Silently Install Various Mozilla Software Packages

[Maelstorm]

Well, after reading lots of different information on here about different silent method installs for Mozilla software: Mozilla, Firefox, Thunderbird, Sunbird, and Netscape 7.2. Below is the procedure that I used for each one to install the software.

Where to download:

Mozilla 1.7.5

Thunderbird 1.0

Firefox 1.0

Sunbird 0.2

Netscape 7.2

Because the installer program for Firefox, Thunderbird, and Sunbird has a bug in it, you will need to extract the Mozilla setup.exe program and repackage the other software. To install Mozilla 1.7.5 itself silently, use -ms and -ira options on the command line. To install Netscape 7.2 silently, use -ms -ira -ispf. See examples below.

mozilla-win32-1.7.5-installer.exe -ms -ira

NSSetup-Full.exe -ms -ira -ispf

Step 1 - Extract setup.exe from the Mozilla browser suite.

1. Download Mozilla 1.7.5 from the link above.

2. Run the installation program.

3. When the first dialog box pops up, open My Computer and navigate to %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp.

4. Note that Local Settings is a hidden folder, so you may need to adjust your folder views accordingly.

5. There will be a subdirectory under the temp folder that has a random name. If you see .xpi files in that directory, then that is the correct one.

6. Copy setup.exe to another location for future reference.

7. Cancel the installation for Mozilla.

Step 2 - Firefox - Modification of Firefox Installation

1. Download Firefox 1.0 from the link above

2. Run the installation program.

3. When the first dialog box pops up, open My Computer and navigate to %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp.

4. Note that Local Settings is a hidden folder, so you may need to adjust your folder views accordingly.

5. There will be a subdirectory under the temp folder that has a random name. If you see .xpi files in that directory, then that is the correct one.

6. Copy all files in that directory to a different location for futher use.

7. Close the Firefox software installation program.

8. Working with the copy, locate the file called CONFIG.INI. You may need to use wordpad to edit the file as it uses <CR> instead of <CR-LF> to terminate lines (Unix text file format).

9. Locate the line "Run Mode" and change "Normal" to "Silent"

10. Replace the setup.exe file with the one that you extracted from Mozilla in step 1 above.

11. Repackage the files using a self extraction installer program. I personally use IExpress. If you use something else, then the command line to execute to start the setup is "setup.exe -ms -ira" to launch the setup.

Step 3 - Thunderbird - Modification of Thunderbird Installation

1. Download Thunderbird 1.0 from the link above

2. Run the installation program.

3. When the first dialog box pops up, open My Computer and navigate to %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp.

4. Note that Local Settings is a hidden folder, so you may need to adjust your folder views accordingly.

5. There will be a subdirectory under the temp folder that has a random name. If you see .xpi files in that directory, then that is the correct one.

6. Copy all files in that directory to a different location for futher use.

7. Close the Thunderbird software installation program.

8. Working with the copy, locate the file called CONFIG.INI. You may need to use wordpad to edit the file as it uses <CR> instead of <CR-LF> to terminate lines (Unix text file format).

9. Locate the line "Run Mode" and change "Normal" to "Silent"

10. Replace the setup.exe file with the one that you extracted from Mozilla in step 1 above.

11. Repackage the files using a self extraction installer program. I personally use IExpress. If you use something else, then the command line to execute to start the setup is "setup.exe -ms -ira" to launch the setup.

Step 4 - Sunbird - Modification of Sunbird Installation

1. Download Sunbird 0.2 from the link above

2. Run the installation program.

3. When the first dialog box pops up, open My Computer and navigate to %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp.

4. Note that Local Settings is a hidden folder, so you may need to adjust your folder views accordingly.

5. There will be a subdirectory under the temp folder that has a random name. If you see .xpi files in that directory, then that is the correct one.

6. Copy all files in that directory to a different location for futher use.

7. Close the Sunbird software installation program.

8. Working with the copy, locate the file called CONFIG.INI. You may need to use wordpad to edit the file as it uses <CR> instead of <CR-LF> to terminate lines (Unix text file format).

9. Locate the line "Run Mode" and change "Normal" to "Silent"

10. Replace the setup.exe file with the one that you extracted from Mozilla in step 1 above.

11. Repackage the files using a self extraction installer program. I personally use IExpress. If you use something else, then the command line to execute to start the setup is "setup.exe -ms -ira" to launch the setup.

Step 5 - Repackaging Software using I-Express Setup.

Note: I run I-Express from a shortcut that is in My Documents and the working directory is My Documents. You may need to adjust your settings accordingly.

1. Start the I-Express wizzard.

2. Welcome to IExpress 2.0 - Make sure that "Create new Self Extranction Directive file." is selected and click next.

3. Package Purpose - Make sure that "Extract file and run an installation command" is selected and click next.

4. Package Title - Input a name for the package title. I put the program name like "Mozilla Firefox 1.0" in here. Click next when done.

5. Confirmation Prompt - Make sure that "No Prompt" is selected and click next.

6. License Agreement - Make sure that "Do not display a license." is selected and click next.

7. Packaged Files - Click Add and in the open dialog that pops up, navigate to where your copied/modified files are. You can do <CTRL>-A to select all files in the directory. Click Open, then click Next.

8. Install Program to Launch - Under "Install Program" enter "setup.exe -ms -ira" and click next.

9. Show Window - Select "Hidden" and click next to continue.

10. Finished Message - Make sure that "No Message." is selected and click next.

11. Package Name and Options - Type a name for the package. I also select "Hide File Extracting Progress Animation from User" and "Store files using Long File Name inside package." When you select the second option, click Yes on the popup, then click next.

12. Configure Restart - Make sure that No Restart is selected. Click next.

13. Save Self Extraction Directive - Select either option and click next to contine.

14. Create Package - Click next to create tha package.

15. Wait for it to finish

16. Click Finish to exit.

Hopefully, this will help someone. This was compiled from my own reasearch as well as multiple posts from multiple people. Credit is given where credit is due.

[EDIT] 02-26-2005

It seems that Firefox 1.0.1 is out now and it has been reported that the -ms switch for a silent install now works. I have not tried it myself, but if someone has confirmed this, I would like to know. I have confirmed that the workaround procedure for Firefox 1.0 does work on 1.0.1, just in case anyone is interested.

[/EDIT]

[psaac]

Great job !!!

[Ton80]

Step 1 - Extract setup.exe from the Mozilla browser suite.

1. Download Mozilla 1.7.5 from the link above.

2. Run the installation program.

3. When the first dialog box pops up, open My Computer and navigate to %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp.

4. Note that Local Settings is a hidden folder, so you may need to adjust your folder views accordingly.

5. There will be a subdirectory under the temp folder that has a random name. If you see .xpi files in that directory, then that is the correct one.

6. Copy setup.exe to another location for future reference.

7. Cancel the installation for Mozilla.

Is there anything missing from those directions???

All the other directions state to copy all the files in the temporary folder but here just the setup.exe. What am I to re-package with the setup.exe?

[LongJohn]

Hi Maelstorm sorry reply is a bit late but I only just read your post. I can cofirm that the -ms switch does indeed work with Firefox 1.0.1

Regards

LongJohn

[hplsbyufan]

[Edit]Deleting duplicate...[Edit]

[hplsbyufan]

Maelstorm,

Thank you for this quality piece of work! I'm wondering what the -ira switch does. As noted, the FireFox 1.0.1 installer installs silently with just -ms. Does -ira do something else helpful?

[Edit]

Never mind the question. It looks like -ira keeps the application from launching after setup completes. It looks like it is not needed for FireFox 1.0.1 as I just used -ms and it did not launch the application on completion.

[/Edit]

Also, a couple suggestions:

1. Start, Run, %tmp% takes you right to the temp folder
   
2. If you have 7-zip (and probably some other compression utilities can do this), you can extract the thunderbird and firefox installers without running them. 7-zip 4.15b did not work with Sunbird for me.
   

[Dinsdale]

@Maelstorm thanks alot and I want to confirm that winrar 3.40 can open thunderbird.exe so life was easy. For rebuilding I used also winrar like I learned from other topics: Create a solid sfx archive and use the following code as comment

;The comment below contains SFX script commands

Path=Mozilla Thunderbird
Silent=1
Setup=setup.exe -ms -ira

That's it.

About Firefox: I really don't know how I found this url maybe even on this forum, but it helped me to install Firefox with all extensions etc. It feels like coming home!

Anyway, its worth a visit.

http://firefox.dbltree.com/

[Maelstorm]

Step 1 - Extract setup.exe from the Mozilla browser suite.

1. Download Mozilla 1.7.5 from the link above.

2. Run the installation program.

3. When the first dialog box pops up, open My Computer and navigate to %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp.

4. Note that Local Settings is a hidden folder, so you may need to adjust your folder views accordingly.

5. There will be a subdirectory under the temp folder that has a random name. If you see .xpi files in that directory, then that is the correct one.

6. Copy setup.exe to another location for future reference.

7. Cancel the installation for Mozilla.

Is there anything missing from those directions???

All the other directions state to copy all the files in the temporary folder but here just the setup.exe. What am I to re-package with the setup.exe?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry about the late reply...

You only copy the setup.exe from mozilla as it supports the silent install. The Mozilla package itself will install silently, so all you need is setup.exe to replace and repackage the other software.