Silent install/launch options for Draftable Legal

This article is for system administrators who want to deploy the Draftable Legal application via a silent install method or want to configure Draftable Legal to start silently for users. This article discusses all the silent options available for Draftable Legal.

Installation

Various silent installation parameters are required to be parsed for the silent installation of Draftable Legal. These differ for each of the different installer types:

Default Installer

The silent install parameter -s|--silent is required for the default installer.

Hence an example of installing the default installer silently is:

C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\DraftableDesktopSetup.exe --silent

Machine Wide MSI

To install the Machine-wide MSI installer silently, use the /quiet command-line parameter. We have two examples that can apply to the machine-wide MSI.

Include the HTTP Listener Service (HttpListener) in every silent MSI command. It is a required component, and you should always name it explicitly rather than relying on the installer default. Because ADDLOCAL installs only the features you list, any command that omits HttpListener will not install the service. See Deployment options via MSI (System-wide) installer for the full feature list and examples.

Example 1: Install silently into a custom location

msiexec /i DraftableDesktopSystem.msi /quiet INSTALLDIR="C:\Apps\Draftable\Desktop"

Example 2: Install silently without a desktop shortcut

msiexec /i DraftableDesktopSystem.msi /quiet ADDLOCAL=DraftableDesktop,StartMenuShortcut,HttpListener

This example omits the desktop shortcut but still includes the required HttpListener feature. Add the add-in features you need (WordAddin, ExcelAddin, OutlookAddin) to the same comma-separated list.

After a silent install: verify the Draftable URL scheme

Check the draftable:// URL scheme after a silent installation. The installer registers it, but if that registration is prevented — usually by endpoint protection or an application control policy blocking a write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes — the installation still completes and reports success.

Every comparison started from outside the Draftable window is a draftable:// request. If the scheme is missing, selecting a Draftable compare action in iManage, SharePoint Online or NetDocuments, using the Office add-ins, or right-clicking a file in File Explorer does nothing at all: no error, no prompt and nothing written to the Draftable logs. The application itself will appear completely healthy. A machine-wide MSI installation does not repair this at startup, so it stays missing until an administrator restores it.

How to verify it, and the registry values to create if it is absent, are in Draftable does not launch from iManage, SharePoint or File Explorer. If you are deploying through Microsoft Configuration Manager, the whole sequence is set out in Deploying Draftable Legal with Microsoft Configuration Manager (SCCM).

To confirm the scheme on a machine, press Windows + R, enter draftable://?source=outlook and select OK. The New Comparison window should open.

Silent launch parameters

There are various ways to configure the launch behaviour for Draftable Legal.

Within Draftable Legal settings

In the general settings, users can manually select how they wish for Draftable Legal to start by default. Under the Startup menu option, we see there are 3 options to select from.

There are 3 options here:

1. Start Automatically: This starts Draftable Legal when Windows launches, the New Comparison Window will be shown on the main desktop after Windows has been booted.

2. Not Start with Windows: Draftable Legal does not start at all, and the user will need to manually open the program.

3. Silent start: This is our silent option, it starts Draftable Legal in the background when Windows starts, but does not launch the New Comparison window.

Group Policy option

You can configure the default behaviour for the Draftable Legal start option via Group Policy options, specifically the ‘Launch Draftable Automatically when Windows Start’ option.

There are 3 options here:

1. Start with Windows: This starts Draftable Legal when Windows launches. The New Comparison Window will be shown on the main desktop after Windows has started.

2. Not Start with Windows: Draftable Legal does not start at all, and the user will need to manually open the program.

3. Start application but without main screen: This is our silent option, it starts Draftable Legal in the background when Windows starts, but does not launch the New Comparison window.

Remember, you can always download the latest group policy templates here.

Registry setting

The registry key that can be configured, to control whether Draftable Legal starts, when Windows starts, can be set in the below registry key.

Key: HKCU:\Software\Draftable\Compare
Value name: startOnStartupOption
Value type: REG_SZ
Value data: <key>

The <key> value can be configured with 3 different options:

1. Start - This starts Draftable Legal when Windows launches. The New Comparison Window will be shown on the main desktop after Windows has started.

2. NotStart - Draftable Legal does not start at all, and the user will need to manually open the program.

3. Silent - This is our silent option, it starts Draftable Legal in the background when Windows starts, but does not launch the New Comparison window.