A straightforward way to install Dragon from the command line to a server is to carry out an administrative installation using a .bat file.
Caution: Only advanced administrators should attempt any type of administrative installation.
Note: A script for carrying out a full administrative installation is provided in the
admininstall.bat file at the top of the directory structure on the DVD. The script includes a bare minimum of the options available, so you might want to read through the Installation using the Dragon command line to find out about other options you might use.
Understanding the script in admininstall.bat
Below are some of the lines from the script in the admininstall.bat file, a batch file that de- compresses setup files into a network location for installation using SMS or another service. To run the batch file, you enter admininstall.bat and follow it with the location of the Dragon .msi file.
Near the top of the batch file, you see the lines that check the parameters entered and if the parameter passed is not acceptable, execute a routine that handles that situation:
:rem //Check and analyze input parameters if .%1.==.. goto bad_ args
If the arguments you pass when you enter the command is acceptable, the batch file sets the NETWORK_DNS_DIR to the location of the Dragon .msi file:
set NETWORK_DNS_DIR=%1%
When you run the admininstall.bat file, the file installs Dragon using a single line of code that calls the setup.exe command and passes it:
n /a option — Indicates administrative install n /s option for a silent no-GUI installation
n /v option to indicate msiexec options follow, enclosed in quotation marks
When you perform a silent installation of Dragon, the installation process does not display any messages. To view installation messages, administrators should view the setup log.
The setup/ msiexec options with /v include /qb for display of a basic GUI during the process, the TARGETDIR setting, and a /L with a series of log file options, including the name and location for the log file:
echo Installing Dragon NaturallySpeaking... setup.exe /a /s /v"/qb TARGETDIR=%NETWORK_DNS_DIR% /L*v %TEMP%\admininstall.log"
When the installation of Dragon succeeds or fails, the batch file displays an appropriate message. The remainder of the file handles errors and cases where bad arguments are passed on the command line.
Modifying admininstall.bat
You can modify the admininstall.bat file by adding to and changing the options you pass for installing Dragon. You can add more options and/or modify the options shown here. For more on installation options, refer to Installation using the Dragon command line or these
summaries:
n MSI Options Specific to Dragon
n Feature Variables to Set Through the ADDLOCAL or ADVERTISE Properties n MSI Options for Roaming User Profile, Tuning, and Data Collection Setup
Install Dragon on an initial computer and choose the
default settings
Before you proceed, you should be familiar with installing the product on a single computer from the DVD. For more information, see Installing, modifying and upgrading Dragon.
The initial installation is used to set default values for the Administrative, end-user, and Auto- Formatting options. These options can then be used to install on other computers using the same values.
Even if you are installing from a server, you should run through the initial installation below first. For more information on installing from a server, proceed to Overview of the Network Installation of Dragon from a Server.
Caution: If you want to set any administrative settings, be sure you have Windows
administrator privileges. Administrator rights are not required to create a User Profile or use the software after installation.
Before you begin:
n Install any pending Windows updates and reboot the computer when you are finished.
n Close all open applications.
n Turn off or disable antivirus software; the installation process can sometimes trigger a false virus report.
Note: An alternative to this approach is to use msiexec.exe to install Dragon, covered under
Step-by-Step Command Line Installation with msiexec.exe.
Extracting MSI/MST Files from the Dragon setup.exe
Some minor releases of Dragon do not include an MSI file. Instead, the file is part of the setup.exe file. You can run silent installations from the command line with msiexec.exe or by setup.exe. You don't need to first extract the msi and mst files. Use the following information if you are comfortable using .msi installers.
If you are using the setup.exe method, you must ensure that all flags/properties
(SERIALNUMBER, DEFAULTS.INI,/qn,etc.) are all with in the same quotes directly after /v without a space.
This sample command line launches setup and installs Dragon into the C:<full_ path>\Dragon directory:
setup /a /s /v"INSTALLDIR=\"C:\<full_path>\Dragon\" /qn"
You can carry out an administrative installation using setup.exe, as follows:
n Create a server image of Dragon files for later installing clients. You create the image by executing setup.exe and passing it the /a option and a Dragon-specific option that
extracts MST and MSI files from the Dragon setup.exe file provided. n Use the options to extract the MSI/MST Files from the Dragon setup.exe. Extracting MSI/MST Files from setup.exe
The following setup.exe options are designed to extract .msi/.mst files for Windows Installer- oriented distributions.
Note: When you install Dragon NaturallySpeaking13, Dragon installs using the primary language for the product. You cannot install Dragon using a language that is different than the primary language. For example, when you install Dragon, Professional - English version, Dragon installs using the English language.
If you attempt to use the /l option with setup.exe to install Dragon NaturallySpeaking13 using a non-primary language, the installation process uses the primary language for that edition of Dragon and ignores the /l option.
These options do not install any files, but rather extract an installable set of files into the server directory you specify.
Option Description
/a Administrative installation. Instructs
setup.exe to perform an administrative installation to a network for use by a workgroup instead of a normal
installation. This option is required when trying to extract the .msi files.
An administrative installation installs a source image of the application onto the network. The image is similar to a source image on a CD or DVD. Users in the workgroup who have access can then install the product over the network from this source image.
/v"<msiexec options>" Passes msiexec options to Windows Installer. See table of msiexec options for details. This option is required when trying to extract the .msi files.
/l<Windows Language Code>
Specifies the language to use for installing
Dragon. For example, to launch the installation in French, the command line would include /L1036. The language codes supported for installing Dragon are: 1031=German 1033=English 1034=Spanish 1036=French 1040=Italian 1043=Dutch
Also creates an MST file for the language you specify, such as 1036.MST.
EXTRACTFILES="c:\xyz" Indicates the directory where the
extracted .msi/.mst files are to be written. Long path names containing spaces need to be in quotation marks escaped by having a backslash precede each quotation mark (\"). This property is required to extract the .msi files. If the directory you specify does not exist, the installer creates it.
Here is a sample command line to extract
Option Description
setup.exe /a /s
/v"EXTRACTFILES=c:\temp\msifile s"
TARGETDIR=”C:\xyz” Use with administrative installations only. Indicates the full path to where to install the image of Dragon.