Category: maintenance

In an earlier post, Powershell – love it / hate it, I described needing to check the install status of a program that didn’t have an .MSI installer. That post provided details of parsing the install file names to know which pcs got the target install. This post provides details on what I did to make the install happen and create the files that logged the process.

With no software deployment tool and only an .exe for install you can still keep track of deployment with powershell.

In this case the program needed to be targeted at specific computers, not particular users. Easy enough to create a list of target pcs. Without an .MSI file GPO install isn’t available unless… that GPO runs a startup script to do the install. But it can’t be a powershell script if that’s disabled in the environment, so .bat files it is. Still want to know which pcs get the install and which don’t so have to log that somewhere.

How to make it all happen? This is how…

An install .bat file that makes use of powershell Invoke-Command -ScripBlock {} which will run even if powershell is disabled. The quoting to run the commands within -ScriptBlock {} gets really convoluted. Avoided that by calling .bat files from the -ScripBlock {} to have simpler quoting in the called .bat files.

The prog_install.bat file checks if the runtime dependency is installed and calls the .bat file to install it if it isn’t. Then it checks if the target program is installed and installs it if it isn’t found. For each of the steps the result is appended to a log file based on the hostname.

REM prog_install.bat
GOTO EoREM

REM prog name install
REM
REM This routine checks that both Windows Desktop Runtime (a dependency) 
REM and prog name are installed and writes the status to a file to have  
REM install results history.
REM 
REM The install results file must be in a share writeable by the process
REM running this install routine which is after boot and before logon.
REM 
REM A file is created or appended to based on the hostname the process
REM runs on. 
REM

:EoREM
 
@echo off

REM Check if required Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime is intalled. 
REM Install if not found. 
REM Write reslut to results file.
Powershell Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock { if ^( Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall\\* ^| Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like """Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime - 3.*""" } ^) { Add-Content -Path \\server\prog\prog_$Env:COMPUTERNAME.txt -Value """$(Get-Date) $Env:COMPUTERNAME Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime is installed.""" } else { Start-Process -Wait -NoNewWindow \\server.local\SysVol\server.local\scripts\prog\inst_run.bat; Add-Content -Path \\server\prog\prog_$Env:COMPUTERNAME.txt -Value """$(Get-Date) $Env:COMPUTERNAME Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime NOT installed. Installing""" } }

REM Check if prog name is intalled. 
REM Install if not found.
REM Write reslut to results file.
REM NOTE: Add-Content before Start-Process (reverse order compared to runtime install above)
REM       Above Add-Content after Start-Process so "installing" not written until after actual install.
REM       For prog name install, if Add-Content after Start-Process then Add-Content fails to write to file.
REM
Powershell Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock { if ^( Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall\\* ^| Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like """prog name""" } ^) { Add-Content -Path \\server\prog\prog_$Env:COMPUTERNAME.txt -Value """$(Get-Date) $Env:COMPUTERNAME ver $($(Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall\\* | Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like """prog name""" }).DisplayVersion) prog name is installed.""" } else { Add-Content -Path \\server\prog\prog_$Env:COMPUTERNAME.txt -Value """$(Get-Date) $Env:COMPUTERNAME prog name NOT installed. Installing"""; Start-Process -Wait -NoNewWindow \\server.local\SysVol\server.local\scripts\prog\inst_prog.bat } }

The batch files that do the actual installs refer to the SysVol folder for the programs to run. Using the SysVol folder because need a share that’s accessible early in the boot.

REM inst_run.bat
REM To work prog requires the following Windows runtime package be installed

start /wait \\server.local\SysVol\server.local\scripts\prog\dotnet-sdk-3.1.415-win-x64.exe /quiet /norestart

REM inst_prog.bat
REM Install the prog name package.

start /wait \\server.local\SysVol\server.local\scripts\prog\prog_installer_0.8.5.1.exe /SILENT /NOICONS /Key="secret_key"


So there you have it. To install a program with its .exe installer via GPO in an environment with no .MSI packager, no deployment tool, and powershell.exe disabled by GPO use powershell Invoke-Command -ScripBlock {} in a .bat file to do the install and log results. And call .bat files to simplify quoting where needed.