Revised 7/6/22
Many IT professionals like to ‘push‘ installs onto user machines, as they don’t want to sit on each user’s machine and click the Next and OK buttons repeatedly.
There is a way to record the steps used to install our software, and replay those steps on each user’s station.
The Silent Install options for InstallShield installer
| Switch | Notes |
| /s | Silent mode. For an InstallScript project, the command Setup.exe /s runs the installation in silent mode, by default based on the responses contained in a response file called Setup.iss in the same directory |
| /r | Record mode. In order to run an InstallScript project installation program in silent mode, you must first run Setup.exe with the /r option to generate a response file, which stores information about the data entered and options selected by the user at run time. Running an InstallScript installation program with the command Setup.exe /r displays all the run-time dialogs, and stores the data in a file called Setup.iss, created inside the system’s Windows folder. response file name and location, use the /f1 option, described below. |
| /f1 | Specify alternative response file name and path Using the /f1 option enables you to specify where the response file is (or where it should be created) and what its name is, as in Setup.exe /s /f1″C:\Temp\Setup.iss”. Specify an absolute path; using a relative path gives unpredictable results. The /f1 option is available both when creating a response file (with the /r option) and when using a response file (with the /s option) |
| /f2 | Specify alternative log file name and path When running an InstallScript installation in silent mode (using the /s option), the log file Setup.log is by default created in the same directory and with the same name (except for the extension) as the response file. The /f2 option enables you to specify an alternative log file location and file name, as in Setup.exe /s /f2″C:\Setup.log”. Specify an absolute path; using a relative path gives unpredictable results. |
Example: Start the installer silently
Setup.exe /s
*Note* – The HydraCAD for AutoCAD and Hydratec for Revit installations actually install three major products. The HydraCALC program is found in a folder in the packet of install files, as the HydraLIST is also found in its own folder. For now, three scripts will need to be recorded and run, one for each. These steps will outline the process:
- As always, extract the contents of the installation package (.ZIP) to a folder on your hard drive
- Move the HydraCALC folder out of that folder into another folder
- Move the HydraLIST folder out of that folder into another folder
- Run each of the three SETUP.EXE programs (inc. HydraCAD in the original folder) with the proper command line switches and record each one individually
- Run each of the three SETUP.EXE programs independently with the proper command line switches to install per the recorded file
Much more information here:
The H-Factor 
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