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How to install multiple MSIs from a web site?

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 3:27 pm
by jeff00seattle
Hi

I am creating a web site whereby a user can select multiple software products, and each is a MSI (Microsoft Install) file which is used by Windows Installer for installing anything (SDKs, DLLs, EXEs, etc...)

I can install one MSI well using:

Code: Select all

header("Location: {$msiFileName}"); exit;
I am not sure how I can multiple MSIs from a web site.

Ideas?

Re: How to install multiple MSIs from a web site?

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:17 pm
by requinix
You can't. It's only one file at a time.

And that code doesn't install anything. It just gets the browser to find the file: whether it runs it or just saves it isn't under your control.

Re: How to install multiple MSIs from a web site?

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:20 pm
by omniuni
What you probably would want to do is figure out how to make an MSI with all the required components. Get a VPS or dedicated server, and use PHP's exec() function to execute a command line that will create a custom MSI with the components that a user selects. Stamp it with an MD5, and provide that MSI to the user. You could also create a self-extracting executable that contains a .bat with a list of the included .msi files. The auto-extracting .exe would extract the .msi's, execute the .bat, which would trigger each MSI to install as the last one finishes, and then exit and clean itself up.