Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

EMCO MSI Package Builder

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Developer(s)
  
EMCO Software

Operating system
  
Windows XP and later

Available in
  
English

Development status
  
Active

Size
  
57.23 MB

Stable release
  
5.1 (April 23, 2014; 2 years ago (2014-04-23)) [±]

EMCO MSI Package Builder is a software tool that creates Windows Installer (MSI) packages. The tool allows creating new MSI packages and converting non-silent EXE setups to silent MSI packages for unattended remote installation.

Contents

Functionality

EMCO MSI Package Builder generates silent MSI packages that have a single installation workflow and preconfigured installation options. The generated MSI packages can be installed to Windows PCs over a network in an unattended mode using software distribution tools that support MSI deployment. The main feature of the application is converting non-silent EXE setups to silent MSI packages, which can be used by network administrators to prepare software installation packages for unattended deployment.

Key features and functions

  • Creating x86 and x64 silent MSI packages
  • Converting non-silent EXE setups to silent MSI packages
  • Wrapping silent installations into MSI packages
  • Capturing changes in the file system, registry, Windows services and environment variables to create installation projects
  • Managing installation resources through GUI
  • Compatibility with Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8

    • Converting non-silent EXE setups to silent MSI packages

    With EMCO MSI Package Builder, the EXE to MSI conversion process is based on capturing changes performed by an EXE installation. EMCO MSI Package Builder captures file system and registry changes to create an installation project and generate an MSI package that would apply those changes. Changes capturing is performed in runtime by a kernel-mode driver that can associate changes with the system processes that initiated them, so the created installation projects include the captured changes grouped by processes, which simplifies filtering-out of unwanted changes initiated by background system processes.

    Functionality limitations

    EMCO MSI Package Builder is primarily used by network administrators who need to create preconfigured silent installations ready for automatic remote deployment. Hence, it has a limited set of features for creating fully functional MSI packages designed for interactive installation. The limitations include the following:

  • Only silent MSI packages can be created. There is no option to add an installation GUI wizard.
  • The created MSI packages can include file system and registry changes, manage Windows shortcuts, services and environment variables, and execute custom actions before and/or after installations. There is no access to editing low-level MSI tables.
  • Non-silent Windows system software installations, including driver installations, OS patches and Windows system tools, cannot be converted into MSI packages. This technological limitation is common for all types of installation repackaging solutions.

    • References

    EMCO MSI Package Builder Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA