You can use a response file to perform an unattended installation of ZENworks 2017. You can either edit the default response file (provided at DVD_drive:\Disk1\InstData\silentinstall.properties), or perform an installation to create your own version of the response file that contains the basic installation information and edit that copy as needed.
For an embedded Sybase database, you must create a response file to perform an unattended installation; you cannot reuse the response file generated for a server that uses an external database.
Do the following to create the response file, and then use it to perform an unattended installation:
Run the ZENworks 2017 installation executable on a server by using the following command:
DVD_drive:\setup.exe ‑s
For more information, see Section A.0, Installation Executable Arguments.
Ensure that during the installation you select the Yes, Generate the Response File with Restart Enabled option is selected so that server is automatically rebooted after the silent installation has completed.
A silent installation does not provide an installation progress bar.
When prompted, provide a path for your custom response file.
When you use the -s argument by itself, the installation program prompts you for a path for the response file. The default file name is silentinstall.properties, which you can rename later (see Step 4.g).
Add the Management Zone and external database passwords to your custom response file.
Because the external database password that you enter during creation of the custom response file not saved in the response file, you must add the database and the Management Zone passwords in each copy of the response file in order for it to be correctly provided during an unattended installation.
Optionally, you can create an environment variable to pass the password into the unattended installation. Instructions for this are contained in the response file where the password information is stored.
While you are editing the response file, you can make any other changes necessary to customize it for your unattended installation. The response file contains instructions for its various sections.
To add the external database and Management Zone passwords into the response file:
Open the response file in a text editor.
Your custom response file is in the location that you specified in Step 3.
If you are editing the default response file, it is located at DVD_drive:\Disk1\InstData\silentinstall.properties.
Search for ADMINISTRATOR_PASSWORD=.
Replace $lax.nl.env.ADMIN_PASSWORD$ with the actual password.
For example, if the password is novell, the entry will be:
ADMINISTRATOR_PASSWORD=novell
(Conditional) If you are using an external database, search for the line, DATABASE_ADMIN_PASSWORD=, and replace $lax.nl.env.ADMIN_PASSWORD$ with the actual password.
(Conditional) If you are using an external database, search for the line, DATABASE_ACCESS_PASSWORD=, and replace $lax.nl.env.ADMIN_PASSWORD$ with the actual password.
Save the file and exit the editor.
Make as many uniquely named copies as you need for your various installation scenarios, modify each copy as necessary, then copy each one to the server where it will be used.
If you want to add another Primary Server to the existing Management Zone, you must provide the following information in the response file:
PRIMARY_SERVER_ADDRESS=$Primary_Server_IPaddress$PRIMARY_SERVER_PORT=$Primary_Server_port$PRIMARY_SERVER_CERT=-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----MIID9DCCLotsOfEncryptedCharactersSja+bY05Y=-----END CERTIFICATE-----
where
PRIMARY_SERVER_ADDRESS is the IP address or DNS name of the parent Primary Server if the secondary server is being installed to an existing Management Zone.
PRIMARY_SERVER_PORT is the SSL port used by the parent Primary Server if the secondary server is being installed to an existing Management Zone. The default port is 443.
PRIMARY_SERVER_CERT= is the certificate you specified on the parent Primary Server if the secondary server is being installed to an existing Management Zone. The certificate must be in the base64 encoded string format of an x509 certificate, and the certificate string must be specified in one line. The above is just an example of the certificate information.
After you have completed modifications to your custom response file, copy it from the path that you specified in Step 3 to a location on each server where you will use it for the unattended installation.
To use the updated response file, continue with Performing the Installation.
NOTE:If you want to install Microsoft .NET when using a response file, you need to manually set the value in the file to INSTALL_DOT_NET=1.
On the Windows server where you want to perform the unattended installation, insert the Novell ZENworks 2017 installation DVD.
If the installation page where you can select the language is displayed, click Cancel to exit the GUI installation.
To start the unattended installation, use the -f option in the command:
DVD_drive:\setup.exe ‑s -f path_to_file.
where path_to_file is either the full path to the response file that you created in Creating Your Response File, or a directory containing the silentinstall.properties file (it must use that file name).
If you renamed the updated response file, include its new name with the path.
If a file name is not given, or if either the path or file does not exist, the -f parameter is ignored and the default installation is run instead of an unattended installation.
After the installation has completed, continue with Verifying the Installation.