To install VMware Horizon 8 components silently, you must use Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) command-line options and properties. The Horizon 8 component installers are MSI programs and use standard MSI features.
For details about MSI, see the Microsoft Web site. For MSI command-line options, see the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Library Web site and search for MSI command-line options. To see MSI command-line usage, you can open a command prompt on the Horizon 8 component computer and type msiexec /?.
To run a Horizon 8 component installer silently, you begin by silencing the bootstrap program that extracts the installer into a temporary directory and starts an interactive installation.
At the command line, you must enter command-line options that control the installer's bootstrap program.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| /s | Disables the bootstrap splash screen and extraction dialog, which prevents the display of interactive dialogs. For example: VMware-Horizon-Connection-Server-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s The /s option is required to run a silent installation. |
| /v" MSI_command_line_options" | Instructs the installer to pass the double-quote-enclosed string that you enter at the command line as a set of options for MSI to interpret. You must enclose your command-line entries between double quotes. Place a double quote after the /v and at the end of the command line. For example: VMware-Horizon-Agent-x86-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"command_line_options" To instruct the MSI installer to interpret a string that contains spaces, enclose the string in two sets of double quotes. For example, you might want to install the Horizon 8 component in an installation path name that contains spaces. For example: VMware-Horizon-Connection-Server-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"command_line_options INSTALLDIR=""d:\abc\my folder""" In this example, the MSI installer passes on the installation-directory path and does not attempt to interpret the string as two command-line options. Note the final double quote that encloses the entire command line. The /v"command_line_options" option is required to run a silent installation. |
You control the remainder of a silent installation by passing command-line options and MSI property values to the MSI installer, msiexec.exe. The MSI installer includes the Horizon 8 component's installation code. The installer uses the values and options that you enter in the command line to interpret installation choices and setup options that are specific to the Horizon 8 component.
| MSI Option or Property | Description |
|---|---|
| /qn | Instructs the MSI installer not to display the installer wizard pages. For example, you might want to install Horizon Agent silently and use only default setup options and features: VMware-Horizon-Agent-x86-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn" Alternatively, you can use the /qb option to display a basic progress dialog box in a noninteractive, automated installation. The /qn or /qb option is required to run a silent installation. For information about additional /q parameters, see the Microsoft Dev Center website. |
| INSTALLDIR | Specifies an alternative installation path for the Horizon 8 component. Use the format INSTALLDIR=path to specify an installation path. You can ignore this MSI property if you want to install the Horizon 8 component in the default path. This MSI property is optional. |
| ADDLOCAL | Determines the component-specific options to install. In an interactive installation, the Horizon 8 installer displays custom setup options that you can select or deselect. In a silent installation, you can use the ADDLOCAL property to selectively install individual setup options by specifying the options on the command line. Options that you do not explicitly specify are not installed. In both interactive and silent installations, the Horizon 8 installer automatically installs certain features. You cannot use ADDLOCAL to control whether or not to install these non-optional features. Type ADDLOCAL=ALL to install all custom setup options that can be installed during an interactive installation, including those that are installed by default and those that you must select to install, except NGVC. NGVC and SVIAgent are mutually exclusive. The following example installs Core, BlastProtocol, PCoIP, UnityTouch, VmVideo, PSG, and all features that are supported on the guest operating system: VMware-Horizon-Agent-x86-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn ADDLOCAL=ALL" If you do not use the ADDLOCAL property, the custom setup options that are installed by default and the automatically installed features are installed. Custom setup options that are off (unselected) by default are not installed. The following example installs Core, BlastProtocol, PCoIP, UnityTouch, VmVideo, PSG, and the on-by-default custom setup options that are supported on the guest operating system: VMware-Horizon-Agent-x86-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn" To specify individual setup options, type a comma-separated list of setup option names. Do not use spaces between names. Use the format ADDLOCAL=value,value,value.... You must include Core when you use the ADDLOCAL=value,value,value... property. The following example installs Horizon Agent with the Core, BlastProtocol, PCoIP, UnityTouch, VmVideo, PSG, and Instant Clone Agent features: VMware-Horizon-Agent-x86-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn ADDLOCAL=Core,NGVC The preceding example does not install other components, even those that are installed by default interactively. The ADDLOCAL MSI property is optional. |
| REBOOT | You can use the REBOOT=ReallySuppress option to allow system configuration tasks to complete before the system reboots. This MSI property is optional. |
| REINSTALL | You can use the REINSTALL=ALL option to install a Horizon Agent patch. The following example installs the patch: msiexec /p VMware-Horizon-Agent-x86_64-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxx.msp /qn REINSTALL=ALL This MSI property is optional. |
| REMOVE | You can use the REMOVE=<value> option to remove a feature. The following example uninstalls the USB feature: VMware-Horizon-Agent-x86-YYMM-y.y.y-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn REMOVE=USB" This MSI property is optional. |
| /l*v log_file | Writes logging information into the specified log file with verbose output. For example: /l*v ""%TEMP%\vmmsi.log"" This example generates a detailed log file that is similar to the log generated during an interactive installation. You can use this option to record custom features that might apply uniquely to your installation. You can use the recorded information to specify installation features in future silent installations. The /l*v option is optional. |
