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Installation options for Rainbow Desktop Client

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Baptiste CANDELIER
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Context

When using Software Distribution Tools (or software deployment tools) to automate the process of delivering software to all computers on a network, it may be useful to set certain installation options, such as disabling automatic updating or installing in silent mode (no end-user interaction is required during the installation process).

Installing the Rainbow application on a Remote Desktop (VDI - Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) requires a "per machine" installation which will change the location of cache files and registry entries.

Reminder: In virtualized environments (VDI), real-time features such as audio/video communications and desktop sharing are not supported. All other non-real-time features are supported, such as presence, instant messaging, file sharing, directory lookup, call control from a physical phone extension (RCC), etc.

Installation files

Download the latest* Rainbow Desktop application installation files from the links below:
* To know which version you'll get, consult the article Production Versions Mapping

64-bit Windows setups:

64-bit Windows MSI packages:

Important: For the Offline Installer, note that MSI installations cannot run in parallel, so Windows prerequisites must be installed before installing the Rainbow Desktop application.

How does it work?

Available options:

Different options exist and can be passed as arguments to the installer for Rainbow installation:

  • /VDI : modifies location of cache files & disables auto update
    • works only for the "Per Machine" installation file.
    • to be used for Remote Desktop environment.
  • /DisableAutoUpdate : disables automatic update
  • /DisableAwayOnSessionLock : this will make the presence not turn to away automatically when the screen is locked
    • works only for the "Per Machine" installation file.
    • to be used for Remote Desktop installation because away detection may not work well in VDI environment.
  • /AutoStart : start the application when user connects to Windows.
  • /NoOutlookAddIn : disables Outlook add-in (can be activated by the user after installation).
  • /SILENT : the setup will not ask then end-user to manually check any options. If no other option is defined then defaults will be used.
  • /RESTARTAPPLICATIONS : Execute the application when the installation is finished.
  • /CreateDesktopShortcut : creates a desktop shortcut icon.
  • Dialing hotkey :
    • /UseQuickDialModifier : sets the modifier key with the values NONE, CTRL or SHIFT.
    • /UseQuickDialKey: sets the dial key to be used in combination with the modifier key with the value F1 to F11
  • /FirstStartLanguage : sets the language of the Desktop GUI
    Example for German use following argument /FirstStartLanguage=de
    Available languages (ISO 639-1) are:
    • ar, ca, cs, de, en, es-es, fi, fr, he, it, ja, ko, nl, no, pl, pt-br, pt-pt, ru, sv-se, tr, zh-cn, zh-tw
  • /FirstStartLoginEmail : automatically fill in the user's e-mail address field on the login screen
    usage: /FirstStartLoginEmail=john.doe@company.com
    If the specified email is recognized as a SSO user, then SSO wizard is launched
    This option has to be used with per user setup.
  • /ForceInstallDeps : When the flag is set, and the setup is started by a non admin user (without "Run as administrator"), the setup will allow the installation of missing Microsoft dependencies (i.e.: VSTO, VC++ Runtime, .net framework). As these dependencies require admin rights to be installed, a rights elevation popup will be displayed for each missing dependency (the local admin can then enter his credentials).
    Doing this, Rainbow application is installed for the user that started the setup (in his %APPDATA% directory) and the missing Microsoft dependencies are installed on the machine (C:\Program Files or equivalent).
    Note that without this setting if the setup is started by a non admin user, and Microsoft dependencies are missing, the setup stops with an error popup telling these must be installed before installing Rainbow.
  • /FirstStartTeams : At first start, if this option is set during setup, Rainbow Desktop application will stay hidden until the user connects to Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Teams provides credentials to the Desktop application.
  • /ForceNotificationPosition : This option allows admins to enforce the default position of Desktop incoming call popups and notifications during installation using the ForceNotificationPosition=Value parameter. When set, the position is locked and the user will not see the Notification Position setting in their preferences.
    Available values: topLeft, topRight, bottomLeft, bottomRight
  • /Domain : This option is specific for Rainbow Edge environment where the connection domain is different from web.openrainbow.com
    usage: /Domain=web.rainbow.mycompany.org
Note: All these command-line arguments are case sensitive.

How to use these options?

How installation options are delivered to the setup file depends on the software distribution tool being used. Multiple arguments can be specified simultaneously:

  • Arguments without a value should be passed as /arg
    Examples: /SILENT or /DisableAutoUpdate
  • Arguments that require a value must use the /arg=value format
    Examples: /FirstStartLanguage=de or /UseQuickDialKey=F7

For example using Windows command line tool (cmd.exe), you'll have to execute following command:

msiexec.exe /i Rainbow.msi WRAPPED_ARGUMENTS="/arg1 /arg2=value /arg3 /arg4=value"
Note: In that case, Windows cmd.exe tool must be used, do not use PowerShell because it raises an error.

Some examples of installations

Silent installation + disable automatic update + start app after installation:

msiexec.exe /i Rainbow_Installer_Offline.msi WRAPPED_ARGUMENTS="/SILENT /DisableAutoUpdate /RESTARTAPPLICATIONS"

Silent installation + dialing hotkey = SHIFT+F7

msiexec.exe /i Rainbow_Installer_Offline.msi WRAPPED_ARGUMENTS="/SILENT /UseQuickDialModifier=SHIFT /UseQuickDialKey=F7"

Resulting keys in the PC registry database

Depending on the installation file type used (Per User/Per Machine) and the provided arguments, the installation process creates different keys in the PC registry database.

Per Machine mode:

  • Autostart:
    • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  • VDI:
    • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow
  • DisableAutoUpdate:
    • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow
  • DisableAwayOnSessionLock:
    • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow
  • UseQuickDialModifier:
    • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow
  • UseQuickDialKey:
    • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow
  • ForceSoftphone:
    • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow

Per User mode:

  • Autostart:
    • Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  • DisableAutoUpdate:
    • Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow
  • UseQuickDialModifier:
    • Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow
  • UseQuickDialKey:
    • Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow
  • ForceSoftphone:
    • Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow
  • no VDI in user mode

Following options will not create keys in the PC registry database:

  • SILENT
  • NoOutlookAddin
  • CreateDesktopShortcut
Note1: CreateDesktopShortcut has not effect for now; Application shortcut icon is always created on Desktop.
Note2: The Per User options can also be applied to the .exe installation file. 
Important Note (Dialing Hotkey):
  • For the per-machine setups there are some limitations:
    • If the user/IT installed the desktop application using the "UseQuickDialModifier" and/or "UseQuickDialKey" settings, and the user then modifies the dialing hotkey options from the user interface, then after a restart of the application, it will reuse the values set during installation.
      This is because the application cannot change the registry entries without running the application with administrator rights (note that if the user runs the application with administrator rights, the changes made via the user interface will be retained the next time the application is started).
    • If the user/IT installed the desktop application without using "UseQuickDialModifier and/or UseQuickDialKey" settings, and the user then modifies the dialing hotkey options from the user interface, then after a restart of the application, it will use the values set by the user (whether the user has administrator rights or not).
  • For the per-user setups, the user can change these values without restrictions.

Troubleshooting

Installation logs

For debug purpose, following command will generate installation logs:

msiexec.exe /i "Rainbow.msi" /l*v rainbow_msi.log WRAPPED_ARGUMENTS="/arg1 /arg2=value"

Tips about disabling automatic update

When the application starts, it checks the registry for two entries "VDI" or "DisableAutoUpdate".

It checks for these entries in both

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow
and
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow

If one entry is found then no automatic update will be proposed when starting the application.

Application has been installed without this option, how can I disable automatic update?

If the application is installed in Per Machine mode then you can add the one of following Keys into the registry

1- In Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow

Add a Registry Key with value name VDI, type DWORD 32bit, value 1, base Hexadecimal

mceclip0.png

2- In Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow

Add a Registry Key with value name DisableAutoUpdate, type DWORD 32bit, value 1, base Hexadecimal

If the application is installed in Per User mode then you can add the Key into the registry

In Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow

Add a Registry Key with value name DisableAutoUpdate, type DWORD 32bit, value 1, base HexadecimalImage_082.png

Rainbow Softphone mode

Starting with Rainbow version v156, Softphone mode is enforced via user profile configuration. The legacy /ForceSoftphone argument is deprecated and no longer supported.

If this argument was used in earlier installations, it may be helpful to verify the registry and remove the ForceSoftphone key if present. Although no issues are expected based on current implementation, this step may help prevent any unexpected behavior

Depending on setup used, the key can be found in:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise\Rainbow

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