Ghostscript is a Page Description Language (PDL) Interpreter and industry leader in PDF, PostScript, PCL, and XPS rendering and conversion. This article will serve as an informative guide and give you a clear understanding of how to perform a silent installation of Ghostscript from the command line using the EXE installer.
How to Install Ghostscript Silently
Update: As of version 10.01.0 the silent install option for Ghostscript is no longer permitted. I, along with many others, am extremely disappointed by this decision and how it was handled by the vendor. Maybe if enough people voice their concerns on social media they will reconsider…
See the following thread for further details. https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=706495
Ghostscript (32-bit) Silent Install (EXE)
- Navigate to: https://ghostscript.com/releases/gsdnld.html
- Download the gs0000w32.exe to a folder created at (C:\Downloads)
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Navigate to the C:\Downloads folder
- Enter the following command: gs0000w32.exe /S
- Press Enter
After a few moments you should see the Ghostscript shortcut in the Start Menu, Installation Directory, and Programs and Features in the Control Panel.
| Software Title: | GPL Ghostscript |
| Vendor: | Artifex Software Inc. |
| Architecture: | x86 |
| Installer Type: | EXE |
| Silent Install Switch: | gs0000w32.exe /S |
| Silent Uninstall Switch (32-bit System) | "%ProgramFiles%\gs\gsx.y.z\uninstgs.exe" /S |
| Silent Uninstall Switch (64-bit System) | "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\gs\gsx.y.z\uninstgs.exe" /S |
| Download Link: | https://ghostscript.com/releases/gsdnld.html |
| PowerShell Script: | https://silentinstallhq.com/ghostscript-install-and-uninstall-powershell/ |
| Detection Script: | https://silentinstallhq.com/create-a-custom-detection-script-for-ghostscript-powershell/ |
Ghostscript (64-bit) Silent Install (EXE)
- Navigate to: https://ghostscript.com/releases/gsdnld.html
- Download the gs0000w64.exe to a folder created at (C:\Downloads)
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Navigate to the C:\Downloads folder
- Enter the following command: gs0000w64.exe /S
- Press Enter
After a few moments you should see the Ghostscript shortcut in the Start Menu, Installation Directory, and Programs and Features in the Control Panel.
| Software Title: | GPL Ghostscript |
| Vendor: | Artifex Software Inc. |
| Architecture: | x64 |
| Installer Type: | EXE |
| Silent Install Switch: | gs0000w64.exe /S |
| Silent Uninstall Switch: | "%ProgramFiles%\gs\gsx.y.z\uninstgs.exe" /S |
| Download Link: | https://ghostscript.com/releases/gsdnld.html |
| PowerShell Script: | https://silentinstallhq.com/ghostscript-install-and-uninstall-powershell/ |
| Detection Script: | https://silentinstallhq.com/create-a-custom-detection-script-for-ghostscript-powershell/ |
The information above provides a quick overview of the software title, vendor, silent install, and silent uninstall switches. The download link provided take you directly to the vendors website. Continue reading if you are interested in additional details and configurations.
Additional Configurations
Change the Ghostscript Default Installation Directory
You can also change the default installation directory by using the following command line parameters. In this example, I’m installing Ghostscript to “C:\Ghostscript”
gs0000w64.exe /S /D=C:\Ghostscript |
How to Uninstall Ghostscript Silently
Check out the following posts for a scripted solution:
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Enter one of the following commands:
Ghostscript 32-bit Silent Uninstall (EXE) on 32-bit System
"%ProgramFiles%\gs\gsx.y.z\uninstgs.exe" /S |
Ghostscript 32-bit Silent Uninstall (EXE) on 64-bit System
"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\gs\gsx.y.z\uninstgs.exe" /S |
Ghostscript 64-bit Silent Uninstall (EXE) on 64-bit System
"%ProgramFiles%\gs\gsx.y.z\uninstgs.exe" /S |
Always make sure to test everything in a development environment prior to implementing anything into production. The information in this article is provided “As Is” without warranty of any kind.
