Step by Step Guide to Packaging Internet Explorer 7 Using Internet Explorer Administration Kit 7
This article is a step by step guide to package Internet Explorer 7, for those who are new to Internet Explorer 7 packaging. Unlike other Microsoft products, Microsoft released a customization tool [IEAK7] to customize Internet Explorer for corporate deployment.
Process:
Create a Testbed [VMware].
Download and install Internet Explorer application from the following link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?fa...
Download and install Internet Explorer Administration Kit 7 from the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/bb219543.aspx
Open Internet Explorer Customization Wizard
Click Next.
Select the location where you want to place the packaged Internet Explorer 7 application and click Next
Choose the target operating system [Windows XP SP2 or Vista X86-based for this example] and click Next.
Make sure you have an internet connection active in this machine because IEAK7 will download the application files.
Select the language from the drop down and click Next.
Check the option File and click Next.
Select all the features that you want to customize using customization wizard and click Next.
Click Next.
The following dialog box will appear on the screen. Click on "Run" button.
Following dialog will appear with an option "Synchronize". Click on the button "Synchronize".
The following dialog box appears on the screen with progress bar.
IEAK7 will download the latest version of IE7 as indicated below. Click Next.
In this section, you can add hotfixes for Internet Explorer 7 as components.
Click on the button "Add".
Name the component.
Add select the hotfix using "Browse" option [You can only add one hotfix per component].
Do not forget to rename the hotfix as IEAK7 has a limitation in terms of handling hotfix names [IEAK7 accepts only up to 16 characters. So your hotfix name shouldn't exceed 16 characters].
Under "Parameters" you can specify "/passive" and "/norestart".
You have to select the radio button "Install after system restart" and check the option "Only install if Internet Explorer is installed successfully".
You can add up to 10 components inside the package.
When you are done with adding components click Next.
You can choose these options according to your company requirements [Especially Malicious Software Removal Tool & Default Browser].
Click Next.
This is Stage 3 and you can customize User Interface and restart options here. Click Next.
You can choose between "Hands-free installation" & "Completely Silent Installation"
[/QB & /QN command line switches].
If you are handling restart using Altiris, then choose "No restart" otherwise you can go with "Default".
This is Stage 4 and here you can customize the browser tiles/toolbar/home page/links etc...
Click Next.
You can customize the title bar. Enter Text.
Click Next
You can specify the home page URL here according to your requirement [Ex: company intranet URL]
You can add Favorites/Links/Feeds according to your requirement. If there is no requirement I'd recommend deleting all these links.
This is an important setting and most of the people will ask you to disable the first time prompt after restart.
Here is the setting to disable Internet Explorer first run page prompt. Check the option to disable.
This is an optional setting.
This is according to your company requirements.
Here you can customize connection settings.
Proxy Settings will go here and strictly according to company requirements.
This section has additional settings. Administrator must approve these settings.
Done with customizations and settings.
Click Next to build the package.
IEAK7 now generates the package by compressing package files. MAKECAB.EXE is the application used by IEAK7 to compress package files to CAB files. You can see the status in the minimized ms-dos windows like below.
At the end, following dialog box will appear indicating that the package has been created at the specified location. Click FINISH button to end the process.
In this example I've given the destination as "c:\builds\IE7" folder. Now you can see the folders and content in the following screenshots.
Under ...\FLAT\win32 folder you can see Internet Explorer 7 package like below
There are two package files.
- IE7Setup.exe
- IE7Setup.msi
If you try installing Internet Explorer 7 application using IE7Setup.exe, following screen will be displayed to the end user.
As I mentioned earlier in this article about Internet Explorer Administration Kit 7 limitations, hotfix names shouldn't exceed 16 characters. If you are trying to install hotfix that has name exceeding 16 characters length, following error will occur as soon as the machine reboots.
I've also attached a document form of this article. Please let me know your feedback/suggestions/concerns. I appreciate your time.
Thanks,
Eshwar