Installing Synchro 4D using MSI and Silent Deploy Commands


Scenario: How do I extract the MSI from the exe installer? (Note we do not provide the MSI)

Solution: Below are the methods used to extract MSI from EXE are as follows for Synchro Pro 4D:

Method 1: Using 7ZIP

  1. Download 7-Zip and install it. (It can be downloaded for free)
  2. Right-click on the .exe file (from which you want to extract an .msi file) and from the shortcut menu choose 7-Zip> Open Archive ->#:e
  3. Do not extract any files yet. Instead, browse and look for the folder MSI (mostly found under folder .cab) within the contents. It might take some time to find this folder because it is not always located directly in the root directory (its location may vary depending on the installer).
  4. When you locate the MSI folder, you will notice that it most likely does not contain any .msi files, but a file or files with no extensions and rather cryptic names such as 132. Despite these misleading names, these are actually the MSI files you are looking for.
  5. Drag and drop these files to any desired folder or select them and extract them with 7-Zip. Close Zip after that.
  6. Change the names of the extracted files so that they include the .msi extension.
  7. If there are two files, the larger one is the 64-bit installer, and the smaller one is the 32-bit version. Use the one you need.

Method 2: Using sub-directories of .exe

Bentley does not have a downloadable MSI file for this application. However, one can download the Synchro 4D Pro application as an EXE, install the EXE, and then extract the MSI file using the following procedure:

  1. Install the most recent version of the Synchro 4D Pro
  2. Go to the following folder path: C:\ProgramData\Package Cache
  3. Search all sub-directories for "4d" or search 4D in search box
  4. There are two files, the larger one is the 64-bit installer, and the smaller one is the 32-bit version. Use the one you need.
  5. The MSI file should be listed as shown here:

How do I silent deploy SYNCHRO Pro on my network?

To use any installer in silent mode you need to run it from the command line with one parameter of the following:

/quiet - displays no UI whatsoever.

/passive - displays a UI but requires no user input. Essentially just displays an install progress bar.