How to create a network installation point for Visual Studio 2005 deployment

Requirements

The following list outlines the recommended hardware, software, network infrastructure, and service packs that you need:

• One or more of the following operating systems:
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4), Professional or Server
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (SP2)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2
• Peer-to-Peer or Domain network

This article assumes that you are familiar with the following topics:

• Best Practice installation methods
• Networking issues that are related to connectivity, to shares, and to share permissions
• How to run DOS commands at a command prompt

Copy-and-paste operation for DVD-ROMs

1. Create a folder such as C:\Vsdotnet.
2. Use Windows Explorer to view the contents of the DVD-ROM.
3. In the right pane of Windows Explorer, click to select one item on the DVD-ROM, and then press CTRL+A to select all the contents of the DVD-ROM.
4. Right-click the selected contents, and then click Copy to copy the contents of the DVD-ROM to the Clipboard.
5. In Windows Explorer, open the folder that you created in step 1.
6. Click in the right pane, and then press CTRL+V to paste the contents of the DVD-ROM from the Clipboard to the new folder.

XCopy command for DVD-ROMs

1. Create a folder near the root folder of the destination drive. The name of this folder must have a maximum of eight characters and cannot contain spaces or special characters. A folder name such as C:\Vsdotnet\ is appropriate.
2. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
3. Type the drive letter of the source drive. For example, if the DVD drive is drive R, type R:. Press ENTER.
4. Type the following command, and then press ENTER. The destination folder in this command is C:\Vsdotnet. Modify this command to use the destination folder that you created in step 1.
   XCopy *.* c:\VSDOTNET\ /h /v /s
   Note The flags in this command are /h for hidden, /v for verify, and /s for subdirectories.

Copy-and-paste operation for CD-ROMs

1. Create a folder such as C:\Vsdotnet.
2. Create a subfolder for the Microsoft Windows Component Upgrade (WCU), such as C:\Vsdotnet\Wcu.
3. Create a folder for the remaining numbered disks, such as C:\Vsdotnet\Vs.
4. Use Windows Explorer to view the contents of the WCU CD-ROM.
5. In the right pane of Windows Explorer, click to select one item on the CD-ROM, and then press CTRL+A to select all the contents of the CD-ROM.
6. Right-click the selected contents, and then click Copy to copy the contents of the WCU CD-ROM to the Clipboard.
7. In Windows Explorer, open the subfolder that you created in step 2.
8. Click in the right pane, and then press CTRL+V to paste the contents of the WCU CD-ROM from the Clipboard to the new subfolder.
9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 for each CD-ROM to copy all the contents of each numbered CD-ROM to the folder that you created in step 3. If a Confirm File Replace dialog box appears, click Yes to all.

XCopy command for CD-ROMs

1. Create a folder near the root folder of the destination drive. The name of this folder must have a maximum of eight characters and cannot contain spaces or special characters. A folder name such as C:\Vsdotnet is appropriate.
2. Create a subfolder for the Windows Component Upgrade (WCU), such as C:\Vsdotnet\Wcu.
3. Create a folder for the remaining numbered disks, such as C:\Vsdotnet\Vs.
4. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
5. Type the drive letter of the source drive. For example, if the CD drive is drive R, type R:. Press ENTER.
6. Verify that the WCU CD-ROM is in the CD drive. Type the following command, and then press ENTER. The destination folder in this command is C:\Vsdotnet\Wcu. Modify this command to use the subfolder that you created in step 2.
   XCopy *.* c:\VSDOTNET\WCU\ /h /v /s
   Note The flags are /h for hidden, /v for verify, and /s for subdirectories.
7. Verify that CD-ROM Disk #1 is in the CD drive. Type the following command, and then press ENTER. Modify this command to use the destination folder that you created in step 3.
   XCopy *.* c:\VSDOTNET\VS\ /h /v /s
8. Repeat step 7 for the remaining numbered CD-ROMs. If a Confirm File Replace dialog box appears, click Yes to all.

Modify the Setup.ini file

1. Right-click C:\Vsdotnet\Vs\Setup.ini, and then click Properties. Make sure that the Read Only check box is not selected.
2. Open the C:\Vsdotnet\Vs\Setup.ini file by using a text editor such as Notepad.
3. Make sure that the line under the [Baseline] section that starts with Dir= reads as follows:
   • For a DVD-ROM image

     Dir=.\

   • For a CD-ROM image

     Dir=..\

Users who have permission to install the product can now start Visual Studio 2005 Setup from one of the following locations:

• For the DVD-ROM installation image:
  \\ServerName\Vsdotnet\Setup.exe
• For the CD-ROM installation image:
  \\ServerName\Vsdotnet\Vs\Setup.exe

Note You must establish the share and the appropriate permissions for users to have access to these installation images.