Installing from the .msi file (silent install)

You can install Redgate products from the Microsoft Installer files, rather than using the Redgate installer .exe. This may be useful if you need to distribute software over an enterprise network. 

To install from the .msi file:

1. Install prerequisites
2. Extract the .msi file from the .exe
3. Install the product

You can adapt this procedure for your particular networked environment.

You can use Windows Server Group Policy to distribute software across a site or domain. Redgate .msi and .mst files are compatible with the use of Group Policy objects (GPOs). For more information about using Windows Server Group Policy, see Group Policy (TechNet article).

1. Install prerequisites

Some Redgate products require prerequisites that aren't installed when you use the .msi file. Make sure any prerequisites listed on the Requirements page are installed.

2. Extract .msi files from the .exe

The Redgate installer (.exe file) contains the .msi installation file. To extract the .msi file from the .exe:

1. Download the installer for the product you require. 
2. Create a new folder to extract the .msi files to. For example, Redgate installers.
   If you need to install the product on several computers, use a network share that's accessible from all of the computers.
3. Start a command prompt and navigate to the folder where the installer is located.

4. At the command prompt, type <installer name> extract "<full path to folder for .msi files>" then press Enter. For example:

   1. C:\Downloads>SQLToolbelt.exe extract "C:\Redgate installers"

   The installer starts in extract mode. This may take a few minutes. 

5. Select the products you want to extract and click Next to continue through the wizard.
6. On the final step of the wizard (Customizing the installation folder), specify the installation path. The path is included in the .mst file installation parameter and will be used when you install the product.
7. Click Extract to extract the files for the selected product, including the .msi and .mst files, to the location you specified at the command prompt. If you've selected multiple products, a separate sub-folder is created for each product. 
   The product is not installed at this stage.

After you've extracted the .msi installation file, use msiexec to install the product. To install the product on several computers, you may want to create a batch file to run the following commands:

1. Start a command prompt with administrator privileges.
2. If necessary, map the network share to a spare drive letter.

3. At the command prompt, type msiexec /i "<full path to .msi>" TRANSFORMS="<full path to .mst>" ADDLOCAL=ALL then press Enter.
   For example:

   1. msiexec /i "C:\Redgate installers\SQL Compare 10.3.8.406\SQLCompare_10.3.8.406.msi" TRANSFORMS="C:\Redgate installers\SQL Compare 10.3.8.406\SQLCompare_10.3.8.406.mst" ADDLOCAL=ALL

   Make sure you use the correct .msi and .mst files for your computer's bitness.

The product is installed in the location specified in the .mst file. The installation is not silent, but no user interaction is required.

Silent uninstall

You can uninstall the tools from command line by calling on either the msi or the uninstall string for the tool and making sure to include the /quiet switch.
 
To use the uninstall string:

• Open your registry with regedit and go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall key
• From there, please search through under that key for the tool in question and locate the subkey that contains the DisplayName value  and take note of the UninstallString value.
• If you take that value and change /I to /X and add the quiet switch, that will uninstall the tool. For example:

MsiExec.exe /X{89962ADB-329F-45B7-95FE-821A72851664} /quiet
 
Alternatively, you can uninstall by specifying the .msi file. An example would be:
msiexec /x "C:\ProgramData\Downloaded Installations\6155E9E6FDC349B67D42984114AD7AAB\DLM Automation_2.0.35.1605_x86.msi" /quiet
 
You can find the path to the msi file in the InstallSource registry key.