MSIEXEC – Windows CMD Command

Microsoft Windows Installer (Windows 7/2008).

Syntax
      MSIEXEC /Option RequiredParameter [OptionalParameter]

Install Options
   Install or configure a product:
      MSIEXEC /package Product.msi
      MSIEXEC /i Product.msi

   Administrative install, Install a product on the network:
      MSIEXEC /a Product.msi

   Advertise a product to all users:
      MSIEXEC /j m Product.msi [/t TransformList] [/g LanguageID]

   Advertise a product to current user:
      MSIEXEC /j u Product.msi [/t TransformList] [/g LanguageID]

   Uninstall the product:
      MSIEXEC /uninstall Product.msi
      MSIEXEC /x Product.msi
      MSIEXEC /uninstall ProductCode
      MSIEXEC /x ProductCode

Display Options

   Quiet mode, no user interaction
      /quiet

   Unattended mode - progress bar only
      /passive

   Set user interface level: None
      /qn

   Set user interface level: Basic UI
      /qb

   Set user interface level: Reduced UI
      /qr

   Set user interface level: Full UI (default)
      /qf

   Help information
      /help
                
Restart Options
   Do not restart after the installation is complete:
      /norestart

   Prompt the user for restart if necessary:
      /promptrestart

   Always restart the computer after installation:
      /forcerestart
             
Logging Options
   /le Logfile  Log All error messages
   /lw Logfile  Log Non-fatal warnings
   /li Logfile  Log Status messages
   /la Logfile  Log Start up of actions
   /lr Logfile  Log Action-specific records
   /lu Logfile  Log User requests
   /lc Logfile  Log Initial (UI) parameters
   /lm Logfile  Log Out-of-memory or fatal exit information
   /lo Logfile  Log Out-of-disk-space messages
   /lp Logfile  Log Terminal properties
   /lv Logfile  Log Verbose output
   /lx Logfile  Log Extra debugging information

   /l* Logfile  Log all information, except for v and x options
   /log Logfile Equivalent of /l* 

   /l+ Logfile  Append to an existing log file.
   /l! Logfile  Flush each line to the log.

Update Options
   Apply update(s)
      /update [;Update2.msp]

   Remove update(s) for a product:
      /uninstall [;Update2.msp] /package 
                
Repair Options - Repair a previously installed product
   /fp          Repair/fix - replace missing files
   /fo          Repair/fix - replace Older files(default)
   /fe          Repair/fix - replace older or Equal date files
   /fd          Repair/fix - replace Different version files
   /fc          Repair/fix - replace files based on Checksum differences
   /fa          Repair/fix - replace All files
   /fu          Repair/fix - rewrite HKCU registry(default)
   /fm          Repair/fix - rewrite HKLM registry(default)
   /fs          Repair/fix - recreate shortcuts(default)
   /fv          Repair/fix - rewrite local cache from source

Set Public Properties
        [PROPERTY=PropertyValue]

Windows installer (and msiexec) have been updated with each major release of Windows (from 2000 to XP to 2008 R2) Windows Installer redistributables are available at the Microsoft Download Center.

Registry Keys:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Product codes – the ProductCode for each application is a GUID that can be retrieved with a WMI query in VBScript or PowerShell, Get-WmiObject Win32_Product will return the IdentifyingNumber which is the Product code:
PS C:\> gwmi Win32_Product -Filter “Name LIKE ‘Paint.net v3%'”

(n.b. Win32_Product should be used sparingly as it will reconfigure installed programs, see Q974524)

Do not use the domain controller SYSVOL folder as a Windows Installer installation point, doing so can result in the following error when you attempt to run the Windows Installer (.msi) package:

This installation package could not be opened. Verify that the package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer package.

This is because the SYSVOL folder is created with the SHI1005_FLAGS_RESTRICT_EXCLUSIVE_OPENS attribute, which prevents it from being exclusively locked by Windows Installer. Having locked files on an SYSVOL will create Active Directory directory service synchronization problems.

Examples:

Install:
msiexec /i "C:\Install\F4Tapp.msi"

UnInstall:
msiexec /uninstall "{5AFF6499-63BA-4A36-83B2-8D256404AC3D}" /log "C:\install\F4Tapp.txt"

or remotely with psexec
psexec \\$workstation -s msiexec /uninstall "{5AFF6499-63BA-4A36-83B2-8D256404AC3D}" /log "C:\install\F4Tapp.txt"

Extracting files from an MSI

msiexec /a MSIFile /qb TARGETDIR=DestinationDirectory

Extract the files from adminpak.msi:

msiexec /a adminpak.msi /qb TARGETDIR=C:\reskit\adminpak