The installation process for Onboard360 can be streamlined using the silent installation method. This method installs or uninstalls the application without running the InstallShield wizard. This eliminates the need to choose options and settings in the dialog boxes each time the installer is run. Updates can also be installed using this method.
The silent installation involves running the Microsoft Installer Utility (msiexec.exe) along with some additional parameters. The silent install can be run from either the .msi file or the setup.exe file. The setup.exe file is recommended because it also installs the Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable; if the .msi file is used instead, then the Redistributable must be downloaded and installed separately.
In either method, the desired settings can be saved to a user-defined batch (.bat) file, which can be run by double-clicking the file in Windows Explorer.
After performing a silent install of Onboard360, it is then necessary to open the Onboard Viewer application to configure the license settings. Licensing is configured using the License Setup wizard, which is launched automatically the first time Onboard Viewer is started. Refer to the CARIS Licensing Guide for information on this wizard.
The table below describes the parameters that are available for running a silent install.
Parameter | Used by | Description |
|---|---|---|
setup.exe | setup.exe | This parameter instructs the Microsoft Installer Utility to install the application to your computer via a setup.exe file. If the file is not in the current folder, you will need to provide the full path to the file, such as When using a batch file to run the installation, the current directory is the location of the batch file. |
/i | msiexec | This parameter instructs the Microsoft Installer Utility to install the application to your computer via an .msi file. The .msi file to be used must also be specified, enclosed in quotes. If the file is not in the current folder, you will need to provide the full path to the file. When using a batch file to run the installation, the current directory is the location of the batch file.
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/x | msiexec and setup.exe | This parameter instructs the utility to uninstall the application from your computer. It must be the first parameter specified in the command following the install method parameter.
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| setup.exe | This parameter tells setup.exe to run in silent mode. It must be accompanied by the
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| setup.exe | This parameter is used to pass parameters to msiexec when running a silent install from a setup.exe file. This allows the msiexec parameters to be used in addition to the setup.exe parameters. The parameter(s) to be passed to msiexec should be specified in quotes after this parameter, with no spaces between the parameter, the quote or the msiexec parameter.
If using this parameter to submit msiexec parameters that require a file path, it is recommended that file paths not contain spaces. |
| msiexec | The /qn parameter sets the install process to run entirely in the background with no user interface to indicate install progress. The /qb parameter sets the install process so that a minimal user interface is shown, specifically, a dialog box with a progress bar. As these are msiexec parameters, they must be enclosed in quotes with the /v parameter.
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| setup.exe | This parameter will generate a log of the operations run by the setup.exe. A file name must be provided for the resulting log file. If msiexec actions also need to be logged, the msiexec /l parameter will also be required.
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| msiexec | This parameter creates a log file that records the actions performed by msiexec during install. A file name must be provided for the resulting log file. Unless a path is specified for the log file, it is saved in the current directory. That is the directory of the batch file if a batch file is used. As this is an msiexec parameter, it must be enclosed in quotes with the /v parameter.
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| msiexec | This parameter sets the installation path on your computer for the application. The path must be enclosed in quotation marks and the parameter must be entered using upper-case letters. If the INSTALLDIR parameter is not used, then one of two possible paths is used: • The default installation path for Onboard, which is • Update installs will automatically install to the same location as the base release. As this is an msiexec parameter, it must be enclosed in quotes with the /v parameter.
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| msiexec | Force or suppress the restarting of the computer after installation is complete. By default, the computer does not restart after installation. This parameter has two possible values: • REBOOT="F" (force a restart) • REBOOT="R" (suppress restart) As this is an msiexec parameter, it must be enclosed in quotes with the /v parameter.
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The example below would be used to perform a silent install of Onboard with the following settings:
• The setup.exe file will be used and is located in the same directory as the .bat file,
• A progress bar will be displayed for the installation process,
• The application will be installed to a custom location, and,
• Logging would be recorded for both the setup.exe and the msiexec.
setup.exe /s /debuglog"exe_actions.log" /v"/qb /l* msi_actions.log INSTALLDIR=D:\Applications\CARIS\Onboard\3.0" |
If you perform the installation by calling msiexec directly, it is necessary to also download the Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable from the Microsoft website and install it because msiexec does not install that itself.
This step is not necessary when using setup.exe because it automatically installs the redistributable.
If using a USB license key and the Sentinel drivers need to be installed, the Sentinel System Dongle Drivers installation can also be run through a silent install batch file. To do this, the following line must be included in the batch file, on a separate line:
"'Sentinel System Driver Installer 7.6.0.exe' /s /v/qn"
Like the application itself, administrator privileges are needed to install the Sentinel drivers. |
See Offline Activation for information on USB license keys.