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Topic Title: Command line Installation
Topic Summary: Installling DOORS client from batch file.
Created On: 7-Sep-2007 19:11
Status: Post and Reply
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Answer This question was answered by Louie Landale, on Monday, September 10, 2007 8:27 PM

Answer:
Look for 'silent' install options in the DOORS install manual.

- Louie
 7-Sep-2007 19:11
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Daniel Przybylski

Posts: 10
Joined: 15-Sep-2005

I'm getting tired of installing DOORS for clients on new machines, or new versions of DOORS, or just new users.

I would guess there is a command line version of the installation where I could just drop in our license and data server information.

Can anyone give me some help on this?

thx
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 7-Sep-2007 19:55
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Kevin Murphy

Posts: 206
Joined: 15-Jul-2005

Daniel,

I do not think there is a command-line install feature for DOORS.

This would be risky, but you could always create a batch file that copies an install from a network directory and puts in in the users' C:\Program Files\Telelogic directory.

You would then have to set the correct registry keys with either a .reg file/VBScript/batch file that set environment variables.

You would then have to copy the DOORS.dot template into the correct location (if you wanted users to be able to import)

I am not sure what, if any, DLLs would need to go in C:\Windows...

You could figure it out, but really, is it that much of an issue? If so, maybe you could convince your company to do DOORS via Citrix.

-------------------------
Kevin Murphy
http://www.baselinesinc.com
The Requirements Management Experts
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 7-Sep-2007 20:04
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Daniel Przybylski

Posts: 10
Joined: 15-Sep-2005

quote:

Originally posted by: Kevin Murphy
Daniel, I do not think there is a command-line install feature for DOORS..

 
It's the command line features of installshield that I'm interested in leveraging...

quote:

This would be risky..


Not really.

It's really just a matter of them running a batch file from a network location which starts the installation containing our server and license server location information.

Is it an issue? Yes it is. I don't need to walk to other buildings because a project manager who uses thier workstation as nothing more than a fancy typewriter can't figure out a read me file....

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 7-Sep-2007 20:39
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Louie Landale

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Joined: 12-Sep-2002

Answer Answer
Look for 'silent' install options in the DOORS install manual.

- Louie
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 7-Sep-2007 20:53
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Daniel Przybylski

Posts: 10
Joined: 15-Sep-2005

Did you say....

manual  ?!


thanks :-)

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 7-Sep-2007 21:11
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Daniel Przybylski

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That worked great...

What's atypicall is that you run the installation from the command line to create an iss file, and then later installations will use that file.

Be sure to have the directory created where you have specified to create the iss file because the installer will give you empty dialogs that hide behine the main installshield dialogs.
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 7-Sep-2007 21:26
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Kevin Murphy

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Lou,

Thank you so much, I had no clue! Learn something new everyday, I guess, but skip a day and they start to add up.

Dan,

I never go to peoples' machines. Do you have something like netmeeting you can use? Anything, MS Remote Desktop, VNC, would be better than having to go over to another area. Remote screen viewing helps on troubleshooting calls, big time.

Kevin

-------------------------
Kevin Murphy
http://www.baselinesinc.com
The Requirements Management Experts
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 7-Sep-2007 22:27
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Daniel Przybylski

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quote:

Originally posted by: Kevin Murphy
Dan, I never go to peoples' machines. Do you have something like netmeeting you can use?


Maybe I do, maybe I don't...
 
What's important is that this thread is about using the installer in a command line or batch file context.



Thanks again, Louie.

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 10-Sep-2007 14:10
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Kevin Murphy

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quote:

Maybe I do, maybe I don't...
What's important is that this thread is about using the installer in a command line or batch file context.


Well, it is your posting, and you can define that for yourself, however other people may have the same problem of distance that you have. I work in an environment where it's really unfeasable for me to go visit another user, as we have users all over the country. Since part of the reason you asked this question was because you "don't need to walk to other buildings," I figured that I would just suggest you take a look at leveraging tools that are probably already at your disposal.

-------------------------
Kevin Murphy
http://www.baselinesinc.com
The Requirements Management Experts
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 10-Sep-2007 17:40
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Daniel Przybylski

Posts: 10
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quote:

Originally posted by: Kevin Murphy
I figured that I would just suggest you take a look at leveraging tools that are probably already at your disposal.


And you suggested this because...

quote:

I do not think there is a command-line install feature for DOORS.


And you said that because...

quote:

  I had no clue!


What I was trying to subtely suggest is that that when you don't know about something, or haven't ever heard about something that you not assume it can't be done or doesn't exist.

I'm sure you're quite the expert at using tools like remote desktop et. al., or even choosing the right wine with dinner, but again, that's not what this post was about.

And even when a good answer was posted which I mentioned worked great, you're still talking remoting tools: hence my response.

Perhaps I should have been more clear in my response (flame on! :-)
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 10-Sep-2007 19:46
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Kevin Murphy

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I don't know why you want to pick a fight here, but I'll play, just this once.

This isn't your personal forum. Other people read the advice here. The reason you asked this question is because you did not want to go visit someone else's machine. So I was only politely suggesting a workaround for when other times occur and you might not want to visit someone else's machine.

When I say "you," I am talking not just to you, but to anyone reading this forum.

My first post said, "I do not think there is a way..." and Lou, kindly, proved me wrong. I knew I could have been wrong when I posted that. That's why I wrote the word "think".

Further, let's say there was no way--you were perfectly fine with my suggestion until that point. And my suggestion likely would have worked.

Bottom line: I'm just trying to help you, and you come across as very ungrateful. I did no harm to you at all and you want to "subtly suggest" how I should respond to people here.

quote:

What I was trying to subtely suggest is that that when you don't know about something, or haven't ever heard about something that you not assume it can't be done or doesn't exist.


How do you know what I assumed? I never said it wasn't possible. I said I did not think it could be done. There is a huge difference between the two that you apparently cannot grasp. I never assumed this was impossible. I just gave you a possible workaround (two if you count my Citrix suggestion).

Finally, I could say that maybe you should read the manual before you ask questions on a forum, instead of potentially wasting peoples' time. But I'm actually grateful that you didn't read the manual, as I was able to learn something useful about DOORS that I will definitely be using in the future.

Really, man, chill out. We're all here to help each other.

-------------------------
Kevin Murphy
http://www.baselinesinc.com
The Requirements Management Experts

Edited: 10-Sep-2007 at 20:02 by Kevin Murphy
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 10-Sep-2007 20:24
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Daniel Przybylski

Posts: 10
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quote:

Originally posted by: Kevin Murphy
I don't know why you want to pick a fight here.


I'm not, you're just very embarrassed, and you don't know that you should probably quit while your behind, so you need to make me look like some bad guy.

quote:

Further, let's say there was no way--you were perfectly fine with my suggestion until that point.

 
I beg to differ. I immediately replied by clarifying that I was looking at levereging the features of Installshield, not DOORS. (And now that I reread that I should have said the features of the MSI installer.) Silent installs are a well known feature of the msi file type, I just wasn't aware of what command line arguments to use, nor could I find the information because I wasn't using the term "silent install".

quote:

And my suggestion likely would have worked.


No, it wouldn't have.

I don't work for IT at my company. I'm an R&D sw developer who oversees our instalation of the DOORS product which is used by a very small percentage of my company's employees. DOORS has not become widespread enough at my company in order to be managed by IT. So I don't have the IT clout which allows me to remote to any computer in my company.

And even if I did, I would prefer the silent install method so that new users can install it themselves, and I don't even have to log in to their computers.

quote:

Bottom line: I'm just trying to help you.


Believe me when I say that I'm just trying to help you as well!

quote:

I did no harm to you at all


On the contrary! You gave me bad information, sir. I may be new to this forum, but I've been on plenty of these forums, and there is always someone who has got to respond to every post with a wild ass guess or a change of subject. They will suggest what to do, and you'll go out and possibly spend a lot of money and/or time only to find out that there was an easier solution or they were just plain wrong and now you've lost time and money and may even be in a worse situation than before.

Tell you what. If you really don't like what I have to say, then ignore my posts from now on, and hold back all of that great information that you possess.

(You know It's hard to type with my fingers crossed.)

Later dude...
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 10-Sep-2007 21:00
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Louie Landale

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Golly. This thread has got to be the one with the most gratidude directed at me. I think that's odd since I've never actually used the 'silent install' option but simply remembered that it was there. How's that saying about early blind acorns go?

James Bond taught me that wine should be the same color as the main meat; White for poultry and Red for beef. Pork could go either way. White wine goes with Cats, the other white meat. The 4-Musketeers taught me that horse chases and a cannonades demand Red wine. That's all I know about wine.

Top that.

- Louie
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 10-Sep-2007 21:27
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Kevin Murphy

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Better not go off topic Lou. Wine isn't what this thread is about! Dan wouldn't appreciate that. We must stay on topic at all times.

Oh, one last thing, Dan...I never gave bad information. I have said nothing false in this entire thread.

Lou, on the other hand, everyone knows that you drink champagne with cats. Amateur.

-------------------------
Kevin Murphy
http://www.baselinesinc.com
The Requirements Management Experts

Edited: 10-Sep-2007 at 21:29 by Kevin Murphy
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 6-Feb-2008 18:44
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Tara Wilk

Posts: 43
Joined: 7-Mar-2006

I've read the install manual for silent install, but it makes no sense to me.
How can simply creating a responses file push new versions of DOORS out
to all the users? Don't you have to create some sort of script and have a list
of IP addresses or something? The install manual doesn't spell this out, and I'm
not a system administrator.

Please respond...we're trying to talk our customer into updating to 8.2, but the
people handling the administration are reluctant to do so because they think
every machine has to be physically visited and updated. It would be a feather
in my company's cap if we could convince them otherwise.

Thanks in advance.
Tara

-------------------------
Tara L. Wilk Curmudgeon-at-large, NGC engineer in spare time
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 7-Feb-2008 20:08
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Louie Landale

Posts: 2070
Joined: 12-Sep-2002

IIRC, the 'silent install' does in fact have to be initiated from each machine. The parameters are embedded in the install and the user doesn't need to input anything; just start it and wait for it to finish. Now, 'from each machine' shouldn't preclude any sort of remote access, where the operator takes control of the PC and runs the install.

There are other sorts of installs such as SMS where they can be 'automatically' pushed out to lots of clients, or run when someone logs in. Don't know much about that, however.

Upgrade to v8.3, not 8.2.

- Louie
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 11-Feb-2008 10:06
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Dietmar Berg

Posts: 23
Joined: 5-Jul-2005

Hi all,

8.3 uses the InstallShield installer, which has a standard way of preparing silent installs--google for "installshield silent install"

1) record your installation settings by running
client_setup.exe /r /f1"%CD%\DOORS_install.iss"

2) do the same for the doors patch...

3) on each lient, run a silent client installation with cmdline similar to

client_setup.exe /s /f1"%CD%\DOORS_install.iss"


I have attached my setup wrapper as an example; it does uninstall of previous products, fixes some registry settings (DXL-search paths for addins, etc.)

Hope it helps,
Dietmar

Thales Rail Signalling Solutions, Austria
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 14-Aug-2008 07:13
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Akilah Jones

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Joined: 14-Dec-2005

If the client is ran from a network location, then you could potentially run the silent install script, via DXL, at startup.

That way users could get upgraded after login to the current client, without any "extra" user interaction.
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 19-Sep-2008 19:57
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Kevin Murphy

Posts: 120
Joined: 16-Jan-2008

Akilah is technically correct, but be VERY CAREFUL if you go that route. Do one thing wrong and you can potentially hose everyone's machine.

In fact, in thinking about this more, what if the "startup" install overwrites files that could be in use while DOORS is running? And the user doesn't exit? Or the install fails because something is locked...while it may be nice to do this, there is just so much that can go wrong.

Updating registry entries (like I wrote about in my white paper) is one thing, but I would be very hesitant about overwriting many files on the client's machine. It's just a can of worms.

-------------------------
Kevin Murphy
http://www.baselinesinc.com
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 19-Sep-2008 20:12
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Akilah Jones

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I guess im too inexperienced to understand what your concern is...

It was my understanding that the installs were independent of each other, including registry entries and that installing one would not affect the other.

Anyway, I have not tried the silent install at startup up, by I did sorta follow your white paper. I had users log into the old database and go to the "update" module and once it opened a trigger fired. The trigger initiates the silent install and changes a few registry entries (for addins).

And DOORS 8.3 gets installed on the users workstation. We used the silent install to migrate our company from DOORS 7.1 to DOORS 8.3 and the best part was that I didn't have to do any "legwork" --- the users installed it themselves.
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