How to test if an MSI install package can be deployed via GPO unattended (silent)

If you have old packages lieing around and youre not sure if they are silently deployable via Group Policy (GPO) there is a very simple way to test them.

Windows XP – Click Start -> Run

Vista and above – Type “Run” in the search bar which will then pop the “Run” window out.

in the Run window type in “msiexec /i ”

Run Msiexec

drag the MSI package into the run window. This will add the full path to the MSI withought you making any typos so much more reliable and quick.

Once the path has been added you just need to add another switch to the end “/qb”

so the whole thing will look something like


msiexec /i "c:unknown packagestest.msi" /qb


Hit enter and if it runs without any prompts then it is good for network deployment.