Create and Run an Unattended Visual Studio Setup

Creating a Network Image

#    Create a folder on the server, for example, <drive>:\VS2010\.

#    Copy the contents of Visual Studio DVD to the VS2010 folder.

#    If you do not use Retail distribution media, go to step 5.

#    Create a pre-populated product key for the user.

   1.

      In the VS2010 folder, open the Setup subfolder.
   2.

      Open setup.sdb by using a text editor such as Notepad, and locate the line that contains [Product Key].
   3.

      Add the 25-character product key, which is located on the DVD packaging, immediately following [Product Key]. Do not include dashes in the key.
   4.

      Save the changes and close the file.

#    Share the VS2010 folder on the network and set the appropriate security settings.
    The path of the Visual Studio Setup from the network resembles \\<servername>\VS2010\setup.exe.
    Setup may also fail if the folder names in the path include embedded spaces. For example, "\\<servername>\VS 2010" or "\\<servername>\Visual Studio\".

Creating unattend.ini Files

    To deploy Visual Studio in unattended mode, you must create an associated .ini file. You must create a unique .ini file for each target operating system. For example, an .ini file created for Windows XP cannot be used for Windows Vista.
   
To create a Visual Studio unattend .ini file

   1.      Insert the Visual Studio 2010 DVD and ignore the autorun message.
   2.      Click Start, click Run, and then type drive:\setup\Setup.exe /createunattend path of the .ini file you want to create.
            For example: D:\setup\setup.exe /createunattend c:\VS2010_deployment.ini
   3.      Follow the directions on the Start page of Setup, and then click Next.
   4.      On the Options page, select Customize, and then click Next.
   5.      On the Customize page, select the features that you want to deploy, and then click Save Settings.

To run unattended Visual Studio Setup on a client computer

    *      Click Start, click Run, and then type \\<servername>\VS2010\Setup\setup.exe /unattendfile <path of the Visual Studio .ini file> For example: \\server\VS2010\Setup\setup.exe /unattendfile \\server\VS2010\VS2010_deployment.ini
   
To run unattended Visual Studio 2010 Documentation setup on a client computer (optional)

    *      Click Start, click Run.
    *      Type the following or save and run from a .bat file:
            <Library Manager source drive>:HelpLibManager.exe /silent /content /<parameters – see above>

            For example:

        "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Help Viewer\v1.0\HelpLibManager.exe" /silent /product VS /version 100 /locale en-US /content C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\HelpLibrary /sourceMedia \\myServer\ProductDocumentation\HelpContentSetup.msha
       
Installation Maintenance

An existing Visual Studio installation can be maintained by using the Control Panel to rerun Setup


To perform installation maintenance on a client computer

    *      Open Control Panel and then click Add or Remove Programs (Windows XP) or Programs and Features (Windows Vista).
    *      Select Visual Studio and then click Change/Remove (Windows XP) or Uninstall/Change (Windows 7 or Windows Vista).