Unattended Installations

The setup manager uses an XML file to do unattended installations. All you have to do is generate the XML file with your system configuration values.

Here are some benefits of using the unattended installation:

  • By using the same XML file to install and configure the operating system, all of the computers in your organization are set up exactly the same way, resulting in better consistency during a K2 roll-out
  • The unattended installation is faster than interactive setup because setup does not have to prompt you for configuration information; instead, setup reads configuration settings from the XML file. This results in shorter installation times

The known limitations of this installer are:

  • The installer does not support modifying or reconfiguring an installation. To perform a modify or reconfigure, open the K2 Setup Manager and use the wizard to do so.

To perform an unattended installation, you need the following:

  • System Key
  • License Key
  • Meet all prerequisites
  • Unattended install generated XML File

High Level Steps

  1. Generate the unattended installer XML file.
  2. Perform the unattended installation using the generated system key and XML file.

Run SourceCode.SetupManager.exe /output:"{filename}" which opens the Setup Manager wizard. Run through each page to specify the environment settings. The Unattended Install Steps for K2 topic describes each page. Click on Finish to generate an XML file with your environment settings. K2 uses the XML configuration file for unattended installation.

The command does not install the product at all but rather builds the XML file: 

Syntax: SourceCode.SetupManager.exe /output:"{filename}"

Parameters Description
{filename} This is the name of the generated XML file that containing the environment settings used by the unattended installer.

Output: Launches the Setup Manager wizard, gathers all the information, and then closes, generating the XML file containing all the options you specified.

Install K2 without any input by running SourceCode.SetupManager.exe /install:"{filename}" /loglevel:{loglevel} with a valid XML configuration file.

Parameters Description
{filename} The name of the XML file with all the installation options (including System Key and License Key).
{loglevel} An optional parameter that specifies the Log Level, based on the following list:
1 – Verbose Logging
2 – Information, Warning and Errors
3 – Warning and Errors Only (Default)
4 – Errors Only
Note: If this parameter is not specified, the default is ‘3’.

Output: Print the progress and any errors for the installation or configuration to the command window.

The SourceCode.SetupManager.exe command determines whether the current setup is for a new installation or for an existing installation configuration.

Create a distributed installation XML file by removing certain components from a full installation XML file.

The K2 Pass-Through Authentication option is only valid for a distributed installation -- see the section on Additional Notes.

Distributed Installation Steps:

  1. Open the Command Prompt, and type the following syntax: C:\install\SourceCode.SetupManager.exe /output:unattended.xml to start building the XML file. Where Install is the installation folder.
  2. The K2 Setup Manager opens.
  3. K2 recommends doing a Full Installation (all components selected on the Select Components page).
    This does not install any components, it only builds the XML file.
  4. When the installation is complete, you can edit the XML file by using a text editor such as Notepad.
  5. Delete components from the full installation XML file, as necessary and save is as the distributed installation XML file.
  6. Note that K2 requires you to install the Configuration component with all the other components.
  7. After the Setup Manager builds the XML file, the following command starts the unattended installation:
    Syntax: c:\Install\SourceCode.SetupManager.exe /install:unattended.xml

When upgrading using the unattended installer, it only upgrades previously-installed components.

To run the unattended upgrade use the following command:

SourceCode.SetupManager.exe /NOUI /update

Upgrading from K2 4.7

If you are upgrading your K2 Blackpearl 4.7 environment to K2 Five, you need to enter a K2 Five license key and supply the K2 Service Account password. Use the /systemkey switch (see the SourceCode.SetupManager.exe Options topic for more info) to get the system key. You must update the K2 Service Account password as part of the upgrade to re-register the K2 blackpearl Service with its new name K2 Service.

Use the following command for unattended upgrade from K2 blackpearl 4.7:

SourceCode.SetupManager.exe /NoUI /Update /var:[LICENSEKEY]=XXXXXXXXXXXXX~[USERSPASS]=XXXXX

You can use the /var: switch to override the [LICENSEKEY] and [USERSPASS] variables.

Output: Launches the Setup Manager and then starts the upgrade.

Upgrading from K2 5.0 / 5.1 / 5.2 / 5.3

If you used Windows authorization when you originally installed K2 Five, you need to add the K2 Service Account password to the command line:
SourceCode.SetupManager.exe /NoUI /Update /var:[USERSPASS]=XXXXX

If you used SQL authorization when you originally installed K2 Five use the following command line:
SourceCode.SetupManager.exe /NoUI /Update

If your license has expired, use the /Systemkey parameter to get the system key:
SourceCode.SetupManager.exe /noui /Systemkey

Then set the update with the new license key and K2 Service Account password (if you use Windows Authorization):
Setup.exe /noui /Update /var:[LICENSEKEY]=96965D73F9809FD2341EB4E11568B67A7AC6~[USERSPASS]=XXXXXXXX

You can run the fix pack installer in silent mode (with the -s switch) without needing an unattended install XML file, as follows:
Update.exe -s

The fix pack installer auto-detects all settings from the installed components.

The unattended XML file contains a series of parameters that supply values to the installation and/or upgrade. The table below details the parameters that can be edited in the XML file:

The list of parameters and their values may be different for your system.
Example Installation XML Parameter used for: Component Applicable for: What can be changed?
<PRODUCT Version="K2_47"> Product version check    
<COMPONENTS> Indicates component to be installed   Can be removed or added
<VARIABLES>    

 
[MACHINEKEY] Machine Key All Machine Key
[INSTALLDIR] Installation Directory All Location of installation director
[SIMPLEINSTALL] * *

*
[ISNLB] Load balancing indicator Server Load balancing to be used
[REPORTPORTSITE] * *

*
[REPORTSITENAME] * *

*
[REPORTSERVERVDIR] * *

*
[REPORTPORTSITEURL] * *

*
[REPORTSITEPATH] * *

*
[FULLREPORTSITEURL] * *

*
[SETSITESPN] * *

*
[SETSPN] * *

*
[USRMGRTYPE] User manager type All AD or Non-AD installation
[HOSTSERVERDBNAME] SQL Database name All DB name and SQL instance
[HOSTSERVERCONNECTIONSTRING] Hostserver connection string All Connection string can be specified
[HOSTSERVERDBSQLSERVER] SQL Server name All SQL Server name
[LBHOSTSERVERNAME] Load balancing server name All Load balancing server name
[LBHOSTSERVERFQDN] Load balancing server FQDN All Fully Qualified Domain name of LB server
* In the table and in the generated XML file you may see empty fields that may not apply to the installation. These empty fields are there because the Setup Manager requires them as placeholders. For example in the table above, the [REPORTSITENAME] variable field is blank because in this installation reporting services integration is not installed, but the Setup Manager contains the placeholder. Your unattended installation file may look different.