Windows setup with the CLI installer

Some versions of Windows Server, especially 2019 and newer, can be installed without the graphical desktop that gave Windows its name. That makes for a usage experience many Linux administrators are most familiar with: the operating system runs without any GUI environment, and every operation is performed at the command line, just as in a Linux terminal.

Fear not, we have you covered. The same CLI installer we developed for Linux also works on Windows, and the only difference is how you type the command line (Windows relies on PowerShell, while Linux may use a variety of mostly POSIX shells).

The automatic way to install

The simplest and entirely automatic way to install Syncplify Server! on a Windows machine or VM without the Desktop Experience is to run PowerShell as Administrator and type in (or paste) this command:

Invoke-Expression (New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://dl.syncplify.com/ss-setup-win-x64.ps1')

Or the equivalent shorthand:

irm https://dl.syncplify.com/ss-setup-win-x64.ps1 | iex

The script downloads the ZIP archive of the most recent release into a temporary directory, extracts it, runs the CLI installer for you and cleans up afterwards.

WARNING

The script works with Windows PowerShell, but PowerShell 7 is highly recommended. After the CLI portion of the installation you still have to go through the web based portion of the initial setup, following the instructions printed in your PowerShell window.

Download, then install manually

Download the most recent version of the CLI installer for Windows from syncplify.com/download. Extract the archive, then type the following in a terminal window (PowerShell or CMD.EXE) opened as Administrator:

.\ss-setup.exe install

At the end of the setup process, open a browser and point it to the URL the installer prints.

INFO

The URL references localhost (127.0.0.1). If you use a browser on a different computer, replace 127.0.0.1 with the IP address of the machine where you just installed Syncplify Server!.

How to update or upgrade

The same install verb updates the software, without affecting your configuration, when Syncplify Server! is already installed: the installer detects the existing installation and performs an update or an upgrade instead of a new install. From version 8.4.0 the installer hands the update over to the product's own updater, so a backup of the configuration database is taken first, the previous version is kept in a rollback slot, and the node is health checked afterwards, exactly as when the server updates itself. In a cluster, update one node at a time.

The installer refuses to replace a newer version that the server installed on its own; add --allow-downgrade to install the older version deliberately.

How to uninstall

Use the same ss-setup.exe from the archive you downloaded (or download the most recent one, it does not matter) and type this in a terminal window opened as Administrator:

.\ss-setup.exe uninstall

And, just in case, you can also repair

Should anything happen, the same ss-setup.exe you downloaded and extracted can repair your deployed executables and reset the database configuration, keeping your data intact:

.\ss-setup.exe install --repair

Command line flags

All of these go with the install verb, except --silent, which every verb accepts.

Flag	Purpose
-S, --silent	No user interaction: every prompt is answered yes, which includes accepting the license agreement in full. For unattended installations.
-R, --repair	Repair installation: replaces the executables and resets the database configuration while keeping the data intact.
-F, --force	Forces a new installation, even on a system that already has an old version installed. Used only in the fallback upgrade procedure.
--bakfile <file>	Initializes the new installation from an existing backup file.
--nodename <name>	The ID of this node (lowercase, no spaces, no special characters), for unattended installations.
--saname, --sapass, --saemail	Username, password and email of the first SuperAdmin account, for unattended installations that skip the web wizard.
--allow-downgrade	Allows installing this setup's version over a newer one that the server installed by updating itself.

INFO

The --update, --trace and --norollback flags of the v6 installer do not exist in the v8 installer. Remove them from any deployment script you carry over.

Did you know?

The Windows GUI and CLI installers are interchangeable. You can install version 8.0.0 with the GUI installer, update to 8.0.1 with the CLI installer, and update to 8.0.2 with the GUI installer again.