A silent install is an installation of a software program that requires no user interaction. It is a convenient way to streamline the installation process of a desktop application without requiring any user input.
The Symphony Desktop Application (SDA) supports silent installation on MacOS using the standard installer command from the terminal.
2 files are needed to configure the required settings:
- A user settings file should be created as "/tmp/sym_settings.txt"
- A permissions settings file should be created as "/tmp/sym_permissions.txt"
Both files are plain text files containing the values of the corresponding settings. The files are read by a post-install script in the installer.
To avoid installation issues, the user must create both files using the /tmp path exactly as outlined in the instructions below.
Note: Depending on your system policies, the user may need to request permission to run the commands.The parameters that must be configured in both files are listed below. They must be configured in this order, as this is the order in which the installer reads them.
Note: Do not skip any parameters.
User Settings File
1. Pod Url:
POD_URL (String): The web address of the pod that the SDA should connect to (for example https://companyabc.symphony.com).
2. Minimize On Close:
MINIMIZE_ON_CLOSE (Boolean): Minimize the SDA (instead of quitting it) when the Close button is selected.
3. Launch On Startup:
AUTO_LAUNCH (Boolean): Launch the SDA when the operating system is started.
4. Always On Top:
ALWAYS_ON_TOP (Boolean): Force the set SDA window to always stay on top of all other applications' windows.
5. Bring To Front:
BRING_TO_FRONT (Boolean): Bring the SDA to the front upon receiving notifications. On Windows, the SDA icon will also flash in the taskbar.
6. Dev Tools Enabled:
DEV_TOOLS_ENABLED (Boolean): If true, enables Google Developer Tools for debugging and troubleshooting.
A sample sym_settings.txt file is below (Figure 1):
https://companyabc.symphony.com/login/sso/initsso
true
true
false
false
true
Figure 1 Settings.txt
Note: Where companyabc is the name of your pod.
Permissions Settings File
1. Media:
MEDIA (Boolean): If true, allows the SDA to access the camera, audio and microphone, which are necessary for a complete Symphony Meetings experience.
2. GeoLocation:
LOCATION (Boolean): If true, allows Symphony to access the user’s location.
Note: This feature is not yet available in Symphony, so it can be turned off.
3. Notifications:
NOTIFICATIONS: If true, enables Chrome's native notifications. This is required on MacOS where SDA uses HTML notifications, not custom notifications as in Windows.
4. Midi Sysex:
MIDI_SYSEX (Boolean): If true, lets Symphony access external connected devices to play MIDI (musical instrument digital information) files.
5. Pointer Lock:
POINTER_LOCK (Boolean): If true, locks a pointer within Symphony, which provides input methods based on the relative movement of the mouse cursor over time (for example deltas) - not just the absolute position of the mouse cursor in the viewport.
6. Full Screen:
FULL_SCREEN (Boolean): If true, allows the SDA to switch to full screen mode. Full screen is a feature used in Symphony Meetings, so it should be turned on to improve the user experience.
7. Open External App:
OPEN_EXTERNAL (Boolean): If true, enables opening external applications from inside Symphony. This feature must be set to true for users to open browser windows when URLs are selected inside the SDA.A sample sym_permissions.txt file is below (Figure 2):
true
true
true
true
true
true
true
Figure 2 Permissions.txt
To install the package, use the command below (making appropriate changes to the path where the app gets installed):
sudo installer -store -pkg /Users/USER-NAME/Downloads/SDA.pkg -target /
Figure 3 Command
Note: USER-NAME is the local user, for example John.Smith
Note: Symphony recommends installing in the "/" (root) volume.
Note: To install the package in the root volume, the user will need to run the sudo command.
Note: Replace [USER-NAME] with the name of the user for whom the app is being installed.
Refer to the Knowledge Article here on how to perform a silent install of Symphony for Windows.
If you require further assistance on silent installs of the SDA, please contact the Symphony Support team at support@symphony.com