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  5. Running the WinDRBD Installer from the Command Line

Running the WinDRBD Installer from the Command Line

If you want to deploy WinDRBD® on many nodes, it is advisable to automate the installation and upgrade process somehow. This article shows you how to run the installer without user interaction.

Running the WinDRBD Installer Without User Interaction

To run the WinDRBD installer from the command line without user interaction, add two parameters like in the following example, replacing 1.1.6 with your WinDRBD release number:

install-windrbd-1.1.6.exe /verysilent /norestart

Suppressing User Confirmation and Other Dialog Boxes

The /verysilent parameter instructs the installer not to do any user interaction. No windows are opened and no dialog boxes need to be confirmed.

Instructing the Installer Not to Restart the Node

The /norestart parameter instructs the installer not to restart the node if a restart is needed. Normally WinDRBD can be upgraded, installed and uninstalled without the requirement of a complete Windows reboot, but there might be situations where a reboot is required. To prevent the installer from rebooting the machine the /norestart parameter should be specified. You can then restart the machine during a scheduled maintenance window.

Downloading the WinDRBD Installer

You can download the WinDRBD installer from the LINBIT® homepage. The installer is created using the Inno Setup installer framework (see https://jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php) which is also, like WinDRBD, open source software. Therefore the installer supports all command line options provided by Inno Setup. See https://jrsoftware.org/ishelp/index.php?topic=setupcmdline for a complete list (but normally you don’t need it).

Running the WinDRBD Installer from the Command Line

The CLI shell itself can be a cmd shell, a PowerShell, or even a Cygwin BASH shell. With the Cygwin BASH shell it is even possible to configure SSH access (see http://jtsoft.at/windows-ssh for a detailed explanation for how to set that up) and run the installer from a SSH shell. Note that there are also possibilities to control PowerShell remotely (see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/learn/remoting/ssh-remoting-in-powershell-core?view=powershell-7.3) but since we normally use the Cygwin BASH, this is untested here.

Written by JT, 02/16/2023.

Reviewed by MAT, 02/21/2023.