AdminStudio 6 Rookie - Needs Help

[senormic]

:eek:

I am very new to AdminStudio6 and I was wondering if someone can help me out. I have this java plug-in that I am trying to repackage into an MSI package so I can send it out via SMS 2003.

I downloaded this the Java executable and then imported it into my "Package" tab of AdminStudio (using the assistant). I pointed it to the .exe file, specified my project name and version and gave it a -sn command line (to run silent with no interaction right???).

The repackaging Method I chose was Installation Monitoring and then I clicked repackage.

The folder that I pointed the results to was on my desktop and it ended it with a .inc and .irp

I then went to repackager and opened up the .inc and converted into an .MSI. I couldn't do the .irp because I don't have the full version of this product. It then created an .MSI but when I tested it out, it asked me (the user to click next - so it WAS inter-active)

So is it possible to convert an .exe package to an .MSI file without the full version of this product.

Any tips. Truly any kind of help would be appreciated!!!

Sorry for the length of this email.

Thanks,

Chris

[senormic]

:rolleyes:

[Christopher_Pai]

I assume you have the AdminStudio 6.0 SMS Edition? The repackager is a good starting point, but how they could put that in the hands of a systems administrator without giving them any MSI training or giving them an MSI editor is beyond me.

I'm off on vacation for the rest of the month. If come next year your still stuck bump this thread back up and I'll try to give you some pointers.

Merry Christmas

[senormic]

Yes I am using AdminStudio6 SMS version. Anyway, thanks for the tip, I am an SMS Administrator that's just starting to build and deploy packages for our network. I thought this product would be a little easier than what it's turned out to be.

Just thought I would see if anyone could help me out.

Thanks.

[Christopher_Pai]

I found some free time for you.

I am on an SMS team aswell. Several of us focus on MSI technology, the repackaging and authoring side. We have a good understanding of how SMS works, and we are authorized to create packages, collections and advertisements, but the real hard core SMS infrastructure design and implementation is left to other members of the team that don't know anything about MSI beyond msiexec /i foo.msi /qn and source resilency.

I would suggest you start by making a "clean" RIS image. For capturing and testing you will need to be able to quickly reset a test machine back to a base state.

The theory is the repackager will see the changes made by an install and save them in the files you mentioned earlier. It will then take those files and build an MSI. In theory the repackager is supposed to be smart enough to capture setup intent while filtering out changes that were made to the OS by other running processes.

In reality a repackager can at best capture only one instance of a setup intent. If the setup would have installed one thing on XP and a different thing on 98 then it will never know that. You have to capture different images for different situations.

IMHO I am not repackager, I am a Reverse Setup Engineer. I use years of experience as a developer to make my self aware of the true intent of an install, and while I use the repackager as my starting point, I end up making lots of improvements to the MSI along with extensive testing before I deploy it..

I hope that makes sense in the context of "repackaging." Please feel free to followup with any questions.