Administrator Deployment Readme

Step 4: Create the component advertisement

In this section, you create an advertisement for the program. An advertisement specifies what program is available to the client computers, which computers receive the advertisement, and when the program is scheduled for installation.

1. In the Site Database tree of the SMS Administrator console, right-click Advertisements, point to New, and then click Advertisement.
2. On the General tab of the Advertisement Properties dialog box, type Component Name Advertisement in the Name box.
3. In the Package list, select the appropriate component.
4. In the Program list, select the appropriate component program.
5. Click Browse, and then select the collection of computers to which you want to deploy the program.
6. Click OK to close the Advertisement Properties dialog box.

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6. Deploying Visual Studio 2008 using Active Directory

6.1 Deploying a component using Active Directory

This section describes the specific procedures for using Active Directory to deploy the Windows Installer setup package for a specific component across a network. To deploy components that require file extraction with administrator privileges, the Windows Installer file (.msi) must be extracted from the .exe file.

Before installing a Windows Installer setup package on an Active Directory client computer, the client computer must have the Windows Installer installation service installed. The procedure described in this section assumes that Windows Installer 3.1 is installed on all client computers prior to the deployment of any components.

For .NET Framework deployment, there are minimum configuration requirements that must be met prior to installation. For specific software and hardware requirements and recommendations, see "Deploying & Configuring Applications" at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=52324

The following table shows the list of components that can be deployed using Active Directory. Note that SQL Server Express is not deployable via Active Directory.

Step 1: Create the administrator install point

1. Download the .exe file or the .msi/msp(s) on to the C:\ drive on your local computer.
2. From the Start menu, choose Run.
3. Type in CMD, and press OK.
4. Change the directory to the root of the C:\ drive.

   cd c:\

5. At the command prompt, type the following to create a directory in which to copy the .exe file:

   mkdir [Directory Name]

6. Copy the file to the directory created in item 5.
7. Extract the file, if it is marked for extraction in Table 2.
8. Create target directory.
9. Type the corresponding Component Command (see Table 2) to create the install point in the directory
10. Close the command prompt window.
11. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to c:\[Directory Name] to verify that the files were extracted.
12. Move the target folder and all its contents to the network share you intend to use for deployment.
13. Copy the .msi file from the source to the network share.

Step 2: Add a setup package to an Active Directory Group Policy

1. From the Start menu, choose Programs and then choose Administrative Tools.
2. Choose Component Services and then expand Active Directory Users and Computers. The Active Directory Users and Computers tree is displayed.
3. Right-click the Domain node and then choose Properties.
4. In the Properties dialog box, choose the Group Policy tab and then click Edit.
5. If you intend to set policies that apply to computers regardless of who logs on to them, expand Computer Configuration\Software Settings.
   Note: Ensure that you map to the shared location on the Active Directory server; otherwise, it will not let you create a package for installation.
6. Right-click Software installation, choose New and then choose Package.
7. In the Open dialog box, browse to the location where you copied the deployment folder, and select the .msi file.
8. In the Deploy Software dialog box, choose Assigned and then click OK.
9. Choose Auto Install to install the software automatically on every computer in the domain.
10. Click OK and then exit the Active Directory Users and Computers console.

Step 3: Set the Elevated Privileges via Group Policy

Since most packages only allow local administrators of the computer to install the package, you should use elevated privileges to advertise the package per-computer in Group Policy. Network administrators can create policies for one user, one computer, or a group of users. See the System Policy Editor Help for more information on creating special policy profiles and the Group Policy snap-in Help for more information on configuring policies.

1. From the Start menu, choose Programs and then choose Administrative Tools.
2. Choose Component Services and then expand Active Directory Users and Computers. The Active Directory Users and Computers tree is displayed.
3. Right-click the Domain node and then choose Properties.
4. Select the Group Policy tab.
5. In the Group Policy Objects Links box, select a Group Policy Object and then click Edit.
6. Open the Local Computer Policy\Administrative Templates\Windows Component\Windows Installer folder.
7. In the details pane, double-click the Always install with elevated privileges policy.
8. In the Group Policy Property dialog box, enable the policy, select the check box to turn the setting on, and then click OK.
9. Open the User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Component\Windows Installer folder and repeat Steps 8 and 9.

Note: You can use the System Policy Editor and Windows Installer policy to set the Always install with elevated privileges policy. You must set the policy for the computer and for each user. If you choose not to use the Group Policy Editor or the System Policy Editor, you can specify the same setting on each computer by changing a value in the Windows registry.

Step 4: Verify that package is ready to be assigned to computers

1. [Component Name] - English Properties dialog box, select the Deployment tab.
2. Under Deployment type choose Assigned.
3. Under Deployment options, select the correct options for when and how to deploy the component.
4. Browse the other available tabs and make choices as necessary. For details, see Group Policy Help available in the dialog box.

Step 5: Deploy other required components

To deploy other Visual Studio components, simply repeat Step 1 and add the .msi file to the designated Active Directory Group Policy.

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6.2 Create the transform for Visual Studio Installation

In Windows Installer terminology, a relational database contains information about components, features, and setup properties. A transform is based on a particular package and contains the modifications to apply to that package during installation. This transform provides a full install at the default install location of Visual Studio 2008.

Step 1: Create the transform

1. From the Start menu, choose Run.
2. Type the following:

   <path to Visual Studio 2008>\Setup\setup.exe /CreateTransform <path to Visual Studio 2008>setup.exe /CreateTransform <filepathname>

   For example:

   D:\Setup\setup.exe /CreateTransform C:\MyDeploymentFolder\myVSTransform.mst

3. Follow the directions on the Start page of setup and then click Continue.
4. On the Options page, select the features you intend to deploy, and then click Create Transform.

Step 2: Create the administrative installation point

Refer to Section 6.3 for detail.

Step 3: Add the Visual Studio 2008 setup package to Group Policy

The vs_setup.msi file is located at the root of the Visual Studio CD or DVD.  Refer to Section 6.1 Step 2 for detail.  If you are deploying Visual Studio in one language to a computer with a different default operating system language:

1. Open the Group Policy Object Editor for your domain & policy.
2. Open the properties of the Visual Studio 2008 <language> package.
3. Click the Deployment tab.
4. Click the Advanced... button.
5. Check the box for Ignore language when deploying this package.
6. Click OK.
7. Click OK.

Note: You will also need to set the "Ignore language when deploying this package" for the .NET Framework language pack.   

Step 4: Verify that the package is ready to be deployed

1. Visual Studio 2008 - English Properties dialog box, select the Deployment tab.
2. Under Deployment type choose Assigned.
3. Under Deployment options, select the correct options for when and how to deploy Visual Studio.
4. Select the Modifications tab, and then click Add.
5. Select the transform file you created earlier, such as myVSTransform.mst, and then click Open to add the file.
6. Browse the other available tabs and make choices as necessary.

Step 5: Set elevated privileges via Group Policy

Refer to Section 6.1 Step 3 for detail.

Step 6: Verifying that the recently created Active Directory package can be installed

1. Restart one of the client computers where Visual Studio 2008 was deployed.
2. Log on to the restarted computer and verify that Visual Studio 2008 has been installed.
   Note: Do not choose Cancel on the Windows Installer dialog box that appears when the product starts.

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6.3 Using group policy object to create deployment

An administrative installation point for Visual Studio 2008 and all related files must be created for Active Directory deployment. You must have write access to the administrative installation point on the server and the appropriate privileges to deploy Visual Studio using Active Directory. Visual Studio setup accepts many different command line options. You can create the administrative installation point using the /a command line option. The following table lists all of the command line options for setup:

Use the following syntax for all setup commands:

msiexec /p [path\name of update MSP file] /a [path\name of MSI file] /qb /L*v [path\name of log file] TRANSFORMS=VS2008Transform.mst PIDKEY=<25 character product key with no spaces or dashes> TARGETDIR=[path\name of target folder]

To create the administrative installation point

1. From the Start menu, choose Run.
2. Type the following:

   msiexec /a [path\name of MSI file] TRANSFORMS=<name of transform file created in section 3.3 Step 1> PIDKEY=<25 character product key with no spaces or dashes>

   Note: If you are deploying an edition of Visual Studio that uses a product key pre-populated by setup, you need to locate the product key (PID) and enter the correct sequence as the value for PIDKEY.

   To locate the product key

   1. At the root of the Visual Studio 2008 DVD-ROM, open the file Setup\setup.sdb using a text editor such as Notepad.
   2. The product key is located below [Product Key].

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7. Specifying Watson Settings

Registry

You can configure how Visual Studio Watson behaves on individual computers using the following registry sub-key:

under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\PCHealth\ErrorReporting\ DW\VSSetup\Product Name Value\Product Version Number

Replace Name Value\Product Version Number with the values for VSSWProdName and VSSWProdVer flags specified in the file setup.sdb located at n:\setup\ on the installation CD or DVD-ROM.

For example:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\PCHealth\ErrorReporting\DW\VSSetup\Visual C# 2008 Express Edition\9.0.21022.08]
"VSSWSectionEnabled"=dword:00000001
"VSSWUXEnabled"=dword:00000001

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8. Known Installation Issues

8.1 Data file cannot be created

If you run setup in createunattend mode with a file that already exists, the following error appears: "The data file <filename> cannot be created. Setup cannot continue."

To correct this error, either delete the existing file, or provide a unique file name.

8.2 Visibility of user-specific data

When you create an unattended install file, some user-specific data might appear in the file. Specifically, the name of the user who created the file and their organization name appear as two line items:

• gfn_pid core user name=Your Name
• gfn_pid core organization=Your Company

You can change the values of these variables before using the .ini file, but do not delete the lines completely

8.3 Optional components are not installed with unattended setup

If you run setup in unattendfile mode, setup installs pre-requisites and core VS components, but ignores all optional components following the core feature.

To correct this error:

1. Ensure Windows Installer 3.1 or higher is installed on the system.
2. Open created unattend INI file in text editor, such as Notepad.
3. Locate and remove "gfn_mid windows installer 3.1" lines in [PreInstallOrder], [InstallOrder], and [PostInstallOrder] sections of the file.
4. Save and close the INI file.
5. Run unattended setup using the modified INI file.

8.4 CreateUnattend mode halts on Welcome page

Running setup in Createunattend mode from non-trusted network share, halts after clicking Next button on a Welcome page,

To resolve this issue, move or minimize main setup window and add network share to trusted site zone in an Internet Explorer security settting window, or close setup, and launch it from a trusted network location.

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9. Troubleshooting

9.1 Visual Studio Log File Locations

The following log files are generated during Visual Studio 2008 setup:

• dd_error_<VS_Product>_90.txt
• dd_install_<VS_Product>_90.txt
• VSMsiLog****.txt (where * is a randomly-generated suffix)

During Visual Studio setup , the log files are located in the %temp% directory. For example:

C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Local Settings\Temp

After Visual Studio installation , the log files are located in the Logs directory in the path that Visual Studio is installed. For example:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9\[Product Name]\Logs

After a Visual Studio failed installation or removal, the log files are left in the %temp% directory.

Note: Other Visual Studio components, such as the Microsoft SQL Server Express, or the Visual Studio .NET Framework, also generate log files. These files can also be found under the %temp% directory.

9.2 Windows Installer Error Codes

To view the list of error codes, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=51677

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10. Deployment of Visual Studio Service Releases

For information on downloading and deploying Visual Studio Service Releases, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=10605.

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