Configuring Minitab 1610 for SCCM 2012

1. First get the installer (mtben1610mu.exe). Mine was sent to us by the Engineering dept.
2. Using 7zip extract the installation files
3. Read through the deployment guide text. I’ve copied it below for reference as well as the list of commands supported by the minitab setup.exe.
4. Create your config.xml file by running “setup.exe /admin” from the command line.
   
   
   
   
5. Specify your licensing server with port number
   
   
   
6. Under install options be sure to tick the “I accept license agreement”
   
   
   
7. All other settings you can choose for yourself. I turned the notifications since our users don’t have local admin rights, the notification would just be annoying.
8. Save your xml file into your unpacked minitab files directory to reside alongside setup.exe.
9. Copy over the unpacked files to your SCCM sources dir
10. Create the deployment. I prefer applications to packages but either would work. The instructions below are for creating the application.
11. The Minitab deployment guide states you should use setup.exe /config [\\PathTo\config.xml]. However, in testing the minitab installer did not like %~dp0 switch in place of the full path for the config file. Even if I spelled out the entire UNC path it did not like it and I’m not sure why.
    
    So instead I created an install.cmd script with the following lines:
    
    pushd \\your-sccm-server\sources$\Software\Minitab16setup.exe /config %~dp0config.xml /qnpopd \\ your-sccm-server \sources$\Software\Minitab16
    
12. Then you create the application as normal
1. Create Application
2. Manually specify the application information
3. Fill out general info
4. Fill out app catalog info
5. Deployment Types > Add
6. Manually specify the deployment type information
7. Fill in General and Content tabs as you normally would.
8. On the Programs Tab specify the install.cmd for Installation. For the Uninstall program use:
   
   "%CommonProgramFiles(x86)%\Minitab Shared\Minitab 16\Setup\Setup.exe" /x /p Minitab16 /qn
   
   This is just the uninstall string indicated in the deployment guide with the /qn switch on the end.
   
   
   
9. For detection method I used Orca to open up the core.msi and obtain the Product Code
   
   {63FD90F3-58B5-4A25-9C47-428576D994D0}
   
   
   
10. For User Experience I set Install behavior to System, logon to whether or not the user is logged on and visibility to Hidden.
    
    
    
11. I changed nothing on Return Codes and Dependencies.
13. Distribute the content out to your distribution points
14. Deploy it to a few test machines
15. Try out the install/uninstall
16. Done!

Text from the Deployment Guide included in the Minitab extract
The Minitab Customization Tool is a Graphical User interface that helps you to create a configuration file to modify your Minitab 16 installation when you deploy. Use the instructions below to create a custom installation.

Note: Type setup.exe /help at the Command Prompt to access Setup Help at any time.

1. Copy the installation files to a network location.
2. Open the Command Prompt and navigate to the Minitab 16 setup files.
3. Type Setup.exe /admin to access the Minitab 16 Customization Tool.
4. Set the options for deployment.
5. Click Save Configuration to save the configuration file to a network location. You must save the config.xml file next to the Setup.exe and other installation files or specify a config.xml file on the command line using the syntax /config "path" (for example, setup.exe /config "\\ServerName\PathTo\config.xml").
   
   Note: If you did not copy the installation files to a network location in step 1, you can check Copy Installation Files to save both the installation files and the configuration file to the same network location.
6. Click Save.
7. Use the deployment method of your choice to deploy Minitab 16:
1. If you use SMS, Altiris, Tivoli or any other Enterprise Management Tool for deployment, use Setup.exe.
2. If you use Active Directory/Group Policy, read the following important information. There are two methods for deploying via Active Directory/Group Policy:
1. Use a Startup Script (Recommended)
1. Create a configuration file using the Minitab 16 Customization Tool.
2. Ensure that the config.xml file is next to the Setup.exe.
3. Call Setup.exe within a Startup Script in Active Directory.
4. Use Group Policy Software Deployment (assignment only; updates not supported)
2. Create a configuration file using the Minitab 16 Customization Tool.
1. Ensure that the config.xml file is next to the Setup.exe.
2. Assign the Core.msi to the GPO (Group Policy Object). You can find this .msi in the administrative package that you created under the Core folder (Core/Core.msi).
3. Note: If you silently deploy Minitab through Group Policy, setup.exe continues to run in the background even after the user logs on and until the installation is complete.
4. If you use Organizational Defaults to set the default Minitab user profile, you must save the orgdefs.reg file next to the language pack MSI for each language you install. For more information on Organizational Defaults and its applications, please see the Minitab 16 Installation Guide.

List of Minitab Setup.exe Commands
Obtained by running setup.exe /help
Usage: setup.exe [options (see below))
Options switches (may be used in combination):
/ help
/?
/admin
Display this help dialog.
Launch the Minitab Customization Tool to create a config.xml to customize deployment. To automatically apply the options each time someone runs setup.exe, save the file as "config.xml" in the same folder as setup.exe.
/config
Install the software with the mass deployment options specified in the XML file.
Example: setup.exe /config “\\PathTo\config.xml”
/qn
Install the software in quiet mode, which requires no user interaction.
/qb
Install the software in quiet mode but also displays a progress bar.
/qb!
Install the software in quiet mode, displaying a progress bar with user interaction disabled.
/lcid
Specify the language to use in the installation dialog boxes.
/I
Create a log file.
/x /p
Uninstall the specified product.
Example: setup.exe /x / p Minitab16
/m (/ p )
Modify an installed Minitab product. If you do not specify a product, a list of products is displayed.
/r / p
Repair an existing installation of the specified product.
See the Minitab 16 Deployment Guide for more information.

Creating a Solidworks Application from MSI

So we’ve created our Solidworks admin image and copied over the installation files to our configmgr software repository. The next step is to create an application in CM to be able to deploy out to users. However, when I tried to import the MSI CM threw an error:

Import failed.
Invalid ALLUSERS property value: 0
Click Previous to attempt to correct the problem, or click Cancel.

If you didn't get this error and SW was able to be imported via MSI into CM for you then congrats, proceed inwards.

For those of us not so lucky this is error is disappointing as I want the benefits of creating applications via MSI (detection, uninstall path, etc).

The Fix

Thankfully the fix is fairly simple. Download and install ORCA, a tool from Microsoft which allows you to edit MSI files.

1. Copy the solidworks.msi locally
2. Open in Orca
3. Under Tables find the Property Table
4. Sort property A > Z
5. Find the ALLUSERS property
6. Set the value to 2 (as recommended by Microsoft)

7.  Rename the original solidworks.msi to something like solidworks.msi.backup (always nice to keep the original in case your changes break it)
8. Copy over the fixed solidworks.msi
9. Re-run the Create Application wizard

VOILA!

Now just proceed through the app creation process as you normally do and you can happily deploy solidworks via MSI.