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#207722 - 2013-09-12 08:05 AM Using Kixtart to install a program
Robdutoit Offline
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Registered: 2012-03-27
Posts: 363
Loc: London, England
I know that you can use Kixtart to install a program as I have seen enough references to it on this board.

But I am not entirely sure how to go about it in terms of what I want to accomplish. I want to install a client program called Openvpn onto some computers for my clients. But I will not be there to install the software, as this will be on computers at the clients homes. They will install the software themselves and then they can connect to their workplace network using openvpn.

So what I want to do is have something which installs Openvpn and then copies some keys and config files to the appropriate directory depending on whether its windows 64 or windows 32 bit.

Ideally I would like to have all this in one executable file so I thought that I would use the kix2exe gui.

But I am not sure that I can do this as I would need two different files for the config file - one for 32 bit and one for 64 and I don't know how to tell the script where to find the files if they are included within the executable wrapper.

In addition, I presume that I need to find the silent install option to get Openvpn to install both the program and a special Tap adapter. So I would imagine the usual approach in kixtart would be to do shell setup.exe /silent command example type of kixtart command?

Would you guys use the kix2exe for this or is there a better way. Essentially there are two parts to the install process. Install the program and then copy the keys and config file to the openvpn directory.

sorry that I have not been on the Kixorg board much lately, but its been quite busy.

thanks Rob

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#207723 - 2013-09-12 12:58 PM Re: Using Kixtart to install a program [Re: Robdutoit]
Glenn Barnas Administrator Offline
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Registered: 2003-01-28
Posts: 4403
Loc: New Jersey
If you download any of the apps from my web site, such as Customize or Task Scheduler Administrator, they include a script called KInstall. KInstall (\bin\install.kix) uses an INI file to define the installation process. It supports the ability to copy/update files, delete files, update ini files, update the registry, prompt for input & process the result, handle basic logic decisions, run executables, and more. I have another version of this called SystemBuild that is used to automate system/server builds from a basic image with a high level of customization - automated on-off builds, in a sense. I use this now to automate almost every app installed through our SWDIST product, both internally and at several client sites.

You can view the user guide at my web site or download the entire KInstall package from the Products/Administrators Toolchest section. (KInstall is not open source - you cannot modify the script, only the installation config files.)

Also - if you need to distribute keys in a secure manner, you might want to look at the cipher UDF. It's similar to the Enigma code engine from WWII, but uses up to 32K codewheels to create the cipher. Again, no source to preserve the security, but pre-tokenized UDFs are available for download to integrate into your scripts. Search for Cipher in the UDF library here on KORG for the download link.

Glenn
_________________________
Actually I am a Rocket Scientist! \:D

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#207725 - 2013-09-12 04:56 PM Re: Using Kixtart to install a program [Re: Glenn Barnas]
ShaneEP Moderator Offline
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Registered: 2002-11-29
Posts: 2127
Loc: Tulsa, OK
I use kix2exe quite a bit, and it seems to work fine. There are some bugs in it, since it hasn't been updated in quite some time...But none of them make it unusable.

If you are wanting to use files that are packaged with the exe, you can simply use the @ScriptDir macro.

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#207729 - 2013-09-12 11:29 PM Re: Using Kixtart to install a program [Re: ShaneEP]
Robdutoit Offline
Hey THIS is FUN
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Registered: 2012-03-27
Posts: 363
Loc: London, England
I will have a look at both options this weekend if I have time. I need to read up on the Openvpn site on how to secure the config file. I seem to remember a section on that. So ya if I have time this weekend, I will play with this as I would really like to get this completed and out of the way!

The one bug that I have found with Kix2exe is that on some computers it fails to compile when I read data in from a usb hard drive, but on other computers it works. It very bizarre that.

I also need to look at tokenising my scripts. I keep hearing about it, but never seem to have the time to actually look into the matter to see exactly what tokenising does! perhaps I will get that done this weekend as well.

thanks Rob

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#207731 - 2013-09-13 03:06 PM Re: Using Kixtart to install a program [Re: Robdutoit]
Glenn Barnas Administrator Offline
KiX Supporter
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Registered: 2003-01-28
Posts: 4403
Loc: New Jersey
If you look at the KixDev package on my site, the KGen tool will automatically tokenize your scripts. KGen is a form of Link Editor - you create your script in a .TXT file, referencing any of the UDFs located in a library folder. KGen will index your UDFs, determine which were referenced, and generate a script by combining your .TXT file, any .UDF files from your project folder, and all referenced .UDF files from the library. Based on an optional config file setting or command-line arg, it will tokenize the script. It always leaves a .GEN file in plain text, and creates logs of what UDFs were used and a log of if/case/loop references to help identify missing closure statements.

KGen also invokes the Sanity UDF, which documents variable usage, insures vars are properly declared, paired tokens (if/endif) match, and quotes and parens match. I use KGen for every script, no matter how small, just to find these minor issues.

Glenn

PS - KixDev is free for download and is provided in Kix/Bat source. It includes a copy of our UDF library and full documentation.
_________________________
Actually I am a Rocket Scientist! \:D

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#207749 - 2013-09-17 04:19 AM Re: Using Kixtart to install a program [Re: Glenn Barnas]
Robdutoit Offline
Hey THIS is FUN
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Registered: 2012-03-27
Posts: 363
Loc: London, England
I have booked this weekend in to sort this out. This weekend just past kinda got away from me! Thanks Rob
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