PCA Go figure

Program Compatibility Assistant
I'd love to post an good explaination on this one but I haven't found one.  The best I've got is:

Key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers

Name:
Path to exe            - Type REG_SZ

Data
VISTARTM         - This is the PCA mode to use. RUNASADMIN can also be used where necessary.

Setting the path to an exe with VISTARTM will stop PCA popping up and annoying you.

You can try this if you like - good luck
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb756937.aspx

IE Zone Configuration

Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains\subject.com

Name
*       - Type REG_DWORD this denotes all sites under the domain e.g. http://www.subject.com/

Data
2       - Zone to enter the site into e.g. 2 

Data options are
0 - My computer
1 - Intranet
2 - Trusted
3 - Internet
4 - Restricted

Common TCP/IP ports

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_TCP_and_UDP_port_numbers

9 Wake On Lan

20 FTP

21 FTP

22 SSH secure logins

23 Telnet

25 SMTP

53 DNS

67 BOOTP server

68 BOOTP client

69 TFTP

80 HTTP

88 Kerberos

110 POP

115 Simple File Transfer Protocol

119 Network News Transfer Protocol

135 Microsoft Endpoint Mapper DCOM, DHCP, DNS, WINS

137-9 NetBIOS

143 IMAP

161-2 SNMP

389 LDAP     636 LDAP over TLS/SSL

443 HTTPS

445 AD SMB

465 Secure SMTP

863 DNS over TLS

989-990 FTPS over TLS/SSL

992 Telnet over TLS/SSL

993 IMAP over TLS/SSL

995 POP over TLS/SSL

1433 SQL

1434 SQL Monitor

1494 Citrix ICA

1801 Microsoft Message Queuing

3306 MySQL

3389 RDP

3478-81 MS Teams

5985 Powershell Windows Remote Management Service WINRM-HTTP

5986 WINRM-HTTPS

App-V 4.6 / Citrix / MS VC++ Runtime Error R6030 -CRT not initialised

Vandyke SecureFX 6.5.3  (64 bit)
The application licensing info gets written to an HKLM key.
Can be App-V but can error in the sequencer and client at launch if the Citrix Virtual Desktop Agent (VDA) x64 is installed (v4.0.4534 in this case).  Error is  
Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library
Runtime Error!
Program: <path to app>
R6030
-CRT not initalised

Uninstall the Citrix VDC and it's fine.  This is likely to happen to other applications that use the
Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library in this way.  It appears to be related to the way citrix attempts to get involved.  Other information here
http://blogs.technet.com/b/virtualworld/archive/2010/07/07/r6030-crt-not-initialized.aspx

Attempted to install the MS VC++ Redistributable 2008 SP1 FAT on the machine before sequencing but this made no difference.

Other applications similarly affected are: (potentially anything that uses 64 bit Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime.)
Wireshark

Wise Captures on 64 bit Windows

When capturing application installations on 64 bit Windows, check if wise is creating the correct key AND the one it saw being created under Wow6432Node.  IMO the ones under Wow6432Node should be deleted.  On a 64 bit system regkey writes will be correctly redirected to Wow6432Node at install time.  On a 32 bit system they will be correctly installed.  Leaving the Wow6432Node keys in the capture and MSI install may result in them being installed twice on a 64 bit system.  On a 32 bit system unwanted  Wow6432node keys would be created.

IBM DB2 Data Server Client 9.7 aka DB2 Connect Personal Edition

MSI based installation (IBM Data Server Client.msi) but controlled by a setup.exe which does various other things as well as calling the MSI.  No apparent way to control the MSI directly via a command line AND get a successful install.  Run Setup.exe /? to see the command line help. 

Run the setup manually to create a response file (does this during the interactive install) then use /u <response file> to do a silent install.

see http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/db2luw/v9r7/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.db2.luw.qb.server.doc/doc/t0007299.html

"IBM Data Server Client.msi" which is the name of the MSI might look misleading.
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/db2luw/v9r7/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.swg.im.dbclient.install.doc/doc/r0011957.html
This page of the IBM Data Server Client discusses the setup accepting MSI command line parameters but this does not work with the DB2 Connect Personal Edition media referred to above. Confused I was.

Batch scripting

Using a batch script to determine if a process was still running.  Designed on Win7.

rem This code enables a controlled exit to properly report to the package installation process.
rem Dave Fanning

:: This is a batch file comment

SET TIMECMD=time /T

rem set start minute value
FOR /F "tokens=2 delims=:" %%A IN ('"%TIMECMD%"') DO SET STARTTIME=%%A
echo Waiting for cataloging to complete.
rem using ping to sleep
ping -n 2 127.0.0.1 > NUL

:CHECK

rem checking to see if db2.exe has finished running
FOR /F "usebackq tokens=2,3" %%C IN (`tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq db2.exe"`) DO SET DB2CHECK=%%C


IF %DB2CHECK%==No (GOTO:SUCCESS)


rem find time now
FOR /F "tokens=2 delims=:" %%B IN ('"%TIMECMD%"') DO SET TIMENOW=%%B

SET /A TIMEDIFF=%TIMENOW%-%STARTTIME%

rem check that the loop has been running less than 2 minutes
IF %TIMEDIFF% LSS 2 (GOTO:CHECK) ELSE (GOTO:TIMEOUT)


:TIMEOUT
rem the db2.exe did not finish operations within maximum 2 minutes.
rem end with the errorlevel 1
exit 1


:SUCCESS
rem OK the process terminated within 2 minutes
exit 0





This one just checks if the process is finished before continuing

rem wait for installer.exe to complete before moving the lnk file
:CHECK
rem waiting 20 secs
ping -n 20 127.0.0.1 > NUL
rem checking to see if installer.exe has finished running
FOR /F "usebackq tokens=2,3" %%C IN (`tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq installer.exe"`) DO SET INSTCHECK=%%C

IF NOT %INSTCHECK%==No (GOTO:CHECK)

Next command goes here.




A standard tasklist command to check for a partiular process could be

tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq Exc*"

this would return all process matching Exc* e.g. Excel.exe

SQL Server 2008 client installation

This uses a setup.exe shell to control and coordinate the installation which is actually carried out be various MSIs.  Although it might be possible to engineer out the setup.exe and just use the MSIs I don't recommend it.  Microsoft have provided the capabilities to the setup.exe for it to be use for silent command line driven setups.  USE IT.

App-V is unlikely to be a good idea.  The SQL Server Configuration Manager - part of the Management Tools - uses an SQL WMI provider that it installs.  Attempting to virtualise this seems to cause an error which is unsurprising as the WMI does not get properly installed.  Also see this reason
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2679533


Run through the interactive setup and select the features you want installed.  Note the location of the ConfigurationFile.ini that it creates.  You can use this later to configure the silent command line installation.
It's normally written to C:\Program Files\SQL Server 2008\100\Setup Bootstrap\Log\<timestamp>  Copy it from this location to the same folder as the setup.exe and modify as required.

Check out http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144259.aspx (latest) https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144259%28v=sql.105%29.aspx (2008R2) to see what changes you need to make to the ConfigurationFile.ini to make it silent etc.  Then run setup.exe /ConfigurationFile="<PathToFile>" to get the job done.

Wait you're not done yet. Get the latest service packs and updates from http://download.microsoft.com/ .  I dealt with the SP1.  You need to download and read the instructions about how to slipstream the update into the original media.  This is a good idea because it your install with be at the SP1 level in one hit.
Setup documentation.  This is useful but it is NON R2 specific.
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=229519&clcid=0x409

All versions SQL update center resource
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff803383.aspx

Finally, the Tools section of the Installation Center has an "Installed SQL features discovery report". You can use this to verify SP1 level of installation.  Pre SP1 is version 10.0.1600.22.  SP1 is version 10.1.2531.0  Installation times will vary depending on the features selected.  Expect around 30 mins for a client install.

Update - Blog to the rescue. 6 years later I have a very similar task to do.

2008 R2 SP3 download here.  Note there is NO IA64 version of this.  Only x86 and x64.  You can delete the platform subfolders e.g. x86, IA64 from the final media set to save space.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=44271

Not tested but it may be possible with separate installation configurationfile.ini settings to use the same admin point for both x86 and x64 installs.  If the x86 folder is retained and the SP3 slipstreamed in the same way then using the x86="True" setting in the configuration file could cause a x86 install on a x64 platform.


The setup.exe program automatically installs the platform appropriate components. 

First run an interactive setup from the original media to gernerate the ConfigurationFile.ini and save this off somewhere
Copy the original source to.
C:\SQLServer2008R2SP3FullClient
Extract out the Update
SQLServer2008R2SP3-KB2979597-x64-ENU.exe /x:c:\SQLServer2008R2SP3

Copy and overwrite c:\SQLServer2008R2SP3\setup.exe to C:\SQLServer2008R2SP3FullClient
Copy in the ConfigurationFile.ini
Lines to add edit:

IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS="true"
PCUSOURCE="c:\SQLServer2008R2SP3"            note here relative .\path is supported.
QUIETSIMPLE="true"                                            progress dialogs only
; UIMODE="Normal"                                              comment this line out

Copy THE FILES ONLY FROM c:\SQLServer2008R2SP3\x64\ to C:\SQLServer2008R2SP3FullClient\x64 BUT DO NOT INCLUDE microsoft.sql.chainer.packagedata.dll

The slipstream install point is now ready
run
setup.exe /configurationfile:C:\SQLServer2008R2SP3FullClient\ConfigurationFile.ini
and you are done.

If setup.exe is crashing you could have the wrong service pack files; 2008 instead of 2008 R2.

And here is your ultimate SQL Server what version do I have ? link
http://sqlserverbuilds.blogspot.co.uk/

There is also the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) which Microsoft makes available for free here https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt238290.aspx 
This is approximately a 700Mb download and installs many, but not all of the client features.  It is constantly updated.

Update 20/1/2017

The above slipstreaming can be used in a similar way with the SQL Server 2012 installation.  This installer is very similar to previous ones but is also able to retrieve and install updates from a WSUS server
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143219%28v=sql.110%29.aspx
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh479746%28v=sql.110%29.aspx
https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd638062%28SQL.100%29.aspx#Slipstream

another 2008 specific page.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd638062%28SQL.100%29.aspx#Slipstream

WMP 12 Device Syncing and Conversion Problem

There appears to be a really annoying buglet (OK I made buglet up) in Windows Media Player (WMP) 12 whereby music files cannot be synced and converted to an external device such as an MP3 player or USB drive.  Syncing works but if you attempt to have higher bit rate files converted to say 192kbps, it fails.  The "convert to" data rate is available and can be set but it has no effect if the device does not support the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP).  Windows phones do support MTP so they can have content automatically converted and synced.  "Dumb" devices (almost all) that do not support MTP will not be able to get content automatically converted.

The following thread discusses in more detail.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itpromedia/thread/3089b0ec-5858-408c-9c7e-18edc2b34232

MSIs that need the setup.exe reference

Some vendor MSIs are supplied with setup.exe files.  Attempting to call the MSI directly to install may fail where the MSI needs to reference functionality in the setup.exe itself.  The solution is to provide the MSI with the setup.exe location with command line parameters and use the setup.ini file to input other variables that may be required including additional command line parameters.  Vodafone Mobile Connect v9.9.9.222273 is an example of this.

msiexec /i "vodafone mobile connect.msi" TRANSFORMS=mytransform.mst SETUPEXEDIR=<path to setup.exe> SETUPEXENAME=Setup_vmc.exe

Controlling the "Setup Windows Internet Explorer 8" popup window.

Delete these
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\IE8RunOnceLastShown
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\IE8RunOnceLastShown_TIMESTAMP

to get the setup window in IE8 to run again for the user.

MsiLockPermissionsEx

The MsiLockPermissions table became available in Windows Installer 5.0 included with the releases of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. It provides a better and more effective way of applying permissioning to folders and registry keys. Refer to MSDN for the table structure. The actual permissioning part is a code in a table entry. The code can be generated by using the MMC with the security templates addin. Create a security template and then save it to a file. This will contain the code you need to place into the SDDLText part of the table.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd408009(VS.85).aspx


to use the security template outside of an MSI the settings can be applied by running

secedit.exe /configure /db %windir%\security\database\filename.sdb /cfg %windir%\security\templates\filename.inf /overwrite /log %windir%\security\logs\filename.log /quiet

This command displays help for the use of the command.

secedit.exe /configure 

REMOVE~="ALL"

REMOVE~="ALL" or NOT REMOVE~="ALL" are examples of logic applied to InstallExecuteSequence and other table entries to control whether the item will be actioned in the case where an uninstall is in progress. I can never remember this hence this blog!