Windows msiexec Commands and Options

Windows Installer

• msiexec /Option <Required Parameter> [Optional Parameter]
• • Installation syntax

Install Options

• </package | /i> <Product.msi>
• • Installs or configures a product
• /a <Product.msi>
• • Administrative install - Installs a product on the network
• /j<u|m> <Product.msi> [/t <Transform List>] [/g <Language ID>]
• • Advertises a product - m to all users, u to current user
• </uninstall | /x> <Product.msi | ProductCode>
• • Uninstalls the product

Display Options

• /quiet
• • Quiet mode, no user interaction
• /passive
• • Unattended mode - progress bar only
• /q[n|b|r|f]
• • Sets user interface level
  • n - No UI
  • b - Basic UI
  • r - Reduced UI
  • f - Full UI (default)
• /help
• • Help information

Restart Options

• /norestart
• • Do not restart after the installation is complete
• /promptrestart
• • Prompts the user for restart if necessary
• /forcerestart
• • Always restart the computer after installation

Logging Options

• /l[i|w|e|a|r|u|c|m|o|p|v|x|+|!|*] <LogFile>
• • i - Status messages
  • w - Nonfatal warnings
  • e - All error messages
  • a - Start up of actions
  • r - Action-specific records
  • u - User requests
  • c - Initial UI parameters
  • m - Out-of-memory or fatal exit information
  • o - Out-of-disk-space messages
  • p - Terminal properties
  • v - Verbose output
  • x - Extra debugging information
  • + - Append to existing log file
  • ! - Flush each line to the log
  • * - Log all information, except for v and x options
• /log <LogFile>
• • Equivalent of /l* <LogFile>

Update Options

• /update <Update1.msp>[;Update2.msp]
• • Applies update(s)
• /uninstall <PatchCodeGuid>[;Update2.msp] /package <Product.msi | ProductCode>
• • Remove update(s) for a product

Repair Options

• /f[p|e|c|m|s|o|d|a|u|v] <Product.msi | ProductCode>
• • Repairs a product

p - only if file is missing

o - if file is missing or an older version is installed (default)

e - if file is missing or an equal or older version is installed

d - if file is missing or a different version is installed

c - if file is missing or checksum does not match the calculated value

a - forces all files to be reinstalled

u - all required user-specific registry entries (default)

m - all required computer-specific registry entries (default)

s - all existing shortcuts (default)

v - runs from source and recaches local package

Setting Public Properties

• [PROPERTY=PropertyValue]

Consult the Windows ® Installer SDK for additional documentation on the command line syntax.

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Portions of this software are based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.