Is it possible, using 2012 LE to install a prerequisite silently? When I select the SQL Express 2008 SP1 as a prerequisite, it fires up on first installation, however, it requires the user to go through the process of selecting all of the necessary options for the installation. This is a rather excessive process, and without prior knowledge of the goal, the user can easily install it improperly. I'd like to simply install a default instance silently, much like the old Setup and Deployment projects did. Is there a way to specify the necessary switches, etc. to create a 'default' SQL Express instance, because I can't seem to find anything other than selecting the prerequisite that I can specify for the installation of a prerequisite. Am I just missing something, or is this a more advanced scripting option which will require an upgrade?
The Premier and Professional editions of Install Shield have a Prerequisite Editor which makes the prerequisites and their installation configurable. In this, you can control required/optional, pass switches for silent running, specify privileges, and other such things...
This is not available in LE. Disappointing to say the least.
I am not sure if you could adjust this for just one Installer because these files are used at build time, but each Redistributable package should have a related file with a ".prq" extension, while you don't have the nice editor that comes with the higher versions you can edit the prq file directly. It is just an xml file and you should be able to see where to add the command line parameters for the installation.
2 things to keep in mind with this advice.
1. ALWAYS make a backup of the PRQ file before starting any edits. 2. If you have a dedicated build machine you will need to modify the PRQ file there as well.
