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If you are installing a VMware ACE package on a number of Windows host computers, you may want to use the silent installation features of the Microsoft Windows Installer.

Before installing a VMware ACE package silently, you must ensure that the host computers have version 2.0 or higher of the MSI runtime engine. This version of the installer is available in versions of Windows beginning with Windows XP. The installer for the runtime is also included in the VMware ACE package as instmsiw.exe.

To install the runtime silently from the VMware ACE package, issue the following command:

instmsiw.exe /Q

This section outlines what you need to do to install a VMware ACE package silently. For additional details on using the Microsoft Windows Installer, see the Microsoft Web site.

To perform a silent installation using default settings, issue the following command:

msiexec -i package.msi /qn

This command installs the package and application (if included) into the default locations and creates a shortcut for each virtual machine on the desktop. The default location for the VMware ACE application is <ProgramFiles>\VMware\VMware ACE. The default location for the virtual machine files is <CommonAppData>\VMware\VMware ACE\<project_name>.

You can customize the basic package installation command to specify one or more of the following:

• Installation directory for the virtual machine
• Installation directory for the VMware ACE application
• Installation without a desktop icon

The following example command illustrates the options and their usage:

msiexec -i package.msi DESKTOP_SHORTCUTS=0 INSTALLDIR="G:\packages" APP_PROPERTIES="INSTALLDIR=""D:\My Apps\VMware ACE""" /qn

Enter the command on one line.

You can also install an upgrade silently. An upgrade is always installed in the same directory or directories as the previous package.