CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#visual-studioc#-4.0windows-installervisual-studio-2019
Rodrigo Arroyo
Rodrigo Arroyo

Reputation: 117

Is there a way to accept the license agreement to a silent installation of a .msi file using C#?

I'm trying to quietly install a .msi file using C# without the need for any user input. I'm having trouble trying to get past the license agreement so that the installation can continue. Is there a way to pass an argument so that the agreement is accepted without any user imput?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 24870

Answers (2)

Stein Åsmul
Stein Åsmul

Reputation: 42186

Caution: I would avoid triggering software installation from within an application binary - unless you are making an actual setup launcher application. It can work, but it may trigger serious problems with anti-virus and malware scanners. I have seen that before. I would assume you would also need to run elevated - with admin rights - to kick off your installs (per-machine installations).

Some digressions and suggestions first: MSI can be installed via msiexec.exe commands, Powershell, DTF C# (see below), WMI, MSI API (COM, Win32).

Batch: With that said, why don't you just install using a regular batch file? The /QN switch will bypass the entire setup GUI-sequence and then there should be no need to accept any license agreements. MSI logging information (short version: open log and search for "value 3" to find errors).

This command must be run from an elevated command prompt (admin rights):

msiexec.exe /I "Installer.msi" /QN /L* "C:\msilog.log" ALLUSERS=1

Setup.exe: You can also make a WiX Burn bundle (see link for code mockup) or use some sort of other tool to make a setup.exe that will install your original application and then other components in sequence - so there is nothing to trigger to install from the application.

Interactive Install: If you want to install with some user interaction you can locate the property controlling the accept status of the license agreement and set that to the appropriate value - usually 1 - to indicate accepted license.

DTF: Now the code answer. There is a component installed with the WiX toolkit called DTF - Desktop Tools Foundation It has a number of C# classes designed to deal with MSI files via managed code. This answer explains what file to add as a reference in Visual Studio and describes the different files / assemblies of DTF briefly. Another DTF sample.

The relevant file for your described purpose is: "Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller.dll".

NOTE!

  1. You must launch Visual Studio with admin rights to install per machine.
  2. Add project reference to "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\WiX Toolset v3.11\bin\Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller.dll".

The below code tested in VS2017 (a more elaborate version with admin check here - zipped):

using System;
using Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller;

// RUN WITH ADMIN RIGHTS

namespace DTFTest
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            try
            {
                Installer.SetInternalUI(InstallUIOptions.Silent);
                Installer.EnableLog(InstallLogModes.Verbose, @"E:\Install.log");
                Installer.InstallProduct(@"E:\Install.msi", "");
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Exception:\n\n " + ex.Message);
            }
        }
    }
}

Link:

Upvotes: 3

Christopher Painter
Christopher Painter

Reputation: 55601

Generally you just run the msi silently like

msiexec /i foo.msi /qn

If the MSI has implemented an additional consent you might have to pass a property like

msiexec /i foo.msi /qn ACCEPTEULA=1

The exact name of this property would depend on the MSI so you'd need to consult vendor documentation or examine the MSI using a tool such as ORCA.

Upvotes: 1

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