New Install - Automate Your
Installation Process
We have received many requests from the system administrators
and IT managers to give them tools to modify 3D-FTP installation
process to meet their needs in large corporate environments. Here
are the common requests from our customers:
- Possibility to enter SerialKey in advance so that end user
is not prompted to enter the key
- Let administrator to predefine the installation path, so that
end users cannot install 3D-FTP to the 'wrong' drive/directory
- Let admin to create unattended
installations
- Possibilities to modify the list of sites in SiteManager to
include commonly used company FTP servers and remove unnecessary
ones
- Use shared Site Manager file - All networked 3D-FTPs share
the same Site Manager info
The new install.ini file is answer
to first three requests and support for custom
sites.ini file is answer to last requirement. These together
help you to create bulletproof install package/CD-ROM that can
be distributed to end-users.
The install.ini file looks like this:
[Install Options]
Serial=3DFTP-ABCDEF-ABCDEF
DefaultInstallPath=
DefaultProgManGroup=3D-FTP
SiteFile=\\server\shared\sites.ini
ShowWelcomeDialog=1
ShowLicenseDialog=1
ShowInstallPathDialog=1
ShowProgManGroupDialog=1
ShowStartInstallationDialog=1
ShowInstallCompleteDialog=1
So lets assume that you want to create modified install for 3D-FTP
to d:\install\ directory, to be later burned to the CD-ROM. Please
do as follows:
- Download normal 3D-FTP shareware version (3dftp70.zip) from
http://3dftp.com/download.htm
- Unzip 3dftp70.zip to d:\install
- Files 3dftp70.exe, readme.txt and install.ini are now in d:\install
- Modify d:\install\install.ini as instructed below
- Now you can burn d:\install to the CD-ROM. The only requirement
is that 3dftp70.exe setup program finds install.ini in the same
directory when installation is started.
NOTICE! If you would like to create single file installation
ZIP file, you probably run into following problem: You zip 3dftp70.exe
and install.ini into the 3dftp.zip file. Now users get that file
and open it with WinZip. They see 3dftp70.exe in the zip file
and double-click that to run install. WinZip extracts the 3dftp70.exe
to the temporary directory and executes it, BUT install.ini file
is NOT extracted, and therefore setup program cannot find install.ini
in same directory (=in the temporary directory) and install will
run with default settings.
Install Options
Here is the list of install.ini options and instructions on how
to modify them.
Serial=3DFTP50-ABCDEF-ABCDEF
Enter here the department/site/corporate license key that you
have received from us after purchasing the license. This way end
user is not prompted for the serial key, but they get full registered
version immediately. Read more about site
licensing options.
DefaultInstallPath=
The default 3D-FTP installation path is C:\Program Files\3D-FTP\.
This directory is different if Windows is installed to the different
drive. You can enter installation directory like
DefaultInstallPath=D:\3D-FTP
and it will be shown as default installation directory for end
user. This option relates to ShowInstallPathDialog=0 setting below,
that you can use to force all installations to the same drive/directory
you specify here.
DefaultProgManGroup=3D-FTP
This is the group name in Start-menu where 3D-FTP icons are installed.
You can enter one of the system menu names, like 'Accessories'
or leave this to default value '3D-FTP'.
SiteFile=\\server\shared\sites.ini
This entry sets shared Site Manager file use for all installations.
Line specifies the location of shared Site Manager file. By default,
all instances of 3D-FTP that uses shared Site Manager file, open
it as read-only. So no changes can be made via Site Manager. You
can override this with /M (=Master) command line switch. In Master
mode, file is opened as writable and changes made to it are saved
(and made visible to all 3D-FTP instances that uses shared file).
You can also manually set entry SiteFile=z:\path\sites.ini into
the 3dftp.ini file in Windows directory to start using shared
Site Manager file.
ShowWelcomeDialog=1
ShowLicenseDialog=1
ShowInstallPathDialog=1
ShowProgManGroupDialog=1
ShowStartInstallationDialog=1
ShowInstallCompleteDialog=1
These options determine what dialog boxes are shown to the end
user during the installation. The valid values are 0 (=zero/do
not show dialog) and 1 (show dialog). E.g. if you like to prevent
user to change default settings and therefore display only Welcome,
License and Install Complete dialogs, use following settings:
ShowWelcomeDialog=1
ShowLicenseDialog=1
ShowInstallPathDialog=0
ShowProgManGroupDialog=0
ShowStartInstallationDialog=0
ShowInstallCompleteDialog=1
Unattended Installations
Installing 3D-FTP is easy, but it will
take day or two if you need to install it on tens or hundreds
of computers. Therefore you have option to automate the installation,
so no prompts are displayed after setup is started. To create
totally promptless installation, set all values shown below to
zero.
ShowWelcomeDialog=0
ShowLicenseDialog=0
ShowInstallPathDialog=0
ShowProgManGroupDialog=0
ShowStartInstallationDialog=0
ShowInstallCompleteDialog=0
This way you can create unattended batch file installations,
and install 3D-FTP from .bat or .cmd file without any user intervention.
Remember to set Serial, DefaultInstallPath and DefaultProgManGroup
to proper values in install.ini.
Custom sites.ini file
The custom sites.ini file allows you to create fully customized
list of sites that are shown in the SiteManager. Normally admins
want to show only company FTP servers, and nothing else, to reduce
number of support calls from the end users.
All site information shown in the SiteManager is stored in sites.ini
file in 3D-FTP installation directory (e.g. c:\Program Files\3D-FTP\sites.ini).
So when you modify sites in SiteManager, you effectively modify
this sites.ini file. To create custom sites.ini file to be included
in the installation, modify the site list in SiteManager to meet
your needs. After that, copy sites.ini file to the same directory
where 3dftp70.exe and install.ini file are located (subdirectory
of network volume or CD-ROM). Example:
Directory F:\software\3D-FTP\ contains
- 3dftp70.exe
- install.ini
- sites.ini
Now when installation is run, your custom sites.ini is copied
to the end user system, NOT the default sites.ini that is included
inside the 3D-FTP setup package (3dftp70.exe).
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