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Installing or upgrading the Content Manager server by running the Content Manager installer unattended

You can run the installer executable from the command prompt, specifying a number of switches so that it can run and complete its task unattended. Running the installer unattended is useful if you need to install Content Manager on a large number of machines.

Before you begin

If you want to perform an unattended install of the Content Manager server on a computer with User Account Control (UAC) enabled, it is recommended that you perform the installation from an elevated command prompt in order to avoid the display of a UAC Confirmation Dialogue.

Additionally, before running the installer unattended, you must first have completed any running batch operations.

About this task

Procedure

  1. If you have previously run an unattended install on this machine, it is recommended to clean the installer logs first. To do so, navigate to %PROGRAMDATA%\SDL\SDLWeb\Logs\.
  2. Delete all files in this location.
  3. Open a command prompt, navigate to the folder Content Manager\ on the SDL installation media, and enter a command in the following format:
    SDLWeb85CM.exe -s [<param1>=<value1> [<param2>=<value2> [...]]]

    The following example is the most basic call (written on one line):

    SDLWeb85CM.exe -s

    Running the command installs Content Manager server with default settings. It does not display a wizard or any graphical user interface, nor does it provide any feedback on screen.

  4. To verify that the unattended installation finished successfully from the Windows Start menu, do the following:
    1. From the Windows Start menu, access the your list of installed software components in the Windows Control Panel.
    2. Select SDL Web and select Change.
    3. In the overview of packages and features, the ones that have their check box selected are installed. If all check boxes are selected and the Next button is enabled, installation was not successful.
  5. Alternatively, to verify that the unattended installation finished successfully from the command prompt, do the following:
    1. Open a command prompt .
    2. Enter cd %PROGRAMDATA%\SDL\SDLWeb\Logs\ and press Enter.
    3. Find files with names that start with SDL_Web_ and contain a timestamp indication corresponding to the moment you started up the unattended installation, or later. The string at the end of the base filename indicates the specific software component of which this is an installation log. For example, SDL_Web_8_20151126054439_10_TemplateBuilder.log is an installation log for Template Builder, dated 26 November 2015 at 5:44:39.10 AM.
    4. Open each of these files in turn and search for the string return value 3. If you do not find this string in the log file, the installation of that software component was successful. If you do find this string in the log file, the installation of that software component failed and its installation has been undone. Examine the text surrounding this string to get information on the nature of the failure.