellite...
start /wait %SETUPS%\NovaSatelliteSetup.exe /S {QuietMode} [sIMSDirectory]="%SIMSDIRECTORY%" [sIMSDotNetDirectory]="%SIMSDOTNETDIRECTORY%"
echo.

echo Installing FMS Applications...
start /wait %SETUPS%\FMS\FMSApplicationSetup.exe /S {QuietMode] [FMSDirectory]="%FMSDIRECTORY%" [sIMSDirectory]="%SIMSDIRECTORY%"
echo.

if exist %CONFIGFILE% (
  echo Copying configuration file into Windows directory...
  start /wait xcopy "%CONFIGFILE%" "%WINDIR%" /y
  ) else (

  echo Configuration file could not be found.
  )

if exist %CONNECTFILE% (
  echo Copying Connect.ini file into SIMS .net directory...
  start /wait xcopy "%CONNECTFILE%" "%SIMSDOTNETDIRECTORY%" /y
  ) else (

  echo Connect.ini file could not be found.
  )

if exist %FMSCONNECTFILE% (
  echo Copying FMSConnect,ini into FMSSQL directory...
  start /wait xcopy "%FMSCONNECTFILE%" "%FMSDIRECTORY%" /y
  ) else (

  echo FMSConnect.ini file could not be found.
  )

echo.
echo Installation is complete

[matt40k]

Is there much point installed Nova Satellite? Only 1 or 2 people in the school will be using it, equally the same with FMS, I'm sure the finance team will be happier knowing it's not installed on all the machines.

 

Also on the FMS note, it might be worth copying the IDAPI32.CFG so PDOXUSRS.NET goes into the C:\program files\sims\fmssql.

[Sivadam]

SOLUS3 - phase 1 the agent checks every, default is 5 mins, for updates (checks setups directory). If for example, the user logins in and trys SIMS within that 5 min period. SIMSLOAD (as normal) will pick it up. Having said that, it'll fail if you don't have enough rights, but at least this should have killed the 5mins the agent needs.

 

Should, and I mean should, be all fixed in phase 2. So, what are the odds on my bet?

 

The Update will be controlled by SOLUS 3b - i.e. the client does not need to keep checking if upgrades are available.

[matt40k]

Sounds like you were listening to Jon yesterday.

 

Yes, client will tell server its online when the service starts (at boot up for example), then the server will push out any updates. Roll on next week when I can rip it apart.

[Sivadam]

Most folk know I ain't technically minded - hence my question late on in the Conference!

 

As I have noted in another thread - we probably can't attack it until Wednesday so you will have a 2 day start on us.

.... and I ain't around after that! (Don't all celebrate at once!)

Edited August 17, 2010 by Sivadam

[matt40k]

We'll make sure you have a nice list of Q&A's to read through when you return.

[Sivadam]

I am hoping that my colleague has all the As and that the Qs are zero! (Though he may find some extra ones!

He was the one that first discovered that the Migration to SQL Server 2005 was wrong in the Capita Guide! (or so capita said at the time!)

He is also the one that worked out the tweaks needed for SQL Server 2008 R2 to run successfully! (Oops I said it again! - then again I didn't actually say we were using it, did I?)

[DaveCoop]

Hi Deano did you solve this problem ?