windows installer - How to install MySQL unattended with custom settings?

Question

This is the command-line used install MySQL silently,

/quiet

But how to run the MySQL installer unattended with custom settings in the installer?

Answer 1

UPDATE: Several stages of answers here. I will leave them all in. The proposed technical solution / workaround moved to the top.

Instance Configuration

The actual configuration of instances seems to have been moved from MySQLInstanceConfig.exe to the installer itself: Where is the MySql 5.6 equivalent of `MySQLInstanceConfig.exe` to edit configuration files? Please try the MySQLInstallerConsole.exe (note: that links to version 8.0, not 5.7) application, sample:

Silent Installation: It seems this console appliation can run the installation silently in various flavors, making the procedure below optional.

MSI Packages

I did a test run of what I believe was the mysql-5.7.22-winx64.msi file (there are many MSI files embedded in the main one, please see below). My best tip: get on the phone with the vendor to determine if they have actively tried to prevent silent installation. They just might have, and then you might be fighting windmills over time. They should improve this design if you ask me - though it is not the worst I have seen.

By launching the original, large MSI and enabling automatic logging (see section in that link: "Globally for all setups on a machine"), then running through its built-in, custom GUI and kicking off the actual install and then checking the "CommandLine" entry in the actual log file generated in the temp folder - it looks like it sets the following properties: REBOOT, ADDLOCAL, INSTALLDIR, INSTALLLOCATION, ARPINSTALLLOCATION, INSTALL_ROOT, DATADIR. Actual log entry below:

 ******* Product: C:ProgramDataMySQLMySQL Installer for WindowsProduct Cachemysql-5.7.22-winx64.msi
 ******* Action: 
 ******* CommandLine: REBOOT=ReallySuppress  ADDLOCAL=RegKeys,ALWAYSINSTALL,Readme,MISC,Server_Scripts,ProgramMenu,MYSQLSERVER,Client,DEVEL,SharedLibraries,UserEditableDataFiles INSTALLDIR="C:Program FilesMySQLMySQL Server 5.7" INSTALLLOCATION="C:Program FilesMySQLMySQL Server 5.7" ARPINSTALLLOCATION="C:Program FilesMySQLMySQL Server 5.7" INSTALL_ROOT="C:Program FilesMySQLMySQL Server 5.7"  DATADIR="C:ProgramDataMySQLMySQL Server 5.7" ALLUSERS=1 

These are in other words the properties set by the custom setup GUI that normally runs the installation process. You should be able to use this procedure for all the embedded MSI files you need to install. Then you simply extract these MSI files that you need from the large MSI and run them in sequence in some fashion, with the command lines you have found. You can also apply transforms if need be.

To state the obvious: this might take you some time to get right as you struggle with pre-requisites and your corporate use case. I'd go for piloting. Find a dynamic team and get your stuff on their test PCs quickly and tell them to give it a trashing asap :-). Chances are you already do, just mentioning it. I for one can never get these things right without some unfortunate, time-consuming iterations.

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Summary of procedure:

1. Enable automatic logging (MSI expert Stefan Kruger's info)
2. Install via custom setup-GUI with options set as appropriate
3. Find properties to set in the log file in the %temp% folder.
   • Log file will have random name, sort by data and open most recently changed log file.
4. Get hold of the embedded MSI files from the wrapper setup:
   • Get hold of an MSI tool for viewing / editing MSI files (list towards bottom)
   • Delete launch conditions from wrapper setup (LaunchCondition table)
   • Extract content like this: msiexec.exe /a mysql-installer-community-5.7.22.1.msi TARGETDIR=C:YourFolder
   • Tha above command kick off an administrative installation - essentially a glorified file extract, but a very good feature of MSI used by application packagers every day
5. Try to install on a test machine with an msiexec.exe command line based on the properties you found set

Sample:

msiexec.exe /i mysql-5.7.22-winx64.msi REBOOT=ReallySuppress ADDLOCAL="RegKeys,ALWAYSINSTALL,Readme,MISC,Server_Scripts,ProgramMenu,MYSQLSERVER,Client,DEVEL,SharedLibraries,UserEditableDataFiles" INSTALLDIR="C:Program FilesMySQLMySQL Server 5.7" INSTALLLOCATION="C:Program FilesMySQLMySQL Server 5.7" ARPINSTALLLOCATION="C:Program FilesMySQLMySQL Server 5.7" INSTALL_ROOT="C:Program FilesMySQLMySQL Server 5.7" DATADIR="C:ProgramDataMySQLMySQL Server 5.7" ALLUSERS=1 /QN

And some parameter info:

ADDLOCAL="..." - list of features to install locally
REBOOT=ReallySuppress - prevent spontaneous reboot
ALLUSERS=1 - install per machine
/QN - crucial addition to the command line found in the log file. this makes the install run in silent mode

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Unusual MSI Design: I know this is an unusual MSI, but generally you call the vendor or search their website to obtain documentation for deployment such as this and follow the procedure I outline below (let me add the link here too: How to make better use of MSI files) using PUBLIC properties or transforms to modify the installation.

However, I wrote the section below before I did a quick check of this MSI. A quick look revealed a myriad of embedded MSI packages. Not at all good. The MSI also has no GUI, and its administrative installation (file extraction) is blocked with a launch condition. Quite terrible design in fact. You can make an administrative installation by deleting the launch conditions using Orca or an equivalent tool and going:

msiexec.exe /a mysql-installer-community-5.7.22.1.msi TARGETDIR=C:YourFolder

It seems the idea is that this is a wrapper MSI which will launch a proprietary GUI (.NET based?) that you can then use to install the bits and pieces you need of the MySQL tool suite. It would have been much better if this launcher was a setup.exe built with WiX Burn, Installshield, Advanced Installer or an equivalent tool.

Recommended Procedure: The honest answer is that I don't know. I would call the vendor if possible, check their user forums and do some further googling in general. Most of the embedded MSI files should be possible to install in silent mode, I would hope.

The real-world approach would probably be to extract all the MSI files using the above administrative installation trick, although there must be a reason why they block administative installations - which I am unaware of. Most likely they do not want to support silent installation with options? (give them a call?). Then you take the individual MSI files you need, and see if they will install in silent mode using the approach described here with PUBLIC properties and / or transforms. There are many features in these setups, and you can use ADDLOCAL at the command line to define which ones to install and not. See the linked answer below. However, as I state below as well; feature control is a very complex topic (recommended skim).

Beware of pre-requisite runtime requirements. There may be several, such as the .NET framework and various runtimes. I see several of these being installed by the custom setup GUI.

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My original, generic answer below:

MSI: It looks like this installer is in Windows Installer format, in other words an MSI file. You are in luck in the sense that MSI files are very flexible with regards to silent installation and the configration of custom paramenters. It is, however, dependpent on the package being well-designed, which is not always the case.

PUBLIC PROPERTIES and Transforms: I have an ancient answer here on the topic of customizing MSI installations: How to make better use of MSI files (just the first parts, the ending flies a bit off the handle with other topics). As you will see in the linked answer, you essentially set available PUBLIC properties at the command line, or create a transform to customize anything you want in the installer. The latter is what most corporations do for deployment.

Configuration: What properties can be set at the command line (that has any effect), varies between different setups. The setup creator must have made these properties - and built functionality around them in the setup - for them to be configurable. Typical parameterized values would include license keys, URLs to license servers and user and company names and emails and similar. For more substantial changes (such as changing shortcuts or similar), people usually resort to using a transform. You also use the ADDLOCAL property to define which features to install (all other features will not be installed if you specify a value for ADDLOCAL). Feature control is a built-in property of MSI, and you can control feature selection in detail from the command line or via a transform. However, feature control is a very complex topic (recommended skim).

Concrete Sample: As mentioned above you need to set properti