Creating Installation Scripts - Tips
Keywords: install tips
To REALLY have TOTAL control of the install process you have to reverse engineer the applications setup routine. Most setup routines are not created with the network administrator in mind, so I guess they are expecting you to sneaker-net it around to 6000 workstations.How to reverse Engineer...
Get Inctrl4, a FREE utility from one of Ziff Davis's PC magazines, (search ZDNET.COM, you'll find it).
Get yourself a CLEAN 95/NT workstation, run Inctrl, then run your applications setup routine. Inctrl reports all the updates made to files, ini's, registry, etc that the install program makes.
Based on that report, you can write a winbatch script that duplicates those changes. Then you can rap that all up in a WinZip Self-Extracting Executable for distribution.
I wrote a Winbatch exe that is a parser to text scripts, just like the other guy. Its better to write a parser, cause you don't want to have to recompile everytime you make a change to the install script, or need to write additional install scripts.
Mine runs from our Novell and NT Domain logon/login scripts everytime the user logs in. It installs based on Network group memberships and about a dozen other parameters.
I'd love to give it to you for free, but I invested about 4 years developing it.... One thing I can say is that I got about half my ideas from the WWW support site, its all there, you just have to figure out what works and piece it together with alittle imagination.
Article ID: W14155Filename: Creating Installation Scripts Tips.txt