Run an Unattended Workstation Pro Installation on a Windows Host

You can use the unattended installation feature of the Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) to install Workstation Pro on Windows host systems without having to respond to wizard prompts. This feature is convenient in a large enterprise.

Prerequisites

• Verify that the host system meets the host system requirements. See Host System Requirements for Workstation Pro.

• Verify that no incompatible VMware products are installed on the host system. See Installing Workstation Pro with Other VMware Products.

• Obtain the Workstation Pro software and license key. See Obtaining the Workstation Pro Software and License Key.

• If you plan to use the Integrated Virtual Debugger for Eclipse, install it on the host system. See Installing the Integrated Virtual Debuggers for Eclipse.

• Verify that the host computer has version 2.0 or later of the MSI runtime engine. This version of the installer is available in versions of Windows beginning with Windows XP and is available from Microsoft. For more information, see the Microsoft Web site.

• Familiarize yourself with the installation properties. See Installation Properties.

Procedure

1. Log in to the host system as the Administrator user or as a user who is a member of the local Administrators group.

   If you log in to the domain, the domain account must also be a local administrator.

2. Extract the administrative installation image from the setup file.

   The setup filename is similar to VMware=workstation-xxxx-xxxx.exe where xxxx-xxxx is the version and build number.

   For example, if you enter setup.exe/?, the flag displays a windows message box with the command line usage for the installer.

3. Enter the installation command on one line.

   The following example installs Workstation Pro:

   VMware-workstation-full-x.x.x-xxxxxx.exe /s /v/qn EULAS_AGREED=1 SERIALNUMBER="xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx" AUTOSOFTWAREUPDATE=1

   You can use the optional INSTALLDIR property to specify a file path for the installation that is different from the default location.

   Note:

   The double quotes around the file path are important. All the MSI arguments are passed with the /v option. The outer quotes group the MSI arguments and the double quotes put a quote in that argument.

   You can also run an unattended uninstallation of Workstation Pro on a Windows host. The following example uninstalls Workstation Pro and removes the license from the host.

   VMware-workstation-full-x.x.x-xxxxxx.exe /s /v"/qn REMOVE=ALL"