Windows Installer
This documentation is intended for software developers who want to use Windows Installer to build installer packages for applications. If you’re looking for a redistributable for Windows Installer 4.5 and earlier, see this article. Note that there is no redistributable for Windows Installer 5.0. This version is included with the OS in Windows 7, Windows ServerВ 2008В R2, and later client and server releases (including Windows 10).
Microsoft Windows Installer is an installation and configuration service provided with Windows. The installer service enables customers to provide better corporate deployment and provides a standard format for component management. The installer also enables the advertisement of applications and features according to the operating system. For more information, see Platform Support of Advertisement.
This documentation describes Windows InstallerВ 5.0 and earlier versions. Not all the capabilities available in later Windows Installer versions are available in earlier versions. This documentation does not describe versions earlier than Windows InstallerВ 2.0. Installation packages and patches that are created for Windows InstallerВ 2.0 can still be installed by using Windows InstallerВ 3.0 and later.
Windows InstallerВ 3.0 and later, can install multiple patches with a single transaction that integrates installation progress, rollback, and reboots. The installer can apply patches in a specified order regardless of the order that the patches are provided to the system. Patching using Windows InstallerВ 3.0 only updates files affected by the patch and can be significantly faster than earlier installer versions. Patches installed with Windows Installer 3.0 or later can be uninstalled in any order to leave the state of the product the same as if the patch was never installed. Accounts with administrator privileges can use the API of Windows InstallerВ 3.0 and later to query and inventory product, feature, component, and patch information. The installer can be used to read, edit, and replace source lists for network, URL, and media sources. Administrators can enumerate across user and install contexts, and manage source lists from an external process.
Windows Installer 4.5 and later can install multiple installation packages using transaction processing. If all the packages in the transaction cannot be installed successfully, or if the user cancels the installation, the Windows Installer can roll back changes and restore the computer to its original state. The installer ensures that all the packages belonging to a multiple-package transaction are installed or none of the packages are installed.
Beginning with Windows Installer 5.0, a package can be authored to secure new accounts, Windows Services, files, folders, and registry keys. The package can specify a security descriptor that denies permissions, specifies inheritance of permissions from a parent resource, or specifies the permissions of a new account. For information, see Securing Resources. The Windows Installer 5.0 service can enumerate all components installed on the computer and obtain the key path for the component. For more information, see Enumerating Components. By Using Services Configuration, Windows Installer 5.0 packages can customize the services on a computer. Setup developers can use Windows Installer 5.0 and Single Package Authoring to develop single installation packages capable of installing an application in either the per-machine or per-user installation context.
Where applicable
Windows Installer enables the efficient installation and configuration of your products and applications running on Windows. The installer provides new capabilities to advertise features without installing them, to install products on demand, and to add user customizations.
Windows Installer 5.0 running on Windows ServerВ 2012 or WindowsВ 8 supports the installation of approved apps on WindowsВ RT. A Windows Installer package, patch, or transform that has not been signed by Microsoft cannot be installed on WindowsВ RT. The Template Summary property indicates the platform that is compatible with an installation database and in this case should include the value for WindowsВ RT.
Windows Installer is intended for the development of desktop style applications.
Developer audience
This documentation is intended for software developers who want to make applications that use Windows Installer. It provides general background information about installation packages and the installer service. It contains complete descriptions of the application programming interface and elements of the installer database. This documentation also contains supplemental information for developers who want to use a table editor or a package creation tool to make or maintain an installation.
Run-time requirements
Windows InstallerВ 5.0 is included with, Windows 7, Windows ServerВ 2008В R2, and later releases. There is no redistributable for Windows Installer 5.0.
Versions earlier than Windows Installer 5.0 were released with Windows ServerВ 2008, WindowsВ Vista, Windows ServerВ 2003, WindowsВ XP, and WindowsВ 2000. Windows Installer Redistributables are available for Windows Installer 4.5 and some earlier versions.
Windows InstallerВ 4.5 requires Windows ServerВ 2008, WindowsВ Vista, WindowsВ XP with Service PackВ 2 (SP2) and later, and Windows ServerВ 2003 with Service PackВ 1 (SP1) and later.
Windows InstallerВ 4.0 requires WindowsВ Vista or Windows ServerВ 2008. There is no redistributable for installing Windows InstallerВ 4.0 on other operating systems. An updated version of Windows InstallerВ 4.0, which does not add any new features, is available in WindowsВ Vista with Service PackВ 1 (SP1) and Windows ServerВ 2008.
Windows InstallerВ 3.1 requires Windows ServerВ 2003, WindowsВ XP, or WindowsВ 2000 with Service PackВ 3 (SP3).
Windows InstallerВ 3.0 requires Windows ServerВ 2003, WindowsВ XP, or WindowsВ 2000 with SP3. Windows InstallerВ 3.0 is included in WindowsВ XP with Service PackВ 2 (SP2). It is available as a redistributable for WindowsВ 2000 Server with Service PackВ 3 (SP3) and WindowsВ 2000 Server with Service PackВ 4 (SP4), WindowsВ XP RTM and WindowsВ XP with Service PackВ 1 (SP1), and Windows ServerВ 2003 RTM.
Windows InstallerВ 2.0 is contained in Windows ServerВ 2003 and WindowsВ XP.
Windows InstallerВ 2.0 is available as a package for installing or upgrading to Windows InstallerВ 2.0 on WindowsВ 2000. This package should not be used to install or upgrade Windows InstallerВ 2.0 on Windows ServerВ 2003 and WindowsВ XP.
Standard Installer Command-Line Options
The executable program that interprets packages and installs products is Msiexec.exe.
Msiexec also sets an error level on return that corresponds to System Error Codes.
The following table identifies the standard command-line options for this program. Command-line options are case insensitive.
Windows Installer 2.0: The command-line options that are identified in this topic are available beginning with Windows Installer 3.0. The Windows Installer Command-Line Options are available with Windows InstallerВ 3.0 and earlier versions.
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| /help | В | Help and quick reference option. Displays the correct usage of the setup command including a list of all switches and behavior. The description of usage can be displayed in the user interface. Incorrect use of any option invokes this help option. Example: msiexec /help
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| /quiet | В | Quiet display option. The installer runs an installation without displaying a user interface. No prompts, messages, or dialog boxes are displayed to the user. The user cannot cancel the installation. Use the /norestart or /forcerestart standard command-line options to control reboots. If no reboot options are specified, the installer restarts the computer whenever necessary without displaying any prompt or warning to the user. Examples: msiexec /package Application.msi /quiet Msiexec /uninstall Application.msi /quiet Msiexec /update msipatch.msp /quiet Msiexec /uninstall msipatch.msp /package Application.msi / quiet
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| /passive | В | Passive display option. The installer displays a progress bar to the user that indicates that an installation is in progress but no prompts or error messages are displayed to the user. The user cannot cancel the installation. Use the /norestart or /forcerestart standard command-line options to control reboots. If no reboot option is specified, the installer restarts the computer whenever necessary without displaying any prompt or warning to the user. Example: msiexec /package Application.msi /passive
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| /norestart | В | Never restart option. The installer never restarts the computer after the installation. Example: msiexec /package Application.msi /norestart
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| /forcerestart | В | Always restart option. The installer always restarts the computer after every installation. Example: msiexec /package Application.msi /forcerestart
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| /promptrestart | В | Prompt before restarting option. Displays a message that a restart is required to complete the installation and asks the user whether to restart the system now. This option cannot be used together with the /quiet option.
Administrative InstallationThe Windows Installer can perform an administrative installation of an application or product to a network for use by a workgroup. An administrative installation installs a source image of the application onto the network that is similar to a source image on a CD-ROM. Users in a workgroup who have access to this administrative image can then install the product from this source. A user must first install the product from the network to run the application. The user can choose to run-from-source when he installs and the installer uses most of the product’s file directly from the network. Administrators can run an administrative installation from the command line by using the /a command line option. The ADMIN action is the top-level action used to initiate an administrative installation. When this action is executed the installer calls the actions in the AdminExecuteSequence and AdminUISequence tables to perform the administrative installation. The AdminProperties property is a semicolon delimited list of properties that are set at the time of an administration installation. The installer uses these properties during a post administration installation of the application from the administrative image. Users who do not have continuous access to the network may install an application from an administrative image and then at times have to rely on media, such as CD-ROM disks, as their backup source. In these cases the length of the file names in the administrative image and on the media must match. Both must use long file names or both must use short file names. For example, a CD-ROM that only supports short file names could provide both the original media for installing the administrative image and a backup source. If the SHORTFILENAMES property is set during an administrative installation, this property may need to be set again by a user subsequently applying a patch to the administrative image. When using Windows Installer to apply the patch, the installer automatically sets the SHORTFILENAMES property if the administrative image uses short file names. If an administrator uses a package having a Word Count Summary property of 2 or 3 to perform an administrative installation, users of the administrative image cannot automatically reinstall from the original media source. If the administrative image becomes unavailable, users who have installed from the administrative image are prevented from reverting to the original media. The application of transforms during the creation of an administrative image has no valid effect. To make a customized version of a product available to a work group, apply the transform during the installation of the product from the administrative image. During an administrative installation, the installer creates a source image for all features in the product except those feature with 0 in the Level column of the Feature table. Run Commands in Windows 7A complete list of Windows 7 run commands
A Windows 7 run command is just the executable for a particular program. In other words, a run command is the name of the actual file that starts an application. Knowing a Windows 7 run command can be helpful if Windows won’t start but you do have access to command prompt. Having quick access from the Run box is nice too. As of January 2020, Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 7. We recommend upgrading to Windows 10 to continue receiving security updates and technical support. Run Commands in Windows 7
Don’t See a Run Command You Needed?Many Windows 7 run command lists online incorrectly include Command Prompt commands or Control Panel «commands» as run commands when technically they are not. The Small PrintThere are a few Windows 7 run commands that work differently in some situations, or not at all from one command line interface to another in Windows. For example, a number of executables in Windows 7 can only be run from the Run box and not Command Prompt, and some others are only available in certain versions of Windows 7. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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