Application MSI's

[mrb-solutions]

Hello,

 

Just wondering how everyone gets around applications that are not MSI's that they want to deploy via GPO. Does anyone turn .exe's into MSI's and how so??

[Norphy]

Your choices are:

• Repackage the program into an MSI using InstallShield, WinInstall or similar. This would probably be the cleanest method but not the easiest thing in the world to do if you're starting from scratch.
  
• Run the executable as a startup script with appropriate switches to make it install silently. This would probably be the most reliable method as you'd be using the sanctioned installer but there are drawbacks, mostly that you wouldn't have an easy method of uninstalling it.
  
• Use a wrapper which calls the executable from an MSI. I remember one being mentioned on here many years ago but I never managed to get it working so I don't know how reliable it would be.
  
• Use something else besides GPOs. Nice but potentially expensive.
  

 

The other thing to bear in mind is that a lot of installer EXEs are just self-extracting archives with MSIs in them. You can frequently use a tool like WinRAR to get at the MSI or pass the /A switch to them to extract them. That's always worth trying too. Installshield executables are an example of this.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Norphy

[mavhc]

Step 1: Slap the company until they give you an MSI, bonus points if that company is Microsoft

[chazzy2501]

if you can still find it use "winstallLE" quick ugly way of grabbing an exe install but as a bonus you can configure the program and grab that info as well. I'd use a clean new xp virtual PC with no AV

[K.C.Leblanc]

In some case the EXE contains an MSi. To get your mits on them you either need to pick them out of the TEMP files while the installer is running or you can something extract them using 7-Zip.

 

Do you have a particular app you're trying to install.

[browolf]

Use something else besides GPOs. Nice but potentially expensive.

 

We use a logon called maintenance with the shell set to ping.exe and a big logon script that installs stuff and updates stuff using ninite pro and then auto logs off. We don't need to bother repackaging anything just use whatever silent install or uninstall parameters. This works great because we also have abtutor; we can remotely log on a whole room in one action and leave it to do it's thing.

[deano]

We just get SCCM to deploy it

[plexer]

App-V is another good tool to have in your arsenal.

 

Ben