Hack 52. Automate Skype Installation
These tips will simplify installation if you need to install Skype on anything more than a handful of machines. Works with: Windows version of Skype. Walking from machine to machine and installing Skype can be a thankless task. Automating the installation process makes the job a lot more palatable, and enables you to customize the installation easily. To help customize the installation of Skype on Windows, Skype has thoughtfully provided its installer, typically a file named SkypeSetup.exe, with several command-line options (see Table 5-1).
Using these command-line options, you can very easily create a Windows batch file that will simplify the whole installation process. Here's a step-by-step how-to guide:
This procedure might look like something that Rube Goldberg (http://www.rube-goldberg.com/) might dream up, but it beats wandering from machine to machine, especially if those machines are in different offices, or even different buildings! 5.2.1. Hacking the HackIf you want to roll out Skype, but with restricted functionalitysuch as with file transfer and Skype's API disabledyou can instruct the batch file installer to do this at the time of installation. First, create a registry file, skype_disable.reg, and save it in S:\Shared\Install\: ; File: skype_disable.reg Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Skype\Phone] "DisableFileTransfer"=dword:00000001 "DisableApi"=dword:00000001 Next, add a line to the existing batch file to create a new installation filesay, install_skype_reg.batso that the appropriate registry keys to disable Skype file transfer and its API are created during the installation process: REM File: install_skype_reg.bat MKDIR C:\Apps\Skype S:\Shared\Install\SkypeSetup.exe /VerySilent /Lang=en /Dir="C:\Apps\Skype" / NoIcons RegEdit.exe /s S:\Shared\Install\skype_disable.reg For Skype file transfer and the Skype API to be disabled, the users who run install_skype_reg.bat must have the necessary privilege to edit the registry under [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies. Incidentally, this also means that they can switch these features back on if they're willing to hack around in the registry! Clearly, this method of installing Skype is not the most foolproof if your users are relatively sophisticated and experienced with Windows. 5.2.2. See Also
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