Install an MsiPackage as /passive (WIX Toolset)

Question

in our bootstrapper WIX project, we have a lot of prerequisites, .MSI and .EXE files. Most of these will install just fine using the InstallCommand parameter in an ExePackage and the DisplayInternalUI parameter in the MsiPackage.

However, there is one program, namely Adobe iFilter, which is a .msi file, which has an installer that for some reason will NOT install with the parameter /quiet, but only /passive. The problem is, that trying to install the file using DisplayInternalUI="no" in WIX does not work, and there is no InstallCommand parameter for .msi files, so I can't silently install the program.

Is there any solution to this, as in, any way to give the .msi installer a "/passive" parameter through WIX? I didn't find anything like this in the documentation.

Thanks in advance.

This sounds like it could be a quirk of the Adobe MSI file, so you could try asking in an Adobe forum, as well as look in the Adobe MSI's UI sequence for custom actions that might be suppressed. You should also say what "doesn't work" means and look at a verbose log. the log. A common issue is that a completely silent install suppresses the UI including the elevation prompt, so an install requiring elevation fails silently. — PhilDW

xerox102 xerox102 · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-13T18:18:39

On the topic of Adobe iFilter itself, interestingly enough, using /quiet DOES install the iFilter application, but DOES NOT set a link to Programs and Features, so you will not see it there or as an installed application in general. However, you can still find the installation files in its default install directory.

On installing something as quiet or passive in general, I have not found anything that allows this specifically, BUT normal Windows Installer Properties can be set using the

<MsiProperty Name="PropertyName" Value"PropertyValue"/>

tag within an MsiPackage. See documentation here: http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/xsd/wix/msiproperty.html

This includes the "UILevel" property, which is found in every Windows Installer. See documentation here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa372096(v=vs.85).aspx

With this, you can set the installer to a reduced UI level, which I assume is the same as calling it with /passive.

Install an MsiPackage as /passive (WIX Toolset)

1 Answers