Unattended installation

Components of Acronis Backup & Recovery 11, such as Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Agent for Windows, can be installed in the unattended mode, as opposed to the interactive mode.

Some components require a file known as a transform (an .mst file). To create a transform for a component, you need the configuration script mst_gen.vbs. This script is located in the folder where Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Management Console is installed. By default, the folder name is C:\Program Files\Acronis\BackupAndRecoveryConsole. If the management console is installed on a different machine, you can copy the script from that machine. See also “Examples of creating a transform” later in this section.

The following components and features can be installed, reinstalled, or updated in the unattended mode:

Agent Core (required by any agent)

• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Agent Core: AcronisAgentCore.msi (requires a transform)

Agents

• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Agent for Windows: AcronisAgentWindows.msi (requires a transform)
• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Agent for VMware vSphere ESX(i) (Windows): AcronisAgentESX.msi (requires a transform)
• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Agent for Hyper-V: AcronisAgentHyperV.msi (requires a transform)

Agent features

• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Deduplication: AcronisDeduplication.msi (requires a transform)
• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Universal Restore: AcronisUniversalRestore.msi (requires a transform)

Bootable media builder

• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Bootable Media Builder: AcronisBootableComponentsMediaBuilder.msi (requires a transform)

Management console

• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Management Console for advanced editions: AcronisManagementConsole.msi
• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Management Console for stand-alone editions: AcronisStandaloneManagementConsole.msi

Order of installation for an agent

When you install an agent, first install the Agent Core component (if it is not yet installed), then the agent itself, and then the agent features.

Installation procedure

To install, reinstall, or update a component in the unattended mode

1. Start the setup program.
2. Click Extract installation files (when using the standard setup program) or Save installation files (when using the Web-based setup program).
3. Extract the component's installation package.
4. If you are installing a component that requires a transform, create the transform by running the configuration script. Otherwise, skip this step.

   For example, the following command creates a transform to install Agent for Windows with the license key ABCDE-54321:

   mst_gen.vbs /msi_path C:\AcronisAgentWindows.msi /serial ABCDE-54321

   See also the examples later in this section. The complete syntax of the configuration script is described in "Configuration script parameters".

5. Do either of the following, depending on whether you are installing, reinstalling, or updating the component:
   • If you are installing the component, run Windows Installer (the msiexec program) as follows:

     When installing a component that requires a transform (in this example, Agent for Windows):

     msiexec /i c:\AcronisAgentWindows.msi TRANSFORMS=AcronisAgentWindows.mst /qb

     Otherwise (in this example, the management console):

     msiexec /i c:\AcronisManagementConsole.msi /qb

   • If you are reinstalling or updating the component, run Windows Installer as follows:

     When reinstalling or updating a component that requires a transform (in this example, Agent for Windows):

     msiexec /i C:\AcronisAgentWindows.msi TRANSFORMS=C:\AcronisAgentWindows.mst ADDLOCAL=ALL /qb

     Otherwise (in this example, the management console):

     msiexec /i C:\AcronisManagementConsole.msi ADDLOCAL=ALL /qb /l*v C:\log.log

In an Active Directory domain, another way of performing unattended installation, reinstallation, or update of a supported component is through Group Policy—see "Installing the agent through Group Policy".

Examples of creating a transform

Transform for Agent Core. The following command creates a transform for the installation package of the Agent Core component:

mst_gen.vbs /msi_path C:\AcronisAgentCore.msi /account mydomain\agentuser MyPassWd /ams_address managementsrv /ams_user adminname AdminPassWd

After unattended installation with this transform:

• The agents’ service will run under the agentuser domain user account (of the mydomain domain) whose password is MyPassWd.
• The agents will be registered on Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Management Server installed on the managementsrv machine; adminname and AdminPassWd are respectively the user name and password of a management server administrator.

Transform for Agent for Windows. The following command creates a transform for the installation package of Agent for Windows:

mst_gen.vbs /msi_path C:\AcronisAgentWindows.msi /license_server licensesrv /product AS

After unattended installation with this transform:

• The agent will use a license for the Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Advanced Server edition, by taking it from the license server installed on the licensesrv machine.

Similarly, you can create transforms for the agent features such as Universal Restore.