[kwpro]

Hi guys

I have created a silent installer for Firefox v1.0, Thunderbird v0.9 and MozillaBackup. I hope this helps people out .

Mozilla Internet Suite 14.6mb

Kenny

[keytotime]

Nice really Nice

[Yzöwl]

Any chance of a little bit more information etc., I dont fancy downloading such a large file without knowing much about it. (14.6 meg sounds more like included progs, rather than an installer.)

[kwpro]

The packages that are installed are:

Mozilla Firefox v1.0
Mozilla Thunderbird v0.9
MozBackup v1.3.2

Hope that clears things up

Kenny

[Yzöwl]

Is it just an sfx.exe a compiled script etc.
Can it be split so as not to install all 3 programs. (are seperate versions available)
Is there any source code available or will it ever be.
Are any additional settings, extensions, addons /plugins included.
Does it install to a specific location or are options available.
Is there anything which may be required by your installer, which may have been removed elsewhere in my unattended setup.
etc.

[kwpro]

Quote

Is it just an sfx.exe a compiled script etc.

No it is a Windows .MSI installer

Quote

Can it be split so as not to install all 3 programs. (are seperate versions available)

No it cant be split and no there are no seperate versions available. (Created by my self at least)

Quote

Is there any source code available or will it ever be.

If you want the source file you can have it, but you have to have Advanced Installer 2.1.1 installed

Quote

Are any additional settings, extensions, addons /plugins included.

Adding these would add to the install size and anyway not everyone likes the same extensions.

Quote

Does it install to a specific location or are options available.

It is installed in %SystemRoot%\Program Files\Mozilla and there isnt any options available.

Quote

Is there anything which may be required by your installer, which may have been removed elsewhere in my unattended setup

The only thing needed is Windows Installer which most people have and if they dont they can use Winrar to extract the files.

All this hassle for one installer file

Kenny

[prathapml]

Well, how is my 7-Zip compressed SFX installer of (Mozilla Firefox 1.0 + extensions + Thunderbird 0.9) total up to just 6.2 MB?
14.6 MB of valuable space on CD sounds like a lot!

[kwpro]

prathapml, on Nov 27 2004, 11:30 AM, said:

Well, how is my 7-Zip compressed SFX installer of (Mozilla Firefox 1.0 + extensions + Thunderbird 0.9) total up to just 6.2 MB?
14.6 MB of valuable space on CD sounds like a lot!

I use the compressed option with Advanced Installer 2.1.1 and it ended up at 14.6mb i also just used winrar with best compression it was 12mb.

I used the .zip files from mozilla.org so i dont know if they add more files to it.

I have tried 7-Zip and while the file size is good 7.62mb (6.2 MB ) it dosnt create shortcuts or perform a silent install, although i do know how to make a cmd script to do this i cant be bothered.

I only really created it for my self to make my life easy and i thought i would share it with others.

Kenny

[Yzöwl]

Thanks kwpro for answering the questions!

I'm sure your work will be well used and appreciated.

You may notice from reading through the forums here that a lot of people are looking for methods as much as solutions, which also accounts for my questions. The other concerns raised were due to the size of the download, since prathapml's method was so much smaller and although didn't contain the MozBackup app, did include other things. Some would like to be able to attempt it themselves and therefore possibly recreate the installation method after an upgrade of any of the apps, at a later date.

[www2000]

I'm making an Unattended DVD and space isn't much of an issue with me...
Thanks for sharing!



Wisc

[kwpro]

Quote

Some would like to be able to attempt it themselves and therefore possibly recreate the installation method after an upgrade of any of the apps, at a later date.

I have uploaded the sorce file if you would like to update the installation. Remember you need Advanced Installer 2.1.1 to use it.

kenny

[evilvoice]

@prathapml can you help me out with making 7zip firefox? I may include thunderbird...but not right now...I checked in app switches and im kinda left with a feeling of being overwhelmed by what all was typed there...I extracted the main setup file, and then all the xpe files into their own folder...but dont really know what goes where or anything...im going to prolly adapt it to inno setup if possible - installer and 7zip compression all in one...thanks in advance for your help

[bmn]

u can make ur own settings and pluins backup(like installer which install silently) with this tool have a look

http://firefox.dbltree.com/

[evilvoice]

well, i guess I should clarify...im trying to do this without installing the app at all...almost everywhere I look it tells me to install here and do this...but I dont wanna...right now I believe I have it all set up to where it should work (with the right reg keys) and then ill be done, then I can make an installer which is silent

[prathapml]

@evilvoice
Okay, here's what I do:

1. We're fortunate that firefox and thunderbird do not use absolute paths in their main config files (in program files folder).
2. My method is as you mentioned - none of "install this/that silently" crap.

3. Download firefox 1.0 (installer/.EXE) and install it to "%programfiles%\Mozilla\Firefox"

4. Install all the extensions that you want - ensure that changes are being made to the installed app in %ProgramFiles% and not in your userProfile folder alone.

5. Download Thunderbird 0.9 (installer) and install it to "%programfiles%\Mozilla\Thunderbird".

6. Do all the preferences editing that you want to do (you need to edit the .JS files in the installed folder, if you want).

7. Download the Sunbird 0.2 ZIP file and extract into "%programfiles%\Mozilla\Sunbird"

8. Now just start all of these, and satisfy yourself, that it works properly.

9. Copy away the "%programfiles%\Mozilla" folder to desktop.

10. Go into this folder now, and taking a good look at all contents, delete the uninstallers - since it is not relevant.

11. Then right-click the above folder (which is on desktop now) and choose to compress to 7-ZIP archive. Ensure that the compression level is "Ultra" and that "make SFX" box is checked. The other settings in that window can be left at defaults.

12. You now have "Mozilla.EXE" on your desktop with a 7-Zip SFX icon. Edit the icon resource (with resource hacker) if you don't like the icon!

13. If you added firefox and thunderbird *AND* sunbird (the PIM) - your resulting archive (mozilla.exe) should be 8.7 MB. If you added only ff and tb, it should be 6.2 MB.

14. Now, put the EXE wherever you want on your CD. Below is an example (command-line) of getting the 7-zip SFX module to extract contents silently to the path you specify:

%whatever%\path\pre_Mozilla.exe -y /q /r:n -o"%ProgramFiles%"

15. Then, go to this page, and get the INF that will make the required registry entries. (Now why do I prefer INF for this one? Because you can use system variable names, instead of having absolute paths). The registry entries that the INF makes is the same keys that the firefox/thunderbird installer does while installing - so that is all you need (you can forget about using installers for Ff or Tb).
Settings in INF (this one is the newer/correct version)
Do you want settings in .REG instead? (older/not recommended).

16. If you want to make firefox your default Internet sticky (in new-design StartMenu of XP), the details of "HOW", are in that thread which contains INF settings for Mozilla (linked to, above).

17. Put shortcuts to firefox/thunderbird/sunbird in:

$OEM$\$Docs\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Mozilla\

Ensure that the "path to application" of the shortcuts don't contain absolute paths (instead, it should use system variables, like %ProgramFiles% and such).

18. Make your uA CD!



The paths I have given above is simply because I find those convenient - change the paths to suit your liking (but then the .REG or INF that you import for the app needs to be modified too).

I recommend that you add-in thunderbird to your package (instead of stopping with just firefox) because:
1. Outlook Express simply begs for a replacement.
2. The size of the 7-zip archive (if you don't add thunderbird) will be only 1 MB lesser - so you're not saving on disk-space by leaving out thunderbird.
3. Of course, if you are determined that you only want firefox - its your choice by all means! In that case, don't do the things that are related to thunderbird above.


I hope you understand that the actual process of doing this is not quite as lengthy as my post seems to suggest - I've made a huge post simply to pass-on all the needed info. Hoping you like it - took some time to document what I do (its surprising how we don't clearly note down what works for us, when we do it for ourselves the first time!). Do post back on how it goes.