Installing Workplace Desktop Application on a Controlled Network

When running an MSI in an automated fashion with a controlled PC on an internal network, it may have limited access to certain sites or methods on the Internet.

The First issue this can cause is the installer being unable to install the prerequisites for the Workplace Application. They can be found here:

• https://www.savanceworkplace.com/knowledge-base/what-are-the-pre-requirements-for-the-workplace-desktop-app-and-outlook-interface/

This can also make it so the Workplace Application Installer detects itself as offline when it really isn’t. To still be able to run the installer, the Internet Connection Check requirement must be removed from the installer. You can do this by editing the msi.

• The tool used, Orca, is part of Microsoft’s Windows Software Development Kit, and is documented here. Once you’ve installed the SDK, you have to then install Orca itself (installer in the Bin of the SDK install: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0\Bin\Orca.exe or C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.19041.0\x86)
• Once Orca is installed, you can right-click on SavanceWorkplaceAppXXX.msi and choose “Edit with Orca”. If you were starting from scratch, you could then go to the Transform menu and choose “New Transform”. To select or view an already transformed msi, instead choose “Apply Transform” and choose the attached file (SavanceWorkplaceAppXXX.mst). To save any changes that you make, from the Transform menu choose “Generate Transform” and it will give you a save dialog.
• The relevant change to remove the Microsoft Internet Connection Test made is in the LaunchCondition section. To remove it, right-click on “AI_DETECTED_INTERNET_CONNECTION” and chose “Drop Row”. This removes it from being checked when the installer is launched.

• To run the installer with the changes applied, from an administrative command prompt run SavanceWorkplaceAppXXX.msi TRANSFORMS=”C:\Path\to\files\SavanceWorkplaceAppXXX.mst”. Note that the TRANSFORMS must be the complete path to the file; relative paths like “.\SavanceWorkplaceAppXXX.mst” don’t seem to work

Note XXX is a stand in for the version number being deployed. SavanceWorkplaceApp1183 would be a valid example