windows mobile 6.5 CAB signing and wceload /silent problem

Question

I generated a personal certificate file *.cer, signed my CAB file with it, installed this certificate on Windows Mobile 6.5. I want to silently install this CAB on the device. I call "wceload.exe /silent MyCab.CAB". The problem is that the /silent switch is not working - I get prompted for ack the installation of CAB while I'm expecting the /silent switch will ack all prompts itself. Additionally I'd like to avoid the dialog "The previous version of ... is installed..." if my CAB has been already installed before. Is there a way to do it on Windows Mobile? I tried setting the registry key HKLM/Software/Apps/My App/Instl to 0 but it is not working. Any help is appreciated.

Regards

Answer 1

have you tried warm-booting since the certificate was installed, and before you run wceload?

You could try adding /noui to your command-line with the /silent parameter, though that's supposed to be for legacy applications. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb158700.aspx

But, you might be needing a Trusted Certificate. You can disable this requirement by changing [HKLM]\Security\Policies\Policies from [DWORD] 0 to [DWORD] 1.

see also:

• "Understanding the Windows Mobile Security Model" http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc512651.aspx
• "Silent installation to Windows Mobile 5 and 6: security question" http://dukelupus.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/silent-installation-to-windows-mobile-5-and-6-security-question/

Answer 2

My CAB isn't signed, yet the following method works for me on WM 6.5 to install totally silently (no UI whatsoever - I show a busy cursor during the install). The install is performed programmatically (c# using the Process class) over the top of the existing install.

wceload /nodelete /silent "\Storage Card\Blah\Blah.CAB"

I was a bit surprised as the doc here: [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb158700.aspx] says:

If the .cab file is not signed, and you specify the /silent or /noui options when calling wceload, wceload may ignore these options.

I guess it should say 'may or may not ignore these options' ;)

Full C# code below:

Cursor.Current = Cursors.WaitCursor;

try
{
    using (Process proc = new Process())
    {
        proc.StartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("wceload", string.Format("/nodelete /silent \"{0}\"", cabFile));

        if (proc.Start())
        {
            proc.WaitForExit();
        }
    }
}
finally
{
    Cursor.Current = Cursors.Default;
}