The Microsoft Installer (MSI) supports a both a quiet and a passive mode that can be used to install MySQL automatically without requireing intervention. You can use this either in scripts to automatically install MySQL or through a terminal connection such as Telnet where you do not have access to the standard Windows user interface. The MSI packages can also be used in combination with Microsoft's Group Policy system (part of Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008) to install MySQL across multiple machines.

To install MySQL from one of the MSI packages automatically from the command line (or within a script), you need to use the msiexec.exe tool. For example, to perform a quiet installation (which shows no dialog boxes or progress):

shell> msiexec /i /quiet mysql-5.1.39.msi

The /i indicates that you want to perform an installation. The /quiet option indicates that you want no interactive elements.

To provide a dialog box showing the progress during installation, and the dialog boxes providing information on the installation and registration of MySQL, use /passive mode instead of /quiet:

shell> msiexec /i /passive mysql-5.1.39.msi

Regardless of the mode of the installation, installing the package in this manner performs a 'Typical' installation, and installs the default components into the standard location.

You can also use this method to uninstall MySQL by using the /uninstall or /x options:

shell> msiexec /x /quiet mysql-5.1.39.msi

To install MySQL and configure a MySQL instance from the command line, see Section 1.4.13, “Creating an Instance from the Command Line”.

For information on using MSI packages to install software automatically using Group Policy, see How to use Group Policy to remotely install software in Windows Server 2003.