Enterprise Network Deployment Readme

1. Introduction

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 offers two ways to facilitate deployment to field clients:

• Administrator Mode Setup
  This method allows deployment through Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) or other software distribution tools. The network administrator initially runs setup to select which features will be deployed. An .ini file is created based on this selection, and is then deployed by running setup in unattended mode, pointing to the generated .ini file. When running in unattended mode, setup installs the designated options silently. If errors occur, setup exits silently with failure.
  
  For more information about deploying Visual Studio using SMS, see KB article 327792 "HOW TO: Deploy Visual Studio .NET 2005 by Using Systems Management Server" at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=51517 .
• Active Directory Deployment
  This method allows network administrators to deploy Visual Studio using Active Directory. The network administrator deploys the required Visual Studio components in a specified order by first extracting the required packages in separate folders. The .msi file is then added to the Active Directory group policy that is created for Visual Studio deployment. All subsequent components should be added to the group policy in the order that they should be deployed. After enabling this group policy, any clients that are part of this group policy will automatically install the components upon boot. If errors occur, setup exits silently with failure.

Notes:

1. The software referenced in this document, including without limitation, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, Active Directory and Visual SourceSafe, are each subject to license terms and conditions. These instructions assume that such license terms and conditions have been reviewed and accepted by the appropriate licensees of the software. These instructions do not waive any of the terms and conditions of such license agreements.
2. You cannot install Visual Studio 2005 on a computer with the Intel Itanium processor. Attempting to deploy the Visual Studio 2005 MSI to a computer with the Itanium processor will fail.
3. Visual SourceSafe is not part of Visual Studio 2005 setup. However, you may copy the contents of the Visual SourceSafe to a separate folder on your server to facilitate setup of these products over a network as separate installations.
4. For Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows 2003, Windows Installer 3.1 must be installed on the computer. To download Windows Installer 3.1, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=51558.

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2. Deploying Visual Studio 2005 through Administrator Mode Setup

2.1 Running Administrator Mode Setup

Step 1: Check the prerequisites

Before running this phase of administrator setup, the required prerequisites for Visual Studio must be installed on the targeted clients. For any of the prerequisites or optional components, Windows Installer 3.1 must be on the target computer. The following is a list of components required for Visual Studio 2005. Visual Studio unattended setup will fail if the prerequisites are not met.

• On Windows 2003, Service Pack 1 is required.
• On Windows 2000, Service Pack 4 is required.
• On Windows XP, Service Pack 2 is required.
• All platforms require Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1.

Step 2: Create the .ini file

1. Insert the Visual Studio 2005 CD or DVD and ignore the autorun message.
2. From the Start menu, choose Run.
3. Type the following:

   n:\setup\Setup.exe /createunattend <path to .ini file>

   For example:

   D:\setup\setup.exe /createunattend c:\vs2005_deployment.ini

4. Follow the directions on the Start page of setup and then click Continue
5. On the Options page, select the features intended to be deployed, and then click Finish

Step 3: Create a Network Image

1. Create a folder on the server. For example, <drive>:\VS2005.
2. Create two subfolders, named VS and MSDN within the top-level folder. For example: <drive>:\VS2005\VS and <drive>:\VS2005\MSDN
3. Copy the contents of all CDs labeled Visual Studio 2005 to the subfolder named VS. If prompted, overwrite existing files.
4. Copy the contents of all CDs labeled MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 to the subfolder named MSDN. If prompted, overwrite existing files.
5. Open setup.ini in the VS subfolder using a text editor, such as Notepad.
6. In the [Documentation] section, change the line that starts with "DIR=" to "DIR=..\MSDN". For example:

   [Documentation]
   DIR=..\MSDN

7. Save your changes and close the file.
   Note: Completing this step prevents disk-swapping requests during setup and informs setup of the correct path to the MSDN Library CD.
8. In the VS subfolder, open the Setup folder.
9. Open setup.sdb using a text editor, such as Notepad, and add the following lines to the end of the file:

   [Product Key]
   XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

   Note: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is the 25 character product key found on the CD packaging. Do not enter the dashes in the product key.
10. Save your changes and close the file.
    Note: Completing this step enables pre-populating the product key for the user.
11. Share the VS2005 folder on the network and set the appropriate security settings. The path to Visual Studio 2005 setup from the network looks as follows: \\<servername>\VS2005\VS\setup.exe.
    Note:
    • When installing, setup fails if any path and file name combination exceeds 260 characters. The maximum length of a path in Visual Studio is 221 characters; accordingly, you should copy files to a path with less than 70 characters. If you create a network share for a network image, the UNC path to the root install location should contain fewer than 39 characters.
    • Setup may fail if the folder names in this path include embedded spaces, for example "\\<servername>\VS 2005\MSDN\" or "\\<servername>\VS2005\Visual Studio\".
      

Step 4: Run setup with the .ini file on a client

1. Verify that Visual Studio 2005 is available on the network.
2. From the Start menu, choose Run.
3. Type the following:

   \\<computer>\<share>\...\setup\Setup.exe /unattendfile <path to .ini file>

   For example:

   \\server\VisualStudio\setup\setup.exe /unattendfile \\server\share\vs2005_deployment.ini

Step 5: Run the MSDN Library setup (Optional)

1. Verify that the MSDN Library is available on the network.
2. From the Start menu, choose Run.
3. Type the following:

   For Non-Quiet Install:

   msiexec /i <path to msdn.msi (at the root of the installation source)>

   For Unattended Install:

   msiexec /qb /i <path to msdn.msi (at the root of the installation source)>

   For example:

   msiexec.exe /qb /i \\products\VisualStudio\MSDN

Note: For further details on MSDN setup options, please refer to the readme in the top-level MSDN folder.

2.2 Deploying Visual Studio components individually

Network administrators can also deploy Visual Studio 2005 components individually. The following table shows all the Visual Studio components that can be installed unattended along with their locations on the Visual Studio CD or DVD and their silent install commands. For a list of component descriptions, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=52035 for detail.

To install an component unattended

1. From the Start menu, choose Run.
2. Type "cmd" and then click OK.
3. Navigate to the [Component Directory] (see Table 1) on the Visual Studio CD and type the unattended install command for the component. For example, if you want to install the .NET Framework, you would navigate to the wcu\dotnetFramework folder and type in the following:

   dotnetfx.exe /q:a /c:"install /q"

2.3 Installation Maintenance

Setup can be run again on a computer with an existing installation to access setup maintenance features. Users or administrators should run setup from Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel. To use the maintenance mode of setup, users need to be logged on with administrative permissions on the local computer.

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3. Deploying Visual Studio 2005 using Active Directory

3.1 Prerequisites for deploying Visual Studio 2005

Client computers must have all the system components that Visual Studio 2005 requires installed prior to Visual Studio 2005 installation. Network administrators must verify that all client computers have the required system components. Visual Studio installation will fail if the prerequisites are not met.

Note: It is mandatory that you deploy the required components in the order that they are listed. The component installation setup will fail if they are deployed in a different order. For example, Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 requires that you install Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1 first, so Windows Installer is listed before the .NET Framework. All the components without an asterisk (*) are located in the WCU folder of the Visual Studio CD or DVD-ROM.

Prerequisites for deploying on Windows 2003 Server

• Microsoft Windows 2003 Service Pack 1 *
• Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
• Microsoft MSXML 6.0
• Microsoft Document Explorer 2005

Prerequisites for deploying on Windows 2000

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 *
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 Service Pack 1 *
• Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1
• Microsoft Data Access Components 2.8 Service Pack 1
• Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
• Microsoft MSXML 6.0
• Microsoft Document Explorer 2005

Prerequisites for deploying on Windows XP

• Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 *
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 Service Pack 1 *
• Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1
• Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
• Microsoft MSXML 6.0
• Microsoft Document Explorer 2005

Prerequisites for deploying on all Windows Platforms

These components can be installed anytime after the required components for the platform and Visual Studio are installed.

• Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Compact Framework - Required for .NET application development for devices
• Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office Redistributable Package - Required for Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office product
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 64 bit Prerequisites - Required for 64 bit computer only
• Microsoft Visual J# Redistributable Package 2.0 - Required for Microsoft J# development
• Microsoft Visual Studio 64 bit Software Development Kits - Required to debug 64 bit applications

* These components are subjected to their own license agreements.

3.2 Deploying a component using Active Directory

This section describes the specific procedures for using Active Directory to deploy the Windows Installer setup package for a specific component across a network. To deploy components that require file extraction with administrator privileges, the Windows Installer file must be extracted from the .exe file. For example, to deploy the .NET Framework redistributable package, the Netfx.msi file must be extracted from the .exe file to be used for deployment.

Before installing a Windows Installer setup package on an Active Directory client computer, the client computer must have the Windows Installer installation service installed. The procedure described in this section assumes that Windows Installer 3.1 is installed on all client computers prior to the deployment of any components.

For .NET Framework deployment, there are minimum configuration requirements that must be met prior to installation. For specific software and hardware requirements and recommendations, see "Deploying & Configuring Applications" at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=52324

The following table shows the list of components that can be deployed using Active Directory. Note that SQL Server Express is not deployable via Active Directory. For a list of component descriptions, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=52035 for detail.

Step 1: Create the administrator install point

1. Download the .exe file or the .msi file of the component (See Table 2 for location) to the root directory of the C:\ drive on your local computer.
2. From the Start menu, choose Run.
3. Change the directory to the root of the C:\ drive.
4. At the command prompt, type the following to create a directory in which to copy the .exe file:

   mkdir [Directory Name]

5. Type the corresponding Component Command (See Table 2) to create the install point in the directory
6. Close the command prompt window.
7. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to c:\[Directory Name] to verify that the files were extracted.
8. Move the folder and all its contents to the network share you intend to use for deployment.

Step 2: Add a setup package to an Active Directory Group Policy

1. From the Start menu, choose Programs and then choose Administrative Tools.
2. Choose Component Services and then expand Active Directory Users and Computers. The Active Directory Users and Computers tree is displayed.
3. Right-click the Domain node and then choose Properties.
4. In the Properties dialog box, choose the Group Policy tab and then click Edit.
5. If you intend to set policies that apply to computers regardless of who logs on to them, expand Computer Configuration\Software Settings.
   Note: Ensure that you map to the shared location on the Active Directory server; otherwise, it will not let you create a package for installation.
6. Right-click Software installation, choose New and then choose Package.
7. In the Open dialog box, browse to the location where you copied the deployment folder, and select the .msi file.
8. In the Deploy Software dialog box, choose Assigned and then click OK.
9. Choose Auto Install to install the software automatically on every computer in the domain.
10. Click OK and then exit the Active Directory Users and Computers console.

Step 3: Set the Elevated Privileges via Group Policy

Since most packages only allow local administrators of the computer to install the package, you should use elevated privileges to advertise the package per-computer in Group Policy. Network administrators can create policies for one user, one computer, or a group of users. See the System Policy Editor Help for more information on creating special policy profiles and the Group Policy snap-in Help for more information on configuring policies.

1. From the Start menu, choose Programs and then choose Administrative Tools.
2. Choose Component Services and then expand Active Directory Users and Computers. The Active Directory Users and Computers tree is displayed.
3. Right-click the Domain node and then choose Properties.
4. Select the Group Policy tab.
5. In the Group Policy Objects Links box, select a Group Policy Object and then click Edit.
6. Open the Local Computer Policy\Administrative Templates\Windows Component\Windows Installer folder.
7. In the details pane, double-click the Always install with elevated privileges policy.
8. In the Group Policy Property dialog box, enable the policy, select the check box to turn the setting on, and then click OK.
9. Open the User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Component\Windows Installer folder and repeat Steps 8 and 9.

Note: You can use the System Policy Editor and Windows Installer policy to set the Always install with elevated privileges policy. You must set the policy for the computer and for each user. If you choose not to use the Group Policy Editor or the System Policy Editor, you can specify the same setting on each computer by changing a value in the Windows registry.

Step 4: Verify that package is ready to be assigned to computers

1. [Component Name] - English Properties dialog box, select the Deployment tab.
2. Under Deployment type choose Assigned.
3. Under Deployment options, select the correct options for when and how to deploy the component.
4. Browse the other available tabs and make choices as necessary. For details, see Group Policy Help available in the dialog box.

Step 5: Deploy other required components

To deploy other Visual Studio components, simply repeat Step 1 and add the .msi file to the designated Active Directory Group Policy.

3.3 Create the transform for Visual Studio Installation

In Windows Installer terminology, a relational database contains information about components, features, and setup properties. A transform is based on a particular package and contains the modifications to apply to that package during installation. This transform provides a full install at the default install location of Visual Studio 2005.

Step 1: Create the transform

1. From the Start menu, choose Run.
2. Type the following:

   <path to Visual Studio 2005> setup.exe /CreateTransform <filepathname>

   For example:

   D:\setup\setup.exe /CreateTransform c:\mydeploymentfolder\myVSTransform.mst

3. Follow the directions on the Start page of setup and then click Continue.
4. On the Options page, select the features you intend to deploy, and then click Create Transform.

Step 2: Create the administrative installation point

Refer to Section 3.4 for detail.

Step 3: Add the Visual Studio 2005 setup package to Group Policy

The vs_setup.msi file is located at the root of the Visual Studio CD or DVD. Refer to Section 3.2 Step 2 for detail.

If you are deploying Visual Studio in one language to a computer with a different default operating system language:

1. Open the Group Policy Object Editor for your domain & policy.
2. Open the properties of the Visual Studio 2005 <language> package.
3. Click the Deployment tab.
4. Click the Advanced... button.
5. Check the box for Ignore language when deploying this package.
6. Click OK.
7. Click OK.

Note:You will also need to set the "Ignore language when deploying this package" for the .NET Framework language pack and the J# language pack.   

Step 4: Verify that the package is ready to be deployed

1. Visual Studio 2005 - English Properties dialog box, select the Deployment tab.
2. Under Deployment type choose Assigned.
3. Under Deployment options, select the correct options for when and how to deploy Visual Studio.
4. Select the Modifications tab, and then click Add.
5. Select the transform file you created earlier, such as myVSTransform.mst, and then click Open to add the file.
6. Browse the other available tabs and make choices as necessary.

Step 5: Set elevated privileges via Group Policy

Refer to Section 3.2 Step 3 for detail.

Step 6: Verifying that the recently created Active Directory package can be installed

1. Restart one of the client computers where Visual Studio 2005 was deployed.
2. Log on to the restarted computer and verify that Visual Studio 2005 has been installed.
   Note: Do not choose Cancel on the Windows Installer dialog box that appears when the product starts.

3.4 Using group policy object to create deployment

An administrative installation point for Visual Studio 2005 and all related files must be created for Active Directory deployment. You must have write access to the administrative installation point on the server and the appropriate privileges to deploy Visual Studio using Active Directory. Visual Studio setup accepts many different command line options. You can create the administrative installation point using the /a command line option. The following table lists all of the command line options for setup:

Use the following syntax for all setup commands:

[start] msiexec /p [path\name of update MSP file] /a [path\name of MSI file] /qb /L*v [path\name of log file] TRANSFORMS =VS2005Tran.mst PIDKEY = <25 character product key with no spaces or dashes> TARGETDIR= [path\name of target folder]

To create the administrative installation point

1. From the Start menu, choose Run.
2. Type the following:

   [start] msiexec /a [path\name of MSI file] TRANSFORMS= <name of transform file created in section 3.3 Step 1> PIDKEY= <25 character product key with no spaces or dashes>

   Note: If you are deploying an edition of Visual Studio that uses a product key pre-populated by setup, you need to locate the product key (PID) and enter the correct sequence as the value for PIDKEY .

   To locate the product key

   1. At the root of the Visual Studio 2005 CD or DVD-ROM, open the file setup.sdb using a text editor such as Notepad.
   2. The product key is located below [Product Key].

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4. Specifying Watson Settings

Registry

You can configure how Visual Studio Watson behaves on individual computers using the following registry sub-key:

under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\PCHealth\ErrorReporting\ DW\VSSetup\Product Name Value\Product Version Number

Replace Name Value\Product Version Number with the values for VSSWProdName and VSSWProdVer flags specified in the file setup.sdb located at n:\setup\ on the installation CD or DVD-ROM.

For example:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\PCHealth\ErrorReporting\DW\VSSetup\Visual C# 2005 Express Edition Beta\8.0.xxxx]

"VSSWSectionEnabled"=dword:00000001

"VSSWUXEnabled"=dword:00000001

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5. Known Installation Issues

5.1. Data file cannot be created

If you run setup in createunattend mode with a file that already exists, the following error appears: "The data file <filename> cannot be created. Setup cannot continue."

To correct this error, either delete the existing file, or provide a unique file name.

5.2. Visibility of user-specific data

When you create an unattended install file, some user-specific data might appear in the file. Specifically, the name of the user who created the file and their organization name appear as two line items:

• gfn_pid core user name=Your Name
• gfn_pid core organization=Your Company

You can change the values of these variables before using the .ini file, but do not delete the lines completely

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6. Troubleshooting

6.1. Visual Studio Log File Locations

The following log files are generated during Visual Studio 2005 setup:

• dd_vserror80.txt
• dd_vsinstall80.txt
• VSMsiLog****.txt (where * is a randomly-generated suffix)

During Visual Studio setup , the log files are located in the %temp% directory. For example:

C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Local Settings\Temp

After Visual Studio installation , the log files are located in the Logs directory in the path that Visual Studio is installed. For example:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\[Product Name]\Logs

After a Visual Studio failed installation and uninstallation , the log files are left in the %temp% directory.

Note: For other Visual Studio components, such as the Microsoft SQL Server Express, the Visual Studio .NET Framework, and the Visual Studio J# Redistributable Package, also generate log files. These files can be found under the %temp% directory or under [Drive]:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\LOG.

6.2. Windows Installer Error Codes

To view the list of error codes, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=51677

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7. Deployment of Visual Studio Service Releases

For information on downloading and deploying Visual Studio Service Releases, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=10605.

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