SUMMARY
You can automate the installation of SQL Server or
Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) by using an .iss file that records the responses
and selections that would be provided by a user during an interactive install.
An unattended installation of SQL Server 7.0 or MSDE 1.0 does not provide any
graphical feedback of installation progress or of success or failure. If you
want to determine when an unattended setup has completed or get additional
information about the cause of a failed install you can use the files
Sqlstp.log and Setup.log, which are automatically created during the setup.
This article applies only to SQL Server 7.0/MSDE 1.0. If you need to
detect when the installation of SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine/MSDE 2.0
completes, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
315463 HOW TO: Implement a SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine Callback Function and Example
MORE INFORMATION
Sqlstp.log is a detailed log file that the InstallShield
setup program creates in the Windows root directory and updates throughout the
installation to detail the setup progress. When an MSDE/SQL Server setup has
completed successfully, a line like the following will be seen at the end of
Sqlstp.log:
18:04:48 Installation Succeeded
For an explanation of the contents of this file, see the SQL
Server 7.0 Books Online article "Contents of the Sqlstp.log file". Sqlstp.log
is very verbose and is a good place to start when troubleshooting installation
issues. However, if you need to programmatically determine whether setup
succeeded, you should use Setup.log, not Sqlstp.log. A sample Setup.log file
would be:
[InstallShield Silent]
Version=v5.00.000
File=Log File
[Application]
Name=MSDE
Version=7.00.000
Company=Microsoft
[Status]
Completed=1
RebootRequired=0
[ResponseResult]
ResultCode=0
Note that Setup.log has the structure of a standard Windows .ini
file.
The following steps should be taken to programmatically
determine whether setup was successful:
- Execute Msdex86.exe, Msdealpha.exe, or Setupsql.exe with
the command line parameters to start an unattended install. These parameters
can be found in the MSDE Readme.txt file (for MSDE) or in the SQL Server Books
Online article "How to run an unattended installation".
- Wait for Msdex86.exe, Msdealpha.exe, or Setupsql.exe to
complete. One method for waiting on a process to finish is documented in the
following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
129796 HOWTO: Use a 32-Bit Application to Determine When a Shelled Process Ends
- After the InstallShield setup ends, check for the following
conditions:
- The ResultCode entry is present in the [ResponseResult]
section, and the Completed entry is present in the [Status] section of the
Setup.log file:
- ResultCode == 0
- Completed == 1
If all three of these conditions are met, the MSDE/SQL
setup succeeded. If ResultCode <> 0, Completed <> 1, or either of
these two entries is missing, the installation failed.
In many cases you can also determine the general cause of
failure by examining the Setup.log file. ResultCode will be a nonzero value for
many failure conditions. The most common failure code is -12, which is caused
when an unexpected setup dialog appears, or dialogs appear in a different order
than the .iss file specifies. If you are using the SQL Server setup wizard to
create your .iss file, make sure you proceed sequentially through the setup
dialogs; if an error or unexpected dialog appears when running the wizard to
create an .iss file you will have to restart the setup wizard to obtain a clean
.iss file. If you receive a -12 ResultCode when using a modified version of the
Unattend.iss file that is included with MSDE, try again with an unmodified
version, and review the changes you made to the file carefully.
Other
possible ResultCode values are:
| Error code | Error code description |
| 0 | Success. |
| -1 | General error. |
| -2 | Invalid mode. |
| -3 | Required data not found in the Setup.iss file.
|
| -4 | Not enough memory available. |
| -5 | File does not exist. |
| -6 | Cannot write to the response file. |
| -7 | Cannot write to the log file. |
| -8 | Invalid path to the InstallShield Silent response
file. |
| -9 | Not a valid list type (string or number). |
| -10 | Data type is invalid. |
| -11 | Unknown error during setup. |
| -12 | Dialog boxes are out of order. |
| -51 | Cannot create the specified folder. |
| -52 | Cannot access the specified file or folder.
|
| -53 | Invalid option selected. |
This list can be found in the SQL Server 7.0 Books
Online article titled "Scripting".
If setup completes
successfully, the Setup.log file will also have a RebootRequired entry in the
[Status] section. If RebootRequired=1, the computer will need to be rebooted to
fully install all new components. If RebootRequired=0, no reboot is
necessary.
The Setup.log file will be created in the Windows root
directory (for example, C:\WINDOWS or C:\WINNT). The following Microsoft
Knowledge Base article describes how to retrieve the path to this directory
with the GetWindowsDirectory Windows API function:
210158 ACC2000: How to Find the Windows and System Paths
Sample .iss files that have been tested are available with
both MSDE and SQL Server. The file Unattend.iss automates a typical install of
MSDE, and the SQL Server CD includes sample .iss files for the installation of
common variations of SQL Server installs (client utilities only, Desktop
edition/Standard edition, and so forth).
REFERENCES
For additional information on an unattended installation, see the
SQL Server 7.0 Books Online articles "Unattended Installation" and "How to run
an unattended installation (Command Prompt)".
SQL Server 7.0 Books
Online are available at the following URL: