Remote Installation - beta updated!

[sk3]

Hello

I've been a user for a long time in this forums. Here i learned a lot about unattended installs, software, tweaks and keep me updated with the latest software and "world news"

For a long time i've been using nLite, and now that i work at a computer store, that helped me automatizing the installations (i don't do the installations but a friend of mine is taking care of that lol)

Then i included the BTS Driverpacks and slipstreamed to the CD/DVD, and that even helped more than before. It's great to install windows on a computer with almost every driver needed.

For the last months i've been trying to make these installations from a boot CD/DVD, then fetch the files from network. It's almost complete and thanks again from info i found on this forums

Now... the last problem after windows installation and drivers, is software. First i thought of making a full unattended CD with all programs, but that would cost me more to maintain because of new versions of software and drivers.

I made a simple batch that would connect to a server located on our network, then install all software from there. That's a dynamic way of installing, i just need to copy the newer files and that's it. But what if i needed to add more software? i need to edit everything over and over again. Then i found AutoIt. After a full week of research i found that this was the solution i was searching for.

After a few weeks of testing i finally made what i need: a dynamic system for installing software.

Maybe this was already made, with other name, but i'm really excited by making it like i thought.

Now presenting... (why does this sounds like Steve Jobs? lol)

my first script on AutoIt: Remote Installations V3

Well, i called it V3, because the older versions were MS-DOS based

I would like to share this with all of you.

Download RIS v3 alpha5

Here are a few screens...

I would like to hear your opinion about it . I think it's a great help and it's very easy to add new programs, and everything is network based, so you can put this program on a pen drive like i do and run them on any computer.

PS: sorry for my bad english

EDIT1: added download link from 4th post.

EDIT2: Updated download link

Edited May 25, 2007 by sk3

[Bilou_Gateux]

Waiting for a beta release to check it!

[martin26uk]

Sounds good - upload the beta so we can have a look

[sk3]

Hi and thanks for the replies

I'll post the current beta version i have when i'll arrive at my work place.

[sk3]

Hello again

Here it is the latest alpha build i did that fixed some bugs.

Download RISv3alpha4

The instructions are very simple. In this example i will create a automated setup for 7zip and avast home edition:

1 - first, create a user account for remote access. (tested with XP and 2003, not sure if Samba will work)

If you're working with XP, you will need to disable the Simple file sharing. You could also use guest account but i didn't tested because it's less secure.

2 - Create a folder and share it.

3 - Now, within the folder you just created, create 2 folders. Rename each folder with the correct software name. (not necessary but it's much easier to organize)

4 - Copy the setup files for each folder respectively.

5 - now for the configuration part, create within each folder a file named settings.ini with the following configuration:

[program.PT]
ExeFile="7z444.exe"
Default=1
Special=0
Parameters="/S"
Name="7zip 4.44"

[program.EN]
ExeFile="7z444.exe"
Default=1
Special=0
Parameters="/S"
Name="7zip 4.44"

I'm sure a lot of people won't use the PT (Portuguese) installation, but keep in mind that the program was made for an experience and i need PT and EN installs. Anyway you will be using the EN install. The follow config is the one that the program will call for each software. i will explain the configuration:

ExeFile= don't think there's much to know about it lol. this is where you setup the EXE name for the setup. you can put the setup files on subfolders like Compressor\7zip.exe. I will explain later how multilingual setup works.

Default= this parameter is needed if you want the setup to install the software. values: 0/1

Special= don't mind this, it's not in use yet. keep it at 0

Parameters=this is where the parameters for unattended install is set. you don't really need to put "" but i use it on software that doesn't need "" for unattended install. for example, 7zip only needs the /S parameters but adobe acrobat needs /sPB /rs /rps /msi"ALLUSERS=TRUE EULA_ACCEPT=YES SUPPRESS_APP_LAUNCH=YES".

Name= This will tell the program, the name of the software you are installing. if it's not set it will show Unknown Software

6 - After you created the settings.ini file for each program you should have a folder structure like this:

SomeSharingFolder

|

|- 7zip

| | - 7zip.exe

| | - settings.ini

|- Avast

| - setup.exe

| - settings.ini

7 - Now you need to set the ris.ini file for the program.

[config]
server="192.168.1.2"
drive="L:"
remoteuser="ris"
remotepass="remoteinstall"
remotefolder="\remote\programs"

This is the default config of RISv3. You need to setup this settings to match your config.

server=This is the IP address of the computer. by default it uses 192.168.1.2.

drive= This is the temporary drive that will show under my computer during the setup. The drive is automatically disconnected after the setup is run.

remoteuser=the username for the connection

remotepass=the password for the connection

remotefolder=this is the folder that is going to be connected during setup to gather the folders. In the example above, you will need to set it "\SomeSharingFolder"

And that's it. Just put the EXE and ris.ini on a pen drive and use it on any computer that's connected to the network.

I think i made this a little confused but ask me if you don't understand something.

I'm waiting for your evaluation lol

EDIT1: Forgot the state that after installing all software, the program automaticaly restart the system. That's unchangeable in the current version.

Edited May 21, 2007 by sk3

[Bilou_Gateux]

Thanks for sharing your beta.

Just to be sure i have well followed instructions, when running the RISv3 exe, after the connection to SomeSharingFolder i should have the drive letter L: mapped to \\192.168.1.2\SomeSharingFolder in Windows Explorer?

I have probably done a mistake because i don't see the share.

using one time 'SomeSharingFolder' and next time '\remote\programs' in your Howto is unclear to me.

if I map L: drive letter to \\192.168.1.2\SomeSharingFolder from Command Prompt.

NET USE L: \\192.168.1.2\SomeSharingFolder /user:ris remoteinstall /persistent:NO

then launching RISv3 exe, software installation from each program folder including well formated settings.ini goes as expected and box reboot as well.

Edited May 24, 2007 by Bilou_Gateux

[sk3]

Thanks for sharing your beta.

Just to be sure i have well followed instructions, when running the RISv3 exe, after the connection to SomeSharingFolder i should have the drive letter L: mapped to \\192.168.1.2\SomeSharingFolder in Windows Explorer?

I have probably done a mistake because i don't see the share.

using one time 'SomeSharingFolder' and next time '\remote\programs' in your Howto is unclear to me.

if I map L: drive letter to \\192.168.1.2\SomeSharingFolder from Command Prompt.

NET USE L: \\192.168.1.2\SomeSharingFolder /user:ris remoteinstall /persistent:NO

then launching RISv3 exe, software installation from each program folder including well formated settings.ini goes as expected and box reboot as well.

First of all, thanks for trying my program

the SomeSharingFolder is the name of the remote folder of the example. In this case, my real folder is \\192.168.1.2\remote\programs.

Changing the remotefolder key from ris.ini to \SomeSharingFolder, it assumes that the remote folder is \\192.168.1.2\SomeSharingFolder.

If it's not there, then the connection was unsuccessful (gotta change the way it maps the drive so the user can be alerted)

To completely use the defaults in a real life situation you will need:

- Remote host IP is 192.168.1.2

- Create a user account named ris with password remoteinstall

- Create a folder named remote and sharing it

- Create a Folder named programs under remote.

The programs are user defined. If you have this config, you will use the system like i do, and that's the defaults.

I intend to change this program over time by loosing some time around it and make it much more simple and powerful. Right now i would need your opinions so i could work on it

I hope i had answered correctly for what you asked.

EDIT1: I've just came across with a bug when mapping drives. Even if you change the drive in the ris.ini it will connect to the default (\remote\programs). I'll update the download link when i finished correcting the bug.

Edited May 24, 2007 by sk3

[sk3]

Hello again, updated the program and the current version is alpha 5

Changelog:

- Corrected a bug that doesn't read the remotefolder key from ris.ini

The download link is in the first post