Situation:
You want to know what options you have for managing the Ghost installation.

Solution:
Ghost 6.5, 7.0, 7.5 and 2002 use the Microsoft Installer (MSI) to install Ghost. The following switches apply to Ghost installations. This documents lists the command-line parameters (switches) for Setup.exe and Msiexec.exe.


Setup.exe switches

Switch	Command line	Description
/s	Setup.exe /s	Runs MSI install only in silent installation mode
/a	Setup.exe /a	* Runs installation in administrative installation mode
/j	Setup.exe /j	* Runs installation in advertise installation mode
/x	Setup.exe /x	Uninstalls the application
/f	Setup.exe /f	Runs installation in repair installation mode
/v	Setup.exe /v"<parameters>"	Passes the parameters to msiexe.exe (see below)

Note: Items with an asterisk will not take additional parameters, such as INSTALLDIR, USERNAME, and so on.


MSIexec.exe switches for installation types

If you run the file MSIexec.exe without any switches, Ghost installs the Ghost Console with the default options, including Standard Tools and excluding the Ghost Client.

Switch	Install type (interface)	Command Line	Description
/i and /qb	Basic	Msiexec /i "c:\temp\symantec ghost.msi" /qb	The /qb switch specifies that no progress or error messages are displayed except the progress bar.
/i and /q or /i and /qn	Silent	Msiexec /i "c:\temp\symantec ghost.msi" /q	The /q switch specifies that no dialog boxes, progress messages, error messages, or progress bars are displayed. Can use /qn instead of /q. The /qn switch suppresses all screen prompts and forces the computer to restart after the completion of the installation.
/ju	Advertised	Msiexec /ju "c:\temp\symantec ghost.msi"	Does not take additional parameters
/a	Administrative	Msiexec /a "c:\temp\symantec ghost.msi"	Does not take additional parameters
/fa	Repair\Modify	Msiexec /fa "c:\temp\symantec ghost.msi"	Reinstall all files
/fu		Msiexec /fu "c:\temp\symantec ghost.msi"	Rewrite all required registry entries
/fs		Msiexec /fs "c:\temp\symantec ghost.msi"	Overwrite any existing shortcuts
/x	Uninstall	Msiexec /x "c:\temp\symantec ghost.msi"

Examples:

Msiexec /i "c:\temp\symantec ghost.msi" /q USERNAME="Joe" INSTALLDIR="c:\ghost"

This uses the Ghost.msi file, located in the C:\Temp folder, to silently install the Ghost Server to the C:\Ghost folder for the user Joe.


Msiexec /i "c:\temp\symantec ghost.msi" /q GHOSTINSTALLTYPE="Client" GHOSTCONSOLESERVERNAME="Sales"

This uses the Symantec Ghost.msi file, located in the C:\Temp folder, to silently install the Ghost Console Client (that is, the Ghost client) and bind the Ghost client to the server called Sales. The Sales server is called the "bound server."


Msiexec /i "\\mybox\install\symantec ghost.msi" /q GHOSTINSTALLTYPE="Client" GHOSTCONSOLESERVERNAME="Sales"

This command line is the same as the previous command line, except that the location of the Ghost MSI file is designated by a UNC path instead of a DOS path.



MSIexec.exe switches for installation variables (properties)

Property All letters in the property must be capitalized.	Default Value Some of these values are case sensitive. Use the case that is shown here.	Description
INSTALLDIR	Program files\Symantec\Ghost	The folder to which you want to install Ghost. If the folder does not exist, the Microsoft Installer creates the folder.
USERNAME	Registered user	User name. This switch is required only when you did not specify the user name during the Windows installation.
COMPANYNAME	Registered company	Company name. This switch is required only when you did not specify the company name during the Windows installation.
GHOSTINSTALLTYPE		Determines the type of installation:
	Server	Enterprise Console (that is, the Ghost server). Because the default value for the GHOSTINSTALLTYPE property is "Server", this property is not required when performing a Server installation.
	Server Tools	Tools only (excludes the Ghost server and Ghost client). In Ghost 7.0 and 7.5, this option is called "Standard Tools" in the Windows user interface, though the value is still "Server Tools" when using the command-line installation.
	Client	Console Client (that is, the Ghost Win32 Client).
GHOSTLICENSEQTY	10	License quantity. Symantec Ghost 7.0 and 7.5 do not use this switch.
GHOSTNGSERVERUSERNAME	Sgserver	The user name for the Ghost Configuration Server (that is, for the Ghost service). Applies only to Enterprise Console installations.
GHOSTNGSERVERPASSWORD	Sgserver	The password for the Ghost Configuration Server (that is, for the Ghost service). Applies only to Enterprise Console installations.
GHOSTCONSOLESERVERNAME		The computer name for the computer to which you installed the Ghost Server. Applies only to Console Client installations.
EMAILADDRESS		Use the EMAILADDRESS parameter to specify the email address to which you want the validation key sent. This parameter is required when performing a Server installation, and is not required when performing a Server Tools or Client installation. The email address to which you want the Ghost validation key sent. Applies only to Ghost 7.0 and 7.5. This parameter is required when performing a silent installation, for all Ghost installation types: Server, Server Tools, and Client.

Syntax
Properties are not preceded by a slash (/) character. The values are enclosed in quotes.

Example:

Setup.exe /s /v"USERNAME=\"Me\" INSTALLDIR=\"c:\temp\" GHOSTINSTALLTYPE=\"Client\" GHOSTCONSOLESERVERNAME=\"Accounting\" /qn"

This installs the Ghost client in silent mode and binds the Ghost client to the server called Accounting. The Accounting server is called the "bound server."


MSIexec.exe switches for creating a log file of the installation

To have MSI create a file that logs the events of an installation, use the following Ghost installation command line:

msiexe /i "<path to msi>/symantec ghost.msi" /1* logfile.txt

Replace the section <path to msi> with the drive and directory that contains the file Symantec Ghost.msi.



Related information
How to silently install Ghost 6.5 and 7.0